Page 51 of Lost Hours
His head snapped up. He turned to look at her and blinked several times. His nonexistent chin and wideset eyes gave him a shifty look. Or maybe she was pre-judging him based on what Daisy had to say about him. Still, it was hard to see someone like him alive and kicking when the man who had dedicated himself to helping others had been murdered.
“Who wants to know?” He stood and looked down on her. “Oh wait, right. I know you. You’re the pretty lady sheriff for our county.”
“This is my associate, Nolan Orr,” she said, ignoring the pretty lady comment. “Do we have permission to come aboard to talk to you for a moment?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.” He scowled at her, giving her a moment’s unease. He might be partners with the mayor, but he seemed to have a mean streak that Mayor Sutton didn’t have.
“We didn’t say you did.” Nolan stepped close to her. “We just have something we need to talk to you about.”
“Fine,” he said. “But make it quick. I’ve got things to do.”
Mina boarded the bobbing craft, forcing herself not to comment on what he had to do when they’d found him sleeping in the sun.
“So what’s this about?” he asked.
Mina kept eye contact with him. “We’re here to talk about your brother-in-law, Ernie.”
“What about him?”
“So you haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“I’m sorry to tell you but we found his body last night. Someone shot him.”
Wade gaped at her. “He’s dead?”
“Yes,” she said. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Collins.”
He slapped his wide-brimmed hat on his leg and ran a hand over his shiny bald head. “So someone shot him. Killed him. But who?”
“That’s what we were hoping you could tell us,” Nolan said.
Wade flashed his gaze to Nolan. “You don’t mean me, do you? ThinkIkilled him?”
“Where were you yesterday between three and five p.m.?” Nolan asked.
“Here.” He gestured at his boat. “Just like today. The weather was too good to do anything but come out here.”
Nolan arched an eyebrow. “Can anyone vouch for that?”
He nodded toward the land. “Check with the office. I signed in and out on the marina books. Got here around one o’clock and stayed until the sun set, so that was about seven o’clock.”
“And you stayed in the marina?” Nolan asked. “Didn’t take the boat out?”
“Well, yeah… I mean… I went for a little cruise, but that was all.”
Mina kept her gaze pinned on him. “You could’ve put in at another marina and gone to see your brother-in-law from there.”
“No, that’s not possible. Not with a boat this big. I need to have permission to dock, and I don’t have permission at other marinas.” He shuffled his feet. “Think of these places like private parking lots. The public isn’t allowed in and you have to gain access somehow.”
“What about anchoring off the coast, putting on a wetsuit, and swimming to shore?” Mina asked. “Do you have a wetsuit onboard?”
“Only for emergencies, and I didn’t put one on yesterday and swim to shore to kill Ernie. Why would you think I’d do that anyway? What reason would I have?”
“Who owns the boat?” Nolan asked.
“Ernie does now.”
