Megan would go along with it because Alastair was the Pied Piper who brought girls to her workhouse. It was in her best interests to not only keep him happy, but hold a blackmail-worthy secret over him. Ah, true love.
Time to change the subject. "I saw you gave DNA to the sheriff's department?"
"Of course. If it eliminates me from the list of suspects, then that benefits everyone here. We have enough prejudice to combat without suspicions like that."
"They took samples from the victims, too," I said.
"Yes, I suppose they would, in order to eliminate them from any samples found at the scene."
I nodded. "There wouldn't be any need to compare them to the samples taken from the suspects."
His shoulders tightened, then he forced himself to relax. "I don't know where you're going with this, Ms. Levine. Did they finally find DNA at the scene of Claire's murder? I hope so, if it helps them solve it. She was a lovely girl."
"And Ginny? Was she a lovely girl, too?"
"I'm sure she was. Brandi, too. If they found DNA at the scene, then I'm glad of it, and I hope they've compared it to mine already, because I know it's not a match."
"I have no idea if they have uncovered DNA at Claire's scene. I'm talking about the earlier murder. Your DNA and the victims'. Like I said, no reason to compare them. Not unless you're a private investigator, studying the files, searching for a connection, any connection ..."
His expression said he knew exactly what I was getting at, but he wasn't about to admit it. Enough beating around the bush, then.
"Are you aware that you're Genevieve Thompson's father?" I asked.
He tried to look shocked, then struggled for surprised, and finally settled for uncomfortable. "I ... suspected I might be," he finally said. "But Paula never confirmed it."
"Did you ask her?"
"Well, no ..." He straightened, folding his hands on the desk. "Clearly she didn't think I was a suitable father for her child or she would have told me herself. As much as that pains me, I decided it was best to abide by her wishes."
"That's very noble of you. And, for the record, you're right. She'd like you to stay away from Kayla, too. I'm sure you have no interest in letting your girls here know you're a granddaddy, but if you tell anyone, I'll share your Santeria secret. You and I know it's just a religion, but to folks in Columbus, it would mean you're running a voodoo cult up here."
He fixed me with a look that said he'd decided he didn't like me after all. Didn't like me one bit.
"Did you have any contact with Ginny?" I asked.
"No."
"Brandi?"
"No."
"To your knowledge, did either of them ever come up to the house?"
"No."
"To your knowledge, did Claire have any contact with Cody Radu?"
He opened his mouth, then stopped himself, maybe realizing how unseemly it would be to tattle on the other guy vying for prime suspect spot.
"You may want to speak to Megan about that," he said.
"I will."
twenty-eight
A lastair was eager enough to get rid of me that he didn't escort me to the door, which meant I could sneak over to the kitchen and check out the situation there.
If Adam was charming the girls, I didn't want to interfere. So I slipped into the dining room with a blur spell, then exchanged it for a cover one when I could see the kitchen through the doorway. Adam was leaning against the counter, milk glass in one hand, cookie in the other, crumbs flying as he told a story about our last white-water rafting trip. I noticed he conveniently left out the part where he steered us under a waterfall, trying to get me soaked, and ended up getting drenched himself instead, courtesy of a fast knockback spell.