Colt Crawford - Chapter 11 (Wednesday)

“So we’re watching the game at your boss’s house?” Colt said. “That wasn’t exactly the way I had imagined your conversation would go.”

“But I am on to something. He didn’t deny a thing.”

Krissy’s phone was lying on her desk when it started to ring. “Malone,” she said as she raised it to her ear. She listened making an occasional grunt and nod then promised to stop by within the hour.

“What was that?” Colt asked, eager to chase down a new lead.

“That was my friend over at the University Police. They found a woman on the side of the road who looked like she had been thrown from a moving car.”

“Sounds familiar,” Colt said, disgust evident on his face. “Have they identified any suspects?”

“Yeah, our friend, Kevin. That’s why he thought I might be interested.”

“Let’s go talk to Kevin.”

The small conference room at the University Police station was a familiar sight, especially with Kevin once again sitting at the table. “Surveillance video shows your car at the scene,” Krissy said giving the campus bookie a hard stare.

“I may arrange bets for people, but I have never hurt anyone,” Kevin insisted. “Well let’s start with the obvious. Where were you between eleven and midnight last night?”

“I was at a study group for an accounting mid-term.”

“Who can confirm that?”

Kevin rattled off a list of four names. Colt wrote them down, then slipped out to have the university cops check them out while Krissy continued the interview. Assuming the alibis checked out, Krissy decided to pursue a new line of questioning. “Who has keys to your car?”

“No one but me,” Kevin said, relief evident on his face.

“There was no indication it had been stolen and you have your keys in your pocket.” Krissy gestured down at Kevin’s right leg where an irregular bulge was evident in his front pocket.

Kevin paused before responding as if he was weighing his next words. He took a deep breath then let it out. “I was seeing someone a few months back. She never gave me my spare key back.”

“Name,” Krissy demanded. Colt slipped back into the room impressed with her no nonsense demeanor.

“Jailene.” He took another deep breath as if he still wanted to protect her. “Jailene Arroyo.” Kevin looked down, knowing he had just passed the buck to someone else and clearly regretted having done so. “Look, it was a stupid thing. She wasn’t married, but she was sort of with someone else at the time. I don’t know the guy, and I don’t really want to if you get my drift. She went back to him and, as far as I know, he never knew about us.”

Krissy was about to end the interview when Colt chimed in. “You said she wasn’t married. Does she go to school here or did you meet her somewhere else?”

“She was only taking one class last semester. I met her at a party at a friend’s house.”

Looks like this Jailene Arroyo is going to be fun to track down,” Colt said once they were back in the car. “One class, then she disappears.”

“We’ll find out once we check out her forwarding address,” Krissy said. “Let’s go ring a doorbell.”