You Belong to Me – 69

 

 

“He came in the back door and left the same way. It was jimmied, which probably means he was in a hurry. Ms. Stewart”—Darin shot her a dour look—“apparently didn’t set the alarm.”

 

“In my defense I was just going around the corner. I knew I’d be back in fifteen minutes or less, which I was.”

 

“Somehow he figured out Scott came here for more than just to buy one of your paintings,” Corey said. “Perhaps the stalker saw you looking at him at the restaurant, Scott. So he followed you here and could have been watching from outside. He saw the two of you talking and,” he glanced at Jenn, “you sketching. If he figured out why, which he must have, he would have wanted the drawings and”—he spread his hands—“I think you’re lucky you left, knowing him.”

 

Jenn nodded sharply. “I suspect you’re right. At least he didn’t get them all. If you’ll come with me, I’ll show you the one he missed.”

 

When they got to the studio, they saw the remaining drawing on the worktable.

 

Corey hissed in a breath.

 

“You know him?” Scott asked, although it was obvious Corey did.

 

“That looks like Silas. He works part-time at the shelter.” Resting his hands on the table, he stared at the picture. “He’s never shown any interest in me. As a matter of fact, I thought from the few times we’ve talked that he had a girlfriend.”

 

Scott tried to remember if he’d ever seen Silas at the shelter. He hadn’t to the best of his recollection. “That would be a good cover—the girlfriend thing. You’re absolutely certain it’s him?”

 

“Well… as certain as I can be, considering the hair’s wrong and….” Corey tapped his lip. “There should be a bend here,” he said, touching the nose on the drawing. “Like he broke it sometime.”

 

“How does he wear his hair?” Jenn asked.

 

“Shorter. Almost as short as mine. What you have here…. The hair in the sketch is too long,”

 

“All right. This was just one of several with different hairstyles I came up with.” Jenn looked at Scott. “You didn’t notice a broken nose, I take it.”

 

“No, and as thin as his nose is, it would have been fairly distinctive, I think.”

 

         “Give me a few minutes to play around with the hair, and then you can take another look.”