Murder! (Parker & Knight Book 1) by Donald Wells

you?”
    Kent had turned pale and was clutching the edge of the table.
    “It was one kiss, one kiss, I swear.”
    Jo laughed.
    “DNA doesn’t lie, Alex,”
    “What DNA?”
    “The baby’s, Tiffany was pregnant when you killed her, and I’ve no doubt that the DNA of the fetus will match yours, no doubt at all.”
    “Pregnant?” Kent whispered, and then he sent forth a half-hearted laugh, when the laugh left his lips he began to cry.
    Outside in the hall, Chief Howard turned to Parker.
    “There’s no baby, is there?”
    “No.”
    “She’s damn good, Rick,”
    “You got that right, and Kent’s about to break.”
    Jo leaned forward again, but this time she spoke in a softer voice.
    “I believe it was an accident, but you still killed your own child.”
    Kent wiped away his tears.
    “I lied. Not about killing her, I swear to God in heaven that I did not kill that girl, but... we had sex. It happened when she came home drunk one night, mumbling something about her boyfriend dumping her. My wife and daughter were visiting my in-laws and I... I took advantage of her. I should have taken her home, but instead I got her even drunker and took her to bed. She woke up the next morning and blamed herself, and I let her, then, the incident on the couch, that was me going back for seconds, but she wanted none of it, and told me so. That’s when Mandy walked in and caught us.”
    “You lied about the sex, why shouldn’t I believe that you’re lying about the murder?”
    Kent stared at Jo for long seconds before saying four words.
    “I want a lawyer.”

8
    T he chief smiled at Jo as she walked out of the room.
    “That was damn fine work, Detective.”
    “Thank you, Chief,”
    “Way to go, Partner, it looks like you were right about him.”
    Jo nibbled at her lower lip.
    “The funny thing is, I’m not so sure anymore. I saw guilt in his eyes, but the moment he confessed to the sex it went away. I think he felt guilty about taking advantage of Tiffany, so guilty that he lied about it to two homicide detectives, but murder, maybe, yeah, maybe, but the guilt is gone from his eyes.”
    “In any event, he’s lawyered up, so that’s that,” Parker said, and turned to Chief Howard. “What’s the call, Gabe? Should we charge him?”
    “Charge him with suspicion of murder, and let the wife go, and guys, excellent work, both of you.”
    They thanked their boss and then explained to Mandy Kent that her husband was being arrested.
    She defended him vehemently until she heard that he confessed to all but raping Tiffany Grace while she was drunk, then she became silent, as tears welled up and began running down her cheeks.
    ***
    P arker and Knight spent the rest of the day investigating a missing persons case that took them to the bar named Taggart’s , where Heather Jones worked, Heather Jones, who had been Tiffany Grace’s friend.
    The man they were trying to locate was a Taggart’s employee. They were hoping to find a clue as to where the man might have disappeared to, and were speaking with the manager and staff.
    Taggart’s was located on the southwestern end of town in an area that was still wooded.
    Nathanial Taggart, the bar’s founder and owner bought the land at the end of prohibition. The bar was built with money he had earned as a teenaged bootlegger.
    Taggart’s was a huge, red, barn-like building and had a bandstand in the rear of it. There was also a private lake and picnic area.
    Jo stepped out of the car and looked around.
    “Wow, there’s nothing else here. All this land must be worth some money, hmm?”
    “I heard that it’s over fifty acres, but old man Taggart refuses to sell. He’s nearly a hundred by the way.”
    “Could there be a connection with the Tiffany Grace murder here?” Jo asked.
    “No,” Parker said. “You’ll find yourself here quite often for all sorts of things. Half the town drinks here and there has been some illegal activity, but nothing too heinous.”
    “All right,