The Artist and the Actor – 33

 

 

Shane was glad for the interruption. It gave him a chance to put a rein on his swirling emotions. Things were changing between them—for the better he hoped. He wouldn't know until they spent more time together before he had to leave. For the moment, he needed to change the subject.

 

"Have you heard anything more from Detective Randall?"

 

"Yes. That’s why I wanted us to have dinner, and then I sort of got sidetracked." Colin took a drink. "He called me down to the precinct. It seems he thought I could be the person who killed Gene Logan."

 

"Are you shitting me?"

 

"Nope. Something about my going off the deep end because it was the tenth anniversary of Kenny's murder. Then he backed off, saying he didn't really believe it. Still, he wanted an alibi. Thank God my security system time-stamps when it's turned on and off or I might still be in his sights, at least as a person of interest, if not worse. He did send one of their experts out to check the system. I passed."

 

"Fuck. That's unbelievable. Was that all?"

 

"No. He talked with the man who investigated Kenny's murder." Colin went on to tell Shane what the detective had told him.

 

"So he thinks it could, probably is a copycat murder," Shane said when Colin was finished.

 

"What else could it be? The question is, why, and by who…whom."

 

Shane chuckled. "Either-or. You're right, though. Why copy his murder when there have to be dozens, hundreds of unsolved cases listed on various websites where the method would be easier?"

 

"That's what I said to Randall. About the websites, that is. I met an author once who used them for ideas for the mysteries he wrote. Randall says it's been known to happen with crazies—okay, he didn't use that word but that's what he meant. If I wanted to murder someone and didn't know how to approach it, I suppose checking stories on unsolved murders might inspire me. Sort of 'they got away with it, so I can, too'."

 

"Remind me to check your browser history to see if you've been doing that," Shane teased.

 

Straight-faced, Colin replied, "Not since we broke up. Before then…" he winked.

 

"Given how you felt about me at that point, it wouldn't surprise me if you had."

 

"Shane…" Colin shook his head. "I was pissed as hell, and for a long time I hated you, but never once did I plot your death." He smiled. "Which is just as well. If I had, and succeeded, we wouldn't be here, now. An idea I don't like in the least."