Spitting Devil

Spitting Devil by Brian Freeman Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: Spitting Devil by Brian Freeman Read Free Book Online
Authors: Brian Freeman
microscopic blood pattern that we found in the homes of the women who were murdered.”
    “That’s not possible.”
    Stride pushed a photo across the desk, showing the steering wheel and dashboard of Malville’s car under a luminol spray. The dispersion of tiny blue dots looked like paint shaken from a brush.
    “The blood at the crime scenes came from a male,” Maggie added. “It wasn’t your wife.”
    Malville stared at the photograph. “Look, test my lungs. Go ahead. It’s not me.”
    “Then who?”
    “I don’t know. All I can tell you is that I’m the only man who has ever driven that car, and I don’t have any kind of lung condition.”
    “Do you know someone who does?”
    “Possibly, but it’s not like I do chest x-rays on my friends. I also don’t go around handing them my car keys.”
    Stride leaned forward across the table. They were all tired. They’d been going back and forth with Malville over the course of several hours. “For what it’s worth, Mr. Malville, I’m not convinced you did this. Without the blood evidence at the crime scenes, you’d probably be in a cell now because of everything your wife told us. But we do have blood evidence, and that means a DNA test will rule you in or out. I’m guessing you’re right, and you’re healthy, and you’ll be ruled out. That doesn’t change the situation. We’ve got spatter in your car that matches the murder scenes, and if it doesn’t belong to you, then who the hell does it belong to?”
    “There’s also the mileage overnight,” Maggie added. “If your wife is correct, someone drove your car to Sherry Morton’s apartment and back.”
    “And there’s the missing knife in your house,” Stride said.
    Malville frowned. “Unless you think my ten-year-old son taught himself to drive, there’s no one else in our house.”
    “Who else has access?”
    “I’m telling you, no one.”
    “Relatives? Service people? Painters, plumbers, cleaners, anyone who could have taken a knife or copied your car keys?”
    “No, no, no, there’s no one like that.”
    “It wasn’t a ghost,” Stride told him. “Someone was inside your house. Someone drove your car.”
    Malville gave a hollow laugh as he struggled for an explanation. “Well, my son thinks we have a spitting devil.”
    “What?”
    “Oh, it’s something he read about in his comic books. It’s a demon who lives in your house and does bad things.”
    Stride’s eyes narrowed. “Why would your son think that?”
    “He’s a boy, Lieutenant. Boys have active imaginations.”
    “Maybe so, but have bad things been happening at your house?”
    “Bad things? No, not really. Evan has simply been acting out more because of the difficulties between me and Alison. Yesterday he broke one of Alison’s collectibles and didn’t want to admit it. Little things like that have been happening for weeks. Rather than tell us he’s upset, he created a monster to take the blame.”
    “What else has he done?” Stride asked.
    “Lieutenant, I hope you’re not suggesting my son is a serial killer.”
    “I just want to know what other problems you’ve observed in your house.”
    Malville shrugged. “Food has gone missing. Cookies, cheese, leftovers. Evan has been in my office a couple of times, even though he knows he’s not allowed in there. My papers have been moved around. He’s been on my computer.”
    “What if it wasn’t Evan?” Maggie asked him.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, could someone else be responsible for the things that have been happening?”
    “I already told you, there’s no one but the three of us in the house,” Malville said.
    “Are you sure?” Stride asked.
    “Am I sure? What the hell are you saying?”
    “I mean, is there any space in your house where someone could be hiding?” Stride asked.
    “You’re suggesting a stranger could be living in my house?”
    “Is that possible?”
    “Well, we have an unfinished attic, but that’s crazy.”
    “Not

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