“Her kin?”
“Her brother.”
“Don’t know him, neither.”
Joe didn’t think he was bright enough to be lying that well. “According to witnesses, Ms. Bennett didn’t welcome your attention and declined your offer of a drink.”
“Said she had a drink, thank you, and asked me to adios.”
“But you didn’t adios. You persisted.”
“No law against making friendly conversation, is there? I…” Stalling, he shot a glance at Hick, who was watching him, waiting for an answer. “I…you know, I—”
“—persisted,” Joe repeated. “You harassed her.”
“I never laid a hand on her!”
“But you didn’t take no for an answer.”
He slumped, sighed, looked at them sourly. “Okay, I offered again, and when she said no again, I told her she looked lonely to me. She said she wasn’t, and, anyway, it was none of my business if she was lonely or not. And then I asked if she was expecting somebody else to join her.”
Joe leaned forward. “What did she say to that?”
“Nothin’.”
“She didn’t answer?”
He shook his head. “Just turned a cold shoulder.”
“What did you derive from that?”
“Derive?”
“How’d you take that? Like maybe she was expecting someone?”
“I dunno.” He gave them a stupid grin.
“I wasn’t thinking too clear.”
Joe kept at it for a few more minutes, but it became apparent that the young man hadn’t been thinking clearly at all, that he’d had more than a “coupla drinks” with his pals. He saw a pretty lady and was goaded into approaching her with nothing more in mind than the prospect of getting lucky.
“Witnesses overheard her tell you to go to hell.”
“Turns out she wasn’t a friendly sort a’tall. Truth is, she was a snotty bitch. Who needs that? Actually, I’m glad she turned me down.”
Not believing that for a second, Joe looked at Hick, who snickered. He didn’t believe it, either. Going back to the young man, Joe asked, “How long between when she stormed out and you followed?”
“My friends were giving me shit for being shut down, so five minutes, maybe.”
Hick, referring to notes Morrow had taken, whispered to Joe, “His friends said it was more like ten minutes.”
Joe asked, “How’d you know where her car was parked?”
“Didn’t. I was just stumbling around out there in the dark, looking to see if I could catch up with her before she drove off.”
“Did you?”
His stringy hair flapped against his cheeks as he firmly shook his head. “Swear to God. Never saw her again. Didn’t come upon anything except the…the…you know, the body.” He swallowed so thickly that Hick asked if he needed the vomit bucket again. “No. I’m okay.”