AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Stribbe was at a service Friday night. I forget what the thing’s called. More than thirty people saw him.”
“That’s what he said in the interview.”
“Afterward, he attended some sort of dinner at the synagogue. Dovid and Adeera were at his side the whole time. They swear he never left the condo after returning home around ten.”
“If it’s true, that rules Stribbe out for Musgrove. But he might still—”
“According to Adeera, on February 25, 2022, Stribbe was in Brooklyn celebrating something called Purim.”
“New York?”
“No, Uzbekistan.” Pause. “Of course, New York. Again, big brother and mama vouch for him.”
“That’s the date Quentin Bonner went missing.”
“Yes.”
“If it’s true, Uri couldn’t have done Bonner.”
“How can you be so perceptive?”
“A question I ask myself daily.”
“You keep saying ‘if it’s true.’?” I could picture Monck hooking air quotes.
“They’re family. A family dominated by a hard-as-nails matriarch.”
“Meaning you think they might lie?”
I said nothing.
“Here’s another factoid,” Monck said. “Shared by mama. Uri is mildly autistic.”
Audio replay.
Mental head slap.
“That’s what Adeera yelled as I ran from their condo. She wasn’t threatening a fiery cataclysm. She was saying that Uri’s on the spectrum.”
“It doesn’t matter how much head shrinking this animal slicer needs. My gut still tells me—”
“Autism isn’t that kind of illness.” Though I didn’t disagree with Monck’s gut.
A heavy silence filled the line. I gave it to him. Gave him time for his thoughts. Eventually, they circled to my afternoon call.
“You left me a message saying you’ve made progress with the cut marks.”
“I have.”
“Roll it out.”
“By phone?”
“No. By—”
Not in the mood for further derision, I launched in. “As I’ve explained, different types of blades leave different marks in bone. One of the characterist—”
“Make this quick.”
