“Leave her out of this.”

“It must’ve been hard all those years. You being in prison like that, her on the outside.”

“She knows I didn’t do it.”

“That must have made it even harder.”

“Stop trying your psychology bullshit on me.”

“I was just curious about what it was like.”

“What was it like?” John repeated, some of his anger starting to seep out. “What was it like to ruin my family, send my mother to an early grave? What was it like to be treated like some kind of fucking pariah by my own father? What do you think, man? What the fuck do you think?”

John’s words hung in the air, his voice echoing in Will’s ears. What did Will think? He thought that the pieces were finally fitting into place.

He said, “I want you to do something for me.”

John’s shoulders went up in a noncommittal gesture.

Will had kept a copy of Aleesha Monroe’s letter in his pocket, sort of like a talisman to help him in the case. He unfolded the paper, slid it across the table to John. “Can you read this for me? Out loud, please.”

The man gave him a strange look, but curiosity won out. He leaned over the table, not touching the paper as he read it to himself first.

John looked up at Will, confused. “You want me to read this out loud?”

“If you don’t mind.”

John cleared his throat. Obviously, he didn’t know what was going on, but Will took it as a sign of trust when the man actually started reading it.

“ ‘Dear Mama,’ ” John began, but Will stopped him.

“Sorry. Third line down,” he said. “If you could start with that.”

John gave him another look that said he was only going to let Will go so far with this. “ ‘The Bible tells us that the sins of the parent are visited on the child. I am the outcast, the untouchable who can only live with the other Pariah, because of your sins.’ ” He stopped, staring at the words like he knew he was missing something that was right under his nose.

John asked, “Who’s Alicia?”

“Aleesha Monroe,” Will told him, and the expression on John’s face showed him everything he needed to know. “I talked to her mother yesterday morning. I had to tell her that her daughter was dead.”

John swallowed visibly. “Dead?”

“Aleesha Monroe was raped. Beaten. Her tongue was bitten out.”

“It was…” John whispered, more to himself. He picked up the letter, stared at Aleesha’s words to her mother.

“She wrote pariah twice,” Will said, knowing that now was his only chance to get John to trust him. “The first time, she used a lowercase p. The second time, she capitalized it. Pariah, not pariahs. She meant one person, not a group.”

John’s eyes scanned the page, and Will knew the line he was reading. The untouchable who can only live with the other Pariah.

Will leaned forward over the table, made sure he had John’s attention. “Who is the Pariah, John?”

He was still staring at the letter. “I don’t know.”

“It’s somebody Aleesha knew way back when. Somebody she’s having to live with now.” Will’s phone rang in his pocket, but he ignored it. “I need you to tell me who the Pariah is, John. I need to hear it from you.”

John knew the answer, had figured it out. Will could see it in his eyes.

All the man said was, “Your phone is ringing.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Will said. “Who’s the Pariah?”

He shook his head, but Will could tell he was right on the edge.

“Tell me what she’s talking about.”

The phone kept ringing. Will didn’t move to turn it off. He saw John starting to slip away, the ringing acting like some kind of warning bell reminding the con to keep his mouth shut.

“John,” Will prodded.

John stood, wadding up the note and throwing it in Will’s face, screaming, “I said I don’t know!”

Will sat back in his chair, cursing Angie for picking now to return his call. He flipped open the phone, demanding, “What?”

“Trent,” Leo Donnelly said. “I’m at Mike’s place.”

“Hold on,” Will said, then pressed the phone to his chest as he told John, “I’m going to step out and take this call for a minute, okay?”

John shook his head. “Whatever.”

Will left the room, putting the phone to his ear as he closed the door. “What is it, Leo?”

“I went to Mike’s house like you said.”

Will felt a spark of anger. John had been about to crack. If the stupid phone hadn’t rung, he’d be laying out the whole story right now.

“I’m knocking on the door, knowing Mike’s home because I see his car in the street.”

Will leaned against the wall, feeling his sleepless night catch up with him. “And?”

“No answer, but then a DeKalb PD cruiser pulls up with Gina right behind him. Gina’s the wife, right? She called them for protection while she gets some of her stuff out of the house.”

“Okay.”

“She backs into the driveway and it’s not like I can duck under a bush, so I go up to her, ask her how she’s doing. She looks at me like I’m a turd in her cereal, I guess thinking I’m Mike’s buddy.”

Will thought about John, sitting in the interrogation room. “Is this going somewhere?”

“You think I’m tugging your root, junior? I got at least ten years on you.”

“You’re right,” Will allowed, leaning back against the wall, wondering how long this was going to take. “Go ahead.”

“So,” Leo continued. “DeKalb’s not happy to see me, right? Apparently, Mike’s been giving them the runaround about the dead neighbor. Won’t talk to them, won’t give a statement, won’t let them look in his house.”

He had Will’s undivided attention now.

“My thinking is they jumped on Gina’s call so they could get a peek around.”

“And?”

“After she figured out Mike wasn’t home, she wouldn’t let them into the house.” Leo added with some appreciation, “She may hate his fucking guts, but she’s still a cop’s wife. She knows you don’t let nobody poke around unless they’ve got a paper from the judge.”

“What am I missing here?”

“Lemme finish,” Leo cautioned. “This cop, Barkley, he’s pretty pissed standing around with his dick in his hand. So, he takes it out on me, tells me to get the fuck off the property.” Will heard a lighter flick open as Leo lit a cigarette. “Me, I mosey out into the street. It’s a free country, right? Barkley don’t own the street.”

Will could imagine the scene. You didn’t tell a cop to leave unless you wanted him to hang around your neck for the rest of your natural life.

Leo continued, “I’m poking around Mike’s car, wondering why it’s parked across the street and not in his drive, when the neighbor pulls up with her groceries. Real nosy bitch, but I ask her where Mike is, and she says—” Leo paused to take a drag on his cigarette. “She says that Mike was there about an hour ago. She was getting her mail when he pulled up. He asked her about the car parked in his driveway.”