I felt the handcuff being released from my wrist. I felt the officer step back, letting go of my arm and giving me space. It seemed safe to turn around, so I did. I was happy not to be pressed against the wall anymore, my nose and cheek rubbing against the aluminum siding.

Rountree studied me, the sun picking up the gold flecks in her brown eyes.

“Mr. Francis,” she said, “you seem to be showing up everywhere I step. Sort of like dog shit. Do you care to explain this one? Or would it save time if I just had the officer put the cuffs back on you?”

“It’s not what it looks like, Detective.”

“Okay, I’ll play along. Tell me what’s going on. Because from where I stand, it looks like you broke into the home of a murder suspect. A man we’ve been trying to find for almost twelve hours.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

“I didn’t break in.” The sun had fully risen over the houses behind Blake’s, so I used my hand to shade my eyes. “That guy who was just here, Kyle Dornan. He’s the one who broke in.”

“Kyle Dornan is in the house?”

“He was.” I pointed across the yard. “He ran off when he saw you coming. He went between those houses over there. I tried to tell the cop who put me in cuffs.”

“Kyle Dornan,” she said. “And he’s on foot?”

“He was when he left here.”

Rountree stepped away and raised the radio. She passed along the information about Kyle Dornan, giving his location and the direction he was heading. She listened as someone said something back to her, which I couldn’t hear. Then she signed off and came back over to me. But she remained silent, which unnerved me. By design. Even though I recognized her strategy, it still worked.

I decided to break the silence.

“You think he did it?” I asked. “Kyle?”

“I don’t know who did it, Mr. Francis. Why do you think Mr. Dornan is guilty?”

“He was involved with Jennifer. He came here and got into this house.”

“Blake was involved with Jennifer at one time too. And you had a flirtation with her. Should I consider you a suspect, Mr. Francis?”

“You’d have to be the one to tell me.”

“When I was at your house earlier, I got the feeling there were things about this matter that you didn’t want your wife to know. I assume she knew about the flirtatious messages from Ms. Bates since you spoke so openly about them. Although my guess is it’s still tough for a spouse to hear about such things. People get jealous. It’s understandable. If someone was moving in on my partner . . .”