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“Our deal is that I let your people babysit Bobby in my station, on the condition that you don’t involve them in any other police business.”
“Nicky went with Otto and me to question a witness. Nothing bad happened.”
Leduc had shaken his head. “You gave your word, Blake, so the deal’s done.”
I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, but he was right.
“Besides, Blake, ya got three Horsemen of the Apocalypse plus Win here. Don’t you think that’s enough firepower?” Again, Leduc was right.
The four of us divided and conquered but ended up meeting at the edge of a parking lot to discuss Jocelyn’s girlfriends and the supposedly perfect alibi. Why a parking lot? Because though we weren’t allowed to let any of my St. Louis people be actively involved in the case anymore, Leduc felt perfectly okay interfering with any discussion of the case we had at the office. The four of us wanted some privacy from Duke and his deputies.
We found a tree to the side of the parking lot away from the whir of passing cars; just the open space gave us privacy to talk. Newman and Edward shared their intel, what little they’d gained, from Marcy Myers, Jocelyn’s other friend who had gone out with her the night of the murder. Marcy had agreed with everything Brianna had said, though Marcy had had to get very drunk to let a stripper do a lap dance for her, so her details were fuzzy at best.
“Jocelyn could have left the club and come back multiple times, and Marcy probably wouldn’t have noticed,” Newman said.
“So she doesn’t help either way,” Edward said.
“Brianna Gibson was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for her night out. She remembers more details than I wanted her to share,” I said.
“So she vouches for Jocelyn?” Newman said.
“For a night out at the strip club, yes.”
“Did she mention Jocelyn confiding in her about Bobby wanting to be her boyfriend instead of her brother?” Newman asked.
In my head I thought, Technically he would have been both, but I didn’t say it out loud. The situation was creepy enough without belaboring it. “No, Jocelyn never told her anything like that because if she had, Brianna would have mentioned it. She’s not shy about sharing details. I think she would have mentioned it.”
“Jocelyn told Marcy about a week before the club,” Newman said.
“Why not tell both of them?” I asked.
“Marcy said that the twins were keeping Brianna too busy for much socializing. Her two kids are older, boy in kindergarten and the girl in preschool,” Newman said.
“Twins under one would keep anyone busy, I guess.”
Three of us nodded. Olaf just watched the surroundings the way a cat looks for movement at a window, as if he were seeing everything all at once. If he wasn’t making an occasional comment, I’d have thought he wasn’t listening at all.
“If Jocelyn had confided in her other friend that night, it might have put a damper on going to the strip club,” Newman said.
We all agreed, even Olaf.
“We have to talk to the dancer that was with Brianna and Jocelyn that night. Friends will lie for you, but strippers that see you as just money in their G-strings, not so much, especially not about murder.”
“But even if we can break Jocelyn’s alibi for the night of the murder, we still haven’t figured out how she made it look like a wereleopard killed Ray. Without that, the judge won’t take Bobby’s name off the warrant or vacate it,” Newman said.
Edward said, “Then we need to break or prove Jocelyn’s alibi, because until we do that, we’re wasting precious time chasing her story.”
“She lied about the affair,” I said.
“Anita, she’s sleeping with her own brother. Anyone is going to be conflicted about that.”
“I think it’s more than that,” Newman said.
We all looked at him.
“I think she’s afraid that Bobby did kill Ray. Remember that it was Jocelyn who insisted he change on the one night when almost every Therianthrope is safe.”
“The dark of the moon,” I said.
