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He hung up

He wanted to knohere those boys had been Maybe not Joshua According to Jenna and Angela, Joshua see hatever David Yates said David Yates--the boy who had been the victi kid now, a football hero But did he really have what it would have taken to pull off the e to plot out a way for Malachi to be blamed? He was only seventeen

Lots of heinous murders had been coh Malachi was seventeen Ah, but Malachi was supposed to be crazy

His phone rang, and he answered absently "Hall"

There was a brief hesitation "Sam, it’s John John Alden"

He looked at his phone, surprised Alden had felt the need to give his last naain, there was a brief hesitation "Yeah," Alden said thickly "They found trace amounts of blood on that costume you pulled off the kid Trace The costuht have been dry-cleaned, as well We’re still working on it, but…I’ll call you back in a couple of hours They’re trying to see if it it’s a match with the blood from the crih to Jake Mallory, who had relad that Ashley, Jake’s fiancée, was up from her family plantation in Louisiana to be there with hi the ship alone, since Whitney Tremont, the last of their sextet, was in Ja roo on speakerphone

"You want ation e don’t have the pastor’s agreement to let out a list of the h the phone

"I believe that Sa a warrant for the records, but it’s Saturday, and that could take tiht block us, too"

"You want ht?" Jake said

"Not really, but yes--we’re talking about a court case here, so everything has to be obtained legally Not, of course, that I’d ever want you to do anything illegal," Jackson said

"Right…well, I can pull up public records and newspaper clippings and dig around the best I can What do you want exactly?"

Jackson explained that they wanted to know exactly where Pastor Good any of the ht have to say in reference to any of the players involved "And dig up anything else you can on Counciler, hing "You got it"

Just as Jake disconnected, they heard co toward it Uncle Jamie had just come home

She looked at him expectantly

"I can’t betray--"

"Jae: Martin Keller is at the police station with his parents They found traces of blood on the costuod h in a crease in the mask to make a one-out-of-millions match to Peter Andres The costume and mask, it seems, orn by the killer when Peter Andres was murdered"

Sam sat across from John Alden Marty Keller was in another roo for the police to come question him

"What I want to know is, what in God’s name made you have me research that costu quickly He leaned forward, as if the question were obvious "John, the kid came at Jenna in the ceht have just been a bratty kid, out to scare anyone"

"He ht have been, but since everyone knows that Jenna is working with ical that there was a reason for the kid to try to scare her It was a hunch, John You know--hell, you wouldn’t be a detective worth your salt at all if you didn’t work off a hunch now and then!"

John stared at hiht, you can’t come in, but I’ll let you listen in e question the boy"

Sa in Marty Keller’s ht a tissue to her eyes now and then She’d arranged for an attorney, and when Marty started to answer a question, his mother slapped his hand and told him he had to first consult the attorney, a white-haired man who looked deeply concerned

But the attorney nodded to Marty

"I swear! I just took that costume after the drama inventory I swear, Mom, it’s the truth I--I wanted to help out in some way I know that everybody is all upset ’cause the pretty FBI lady is helping that guy ants to get Malachi Sht if I could just scare her enough, she’d go away!" Marty Keller’s voice was tre, too "And she’s a liar--that lady, she’s a liar! She said she wouldn’t call the cops if I just told her about the costume"

"She didn’t call the cops," John Alden told him "But we found blood on that costume, Marty The blood of a man as your substitute teacher at times She didn’t call the cops on you--and this isn’t a er"

Tears strea him!" his mother cried