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“No.”
“—the hood up.”
“Stop!”
“Amelia—”
“Don’t say anymore.”
Just then the door adjacent to the reception window swung outward and Tucker and Wills walked through. “Well, Mr. Scott,” Tucker drawled. “Glad to see you’re still here. You saved us a trip.”
“I ran into Ms. Nolan.”
Tucker introduced his partner to her.
“Thank you for coming in, Ms. Nolan,” Wills said. As tall and thin as Tucker was short and stout, he had the bearing and stooped posture of a tenured professor. He was also the more sensitive of the two, and noticed how shaken Amelia appeared. “Ma’am, are you all right?”
“Yes, fine. It’s been a terrible day.”
“Of course. We realize what an imposition it is to ask you to come down here this time of night.”
“Not at all. If I can help, I want to.”
“We’ll be with you directly,” he told her.
“Right now, it’s Mr. Scott we want to talk to.” Tucker hiked up his belt, or tried, and grinned at Dawson. “We were on our way to come find you.”
“Here I am.” Despite his wisecrack, Dawson got a bad feeling about the detective’s smirk.
“Do you know a guy named Ray Dale Huffman?”
“Never heard of him.”
“Are you sure?” Wills asked in a kinder tone.
“Positive. Who is he?”
“Repeat offender,” Tucker said. “We’ve got him in lockup. He heard through the jailhouse grapevine—it’s the damnedest thing how that works, truly. Anyhow, he got wind of us questioning you in connection to Miss DeMarco’s murder, and he offered to make a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
Wills said, “We drop the charge against him in exchange for information about you.”
“Sorry. You’ve been had. I don’t even know the guy.”
Tucker’s grin turned even more smug. “Not what he said.”
“I don’t give a shit what he said.”
“Well, you should.” Tucker moved in close and leered up at him. “Because Ray Dale claims that one night last week, down on River Street, he sold you a whole bag full of drugs.”
* * *
They allowed him one phone call. He called Headly.
“I can’t talk now. We’ve got friends over. The cabernet is breathing, steaks are on the grill, and Eva’s tossing the salad.”
“Amelia Nolan’s nanny was murdered last night.”
