“Why? I thought I was your assistant.”
“Savannah, things might get a little dicey, and it would be better if you weren’t here.”
“Man talk, is that what you’re saying?”
Zach looked uncomfortable admitting it, but he finally said, “That’s part of it, certainly. Grady might open up more to me if you’re not in the room.”
“I can watch his expressions while you interview him,” I said. “There’s a chance I might pick up on something that you wouldn’t see.” Another thought occurred to me. “What if I think of something to ask him that you miss? Can we afford to take that chance? Stop trying to protect me, Zach.”
“It’s not that. If anything, my rationale puts you in more danger, not less. Forget what I said; you can stay.”
I wasn’t about to give up that easily, even if it meant a win in my column. “What did you have in mind?”
“It’s not a great idea.”
“Why don’t you let me hear it, and I’ll be the judge of that. Come on, give.”
My husband reluctantly explained, “If you’re not here during the interrogation, it might help keep you on good terms with Grady. We may need that. I plan to explore some pretty explosive lines of questioning, and there’s an excellent chance I’m going to thoroughly tick him off. If you can stay on his good side, there’s a chance we won’t lose total access to the man, but it puts you in a precarious situation. If Grady really is guilty, you could be in danger.”
“He wouldn’t hurt me,” I said.
“Don’t you think Cindy Glass thought the exact same thing?”
“I don’t care,” I said. “But you’re right, I’m leaving the second he gets here.”
“Savannah, I’m still not sure this is a good idea. We need to talk about it more before I’m willing to let you take such an active role in the investigation.”
Things still hadn’t been decided ten minutes later when Grady arrived alone.
The mayor tried to be playful as he said, “Before you chew me out, my bodyguard is downstairs catching up with his pals. I figured I’m safe enough in here with you two.”
There must have been something in our expressions, because Grady added, “You two look like you’ve just lost your best friend. What’s going on?”
“We need to talk,” Zach said. That was my cue to leave, if I decided to go. My husband had ultimately left it up to me, and now was the time to figure out which option held the most promise for us. If I stayed, I might pick up on something that my husband missed, which wasn’t all that likely, I was the first to admit. But if I left, I’d still have an in with the mayor, a chance that would die if I stayed.
I decided to try to have it both ways. “If you two will excuse me, I’ve got a puzzle to create.”
“I’ve got to admit, I’m hooked on them myself. How often do you make them?” Grady asked me.
“Every day.” As I walked out of the room, I looked back at my husband. It was pretty clear that he wasn’t happy with the decision I’d made to take chances with my safety, but it was ultimately my choice.
That didn’t mean that I actually had to go back to the hotel and work on a puzzle, though. I kept the door purposely ajar so I could listen to their conversation without them knowing I was there. It wasn’t ideal, but it was certainly a lot better than just hiding in a hole until the storm blew over.
Once he was sure I was gone, Zach said, “We need to have a serious conversation, Grady. That means no lies, no misdirection, no holding back on me. Is that understood?”
Grady’s easy tone vanished. “What’s with the attitude, Zach? Was it a mistake bringing you back to Charlotte?”
“Not as far as I’m concerned. The city’s hired me to do a job, and I aim to do it.”
“You know I’ll cooperate all I can, but I never did like being bossed around. That’s why I’m the mayor. In a way, you could say that I
“Funny, I thought the citizens were.”
Grady must have realized how pompous he was starting to sound. The edge was gone from his voice the next time he spoke. I would have given anything to study his face as he made that transition, but I couldn’t see more than a sliver of floor and shadow through the opening. “Is there any reason to have an attitude with me? We’re friends; at least I thought we were.”
Zach slapped his hand on the table, something that startled me from where I was lurking. I couldn’t imagine the impact the sound must have had on Grady. “I’m trying to get to the truth, and if you’re innocent, you should be trying to help me, not stonewalling like this was some kind of press conference.”
“Sorry. What do you want to talk about?”
There was a pause, and then I heard my husband say, “Let’s talk about Cindy Glass.”
“Let’s not,” Grady said.
“I’m not fooling around here.”
“Move on, Zach.”
After another pause, Zach said, “Okay, fine. We’ll come back to her later. I understand you had a pretty public argument with Hank Tristan the night he was murdered. Would you like to tell me about it?”
“Been spying on me, have you?” the mayor asked.
“It’s in the police report. Everybody knows about it, but I thought you might like to tell me your side of it.”
