“Allison, I’m a detective with the Cincinnati Police,” he said, his voice even and friendly. “I’m working on some cases that are related to what happened to Lauren and Holly.”
“Yes.” A little girl voice.
“Were you friends with them?”
“Only school friends,” she said.
“Ever hang out together?”
Allison shook her head.
“How long have you been seeing Noah?”
“About a year,” she said. “Ten months.”
“Did you ever feel like anything wasn’t right?”
She clenched her hands. “If you mean do I think Noah did it, the answer is no. There’s no way. He’s gentle and kind and…”
“It’s okay,” Will said. “I meant something else. Did it ever seem like anyone was following the two of you? Anonymous phone calls? Anything creepy?”
She was silent, and then shook her head.
“We were normal. We went to movies. We rode our bikes together. Noah’s in a lot better shape than I am.”
“Does he have any enemies?”
Cheryl Beth was struck by how Will used the present tense to refer to Noah.
“No!” Allison shook her head adamantly. “He made friends so easily.” Then, tonelessly, “Especially women.” She raised her head and spoke more forcefully. “Do you think someone is trying to frame him for killing Holly and Lauren? Please tell that awful detective from Oxford.”
Will nodded. After a silence, He produced the same file folder. “I want to show you some photographs. I’m not saying these are suspects. But they might be. I want you to take as much time as you like, and really look at each one. Ever see any of these men.”
He handed her one photo at a time. She took the each one and slowly ran her fingers over it, then handed it back. He was very patient and Allison was diligent. It took a good fifteen minutes. Cheryl Beth was impressed that Will was eliciting information now, before Allison knew the worst and would probably fall apart.
She handed them back. “I’m sorry, Detective Borders. I’ve never seen any of them.”
“I know this seems out of left field, but did you guys ever watch LadyCops: Cincinnati? The reality TV show?”
“No. There’s not much TV time when we have a slave driver like her.” She smiled fondly at Cheryl Beth.
Will smiled slightly and let a couple of beats pass. “Did you ever go to the bar where Noah met Holly and Lauren that night.”
She pursed her lips. “Yeah, we used to party up there…”
Cheryl Beth watched Will’s expression subtly change. The color momentarily left his face. Then he rearranged himself and leaned forward.
“Allison, there’s no easy way to tell you this, so I’m going to say it…”