Carnal Innocence

better life with that man.”
    “I didn’t care who she lived with. It just didn’t seem right—”
    “No, it didn’t seem right,” Burns agreed. “So you told her there’d be no more money, and that you’d takeher to court if she didn’t watch her step. That you’d pay her back.”
    “I don’t know what I said exactly.”
    “She does. Oh, despite your estrangement, she’s loyal enough to add that you were always full of bluster when you’d been drinking. She didn’t take anything you said seriously, and went back to listen to the next set at the bar. Even stayed on after it closed, since she didn’t have the boys to get home to. But Barbara Kinsdale left about two. She walked out into a deserted parking lot. A dark parking lot, where she was knocked unconscious and dragged to a waiting car. She was driven to the lake and slaughtered.”
    Burns waited a beat. “Do you own a knife, Mr. Longstreet? A long-bladed hunting knife?”
    “This is crazy.” Dwayne dropped his hands into his lap. “I didn’t kill anybody.”
    “Where were you on the night of June thirtieth, between nine P.M . and midnight?”
    “For chrissakes.” He stumbled to his feet. “Burke, for chrissakes.”
    “I think he should have a lawyer.” Strain had etched lines around Burke’s mouth when he turned to Burns. “I don’t think he should answer any more questions without a lawyer.”
    Well satisfied, Burns spread his hands. “That’s his right, of course.”
    “I was just driving around,” Dwayne blurted out. “It was raining and I didn’t want to go home. I had a flask in the car and I just drove around.”
    “And on the night of June twelfth?” Burns asked, working back to the night of Edda Lou’s murder.
    “I don’t know. How the fuck is a man supposed to remember where he is every night of the year?”
    “Don’t say anything else.” Tucker stepped forward to take both of Dwayne’s arms. “Don’t say anything. You hear me?”
    “Tucker, I didn’t—you know I didn’t.”
    “I know. Be quiet.” He turned to stand between Burns and his brother. “Are you bringing charges?”
    The holiday weekend had bogged down his paperwork.Not everyone was as dedicated to justice as Matthew Burns. “I’ll have a warrant within twenty-four hours.”
    “Fine. In the meantime you can fuck yourself. Let’s get you home, Dwayne.”
    “Mr. Longstreet,” Burns rose with a nod to each brother. “I’d advise that neither of you think of leaving the area. The federal government has a very long arm.”
    “I need a drink.”
    “You need to keep a clear head,” Tucker contradicted him, and punched Josie’s car up to seventy. “You stay clear of the bottle, Dwayne.” He took his eyes off the road long enough to shoot his brother a warning. “Until we get this mess straightened out, you stay clear. I mean it.”
    “They think I did it.” Dwayne rubbed his hands over his face until he was afraid he’d scrub off a layer of skin. “They think I killed all those women, Tuck. Even the one I’d never seen before. She looked like Sissy. Christ, she did look like Sissy.”
    “We’re going to call our lawyer,” Tucker said calmly even as his knuckles whitened on the wheel. “And you’re going to keep your head clear so you can think back. Think back real carefully until you find out what you were doing, who you were with when Arnette, Francie, and Edda Lou were killed. One’s all you need. One of those nights you had to be somewhere with somebody. They won’t have a case then. They know it was the same person killed them all. You just have to think.”
    “Don’t you think I want to? Don’t you think I’m trying?” Teeth gritted, Dwayne pounded his fists on the dash. “Goddammit, you don’t know what it’s like once I start in drinking. I told you I forget things. I fucking blank out.” Moaning, he dropped his head between his knees. “I blank out, Tucker. Oh, God, I don’t know what I’m doing when that happens. I could’ve done it.” Terrified, he squeezed his eyes tight. “Jesus help me, I could’ve killed them all and not even know.”
    “That’s bullshit.” Furious, Tucker swerved to the shoulder. Dwayne opened his runny eyes as the car jerked to a halt. He stared under the seat. Stared and stared until Tucker jerked him upright. “That’s fucking bullshit and I don’t want to hear any more of it.” He shoved Dwayne back, pushing his livid face into his brother’s pale one.