Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #2: Books 5-8 (A Dead Cold Box Set) Blake Banner (read out loud books txt) 📖

of eager, hungry men waitin’ behind you to take your job. You waste the boss’ time and you are out!”

He shook his head and pointed a finger like a salami at me. “My mistake? My mistake was thinking that he gave a damn. He got himself fired and lived off of Mel and me, and while he was pretending to be out lookin’ for work, he was visiting with Anne-Marie. Anne-Marie is real pretty, and smarter’an me. I guess she’s a lot like Mo, and maybe she just used me as a way to get out of Seven Hills, the way he used Kath. When we was courtin’ she was always tellin’ me, what she really wanted was to go to San Francisco, or L.A. or New York. When she heard that Mo wanted to go east to be with Kath, she was on to me most every day to go with him.” He shrugged. “Once Kath was out of the picture because she was pregnant, I guess she was happy to hook up with Mo. They had more in common than she had with me.”

He gave me that direct stare again. “I figure it takes a special kind of sick to stop lovin’ your wife because she’s pregnant with your baby.”

Dehan heaved a deep sigh and sat back in her chair. She crossed her arms and blinked several times like she was ticking off thoughts in her mind.

“If I understand you, Isaac, what you are saying is that, like you, Kathleen realized that Mo was having an affair with Anne-Marie, and that was what put her into a depression.”

He nodded at his fists. “I think maybe she figured that once the baby was born, he might go back to liking her. She was a good, servile wife and she would’a done anything for him. But when the baby was born, he didn’t go back to her. He just kept right on being his son of a bitch self. She realized it was all over between them, and now she had a baby too. I think she realized it was only a matter of time before he left her.”

I nodded. It made a lot of sense, at least, most of it did. I frowned to show that one part of it didn’t. “What I don’t understand, Isaac, is why she went to Seven Hills. Was her relationship with your parents that good?”

He curled his lip, still scowling at his fists. “Not really. I guess they liked her OK, save that she was a papist. They never said much about her one way or another. My folks are old school Methodist. They don’t hold with Rome. They ain’t the kind of folks you’d go to to cry on their shoulder. They’d just tell you to accept the Lord’s will and pray.” He looked up at me to see if I understood what he meant. “For them, if you got a problem, you get on with it and fix it. And if you can’t fix it, you pray to the Lord for strength, and try again. We’re sent here to suffer, and every problem is a trial of faith. So they don’t really see much point in cryin’, or talkin’ about problems. You just deal with’em.”

“So you’re telling me you don’t understand why she went there either?”

“She was never really that close to my folks.” He studied my face a moment. “She was a sweet, loving person. You know what I mean? She was real tender. She’d do anything for anybody. My folks…” He gave a lopsided smile. “My folks is as hard as old boot leather. I don’t know why she would go visit them.”

Dehan was staring hard at the tabletop, and I knew that she was thinking the same as me. After a moment she said, “Isaac, were you in New York from Friday 6th of July to Thursday 12th, 2012?”

He sighed. “Yeah, I was here all that time. I would never have hurt a hair on Kath’s head, but I can’t expect you to take my word for that.”

I asked, “Is there anybody who can verify that?”

“Yeah, Mo and Anne-Marie, and Mel. We all had a big bust-up after Kath left.”

Dehan asked, “What about?”

“Everything was coming to a head. Me and Anne-Marie was having trouble. Anne-Marie had been stayin’ with Mel while we tried to sort things out. But during that time, Mo and Anne-Marie had been spending a lot of time together and I was getting mad. We had a big row about it and when Kath went off to visit my folks, Anne-Marie said she was going to spend a few days with Mo while Kath was gone, to look after him, seein’ as he was real depressed. I told her if she went, not to bother comin’ back. She said fine and she went.”

We sat in silence for a long moment. There was a piece missing and I couldn’t work out whether Isaac knew what it was or not.

“Can you think of anybody, apart from your parents, that Kath might have been going to visit in Colorado?”

He took a moment to think about it, and when he answered he wouldn’t look at us. “I’ve often wondered. There’s only one person, but I don’t want to tell you who it is.”

Dehan snapped, “Why?”

Now he faced her. “Because I know he didn’t hurt her. He’s tough and hard, the way folks are up there, but he’s a good man, and I don’t want to cast suspicion on him.”

I sighed. “Isaac, if he isn’t guilty, he has nothing to worry about. Sooner or later we’ll find out who it is, and it’s better for him if we can eliminate him as a person of interest. And, bottom line is, you have to tell us.”

I already knew the answer, and I was pretty sure Dehan did, too, but