Judging from their pale complexions, Lance thought they spent most of their time inside.
“My dad is a hunter. He took all four of us on a big trip last year.” Chase shook his head. “Noah was traumatized by seeing his first dead deer. So no, he wasn’t an outdoor guy.”
Morgan made a notation. “Before Friday night, when did you last see him?”
“He had a gaming party at his house the night before. We were all there, plus maybe a dozen other players. A couple of guys brought their girlfriends. People came and went all evening.”
Morgan tapped her pen. “Can you make a list of people you know were there?”
“I already gave it to the cops.” Isaac shrugged. “You can get it from them.”
But the fact remained that there would be numerous unidentified fingerprints at the crime scene, which was actually typical. The sheriff’s department would eliminate the prints of close family and friends and run the leftover prints through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System. If any of the prints were those of a known felon, they would turn up in AFIS. Otherwise, the leftover prints were simply kept on file in case another suspect was identified.
“Noah shouldn’t be dead,” Justin blurted out. He sniffed and swiped a hand over his eyes. His face looked strained, as if he were holding back tears.
Had Justin been closer to Noah than Isaac or Chase? Or was he simply more sad than angry? Everyone grieved differently.
Lance unzipped his jacket. “Before Friday night, had any of you ever been to Beats?”
“Yes.” Isaac interlaced his fingers on the placemat in front of him. “Since it opened, we’ve gone most weekends. Grey’s Hollow isn’t Manhattan. Beats is the best club around. Everybody goes there.”
“Did you all go to the club together last Friday night?” Morgan noted the date and people present.
“The three of us drove together.” Isaac motioned between them. “Noah was running late, so he met us there.”
Morgan held her pen over her notebook. “When did Noah notice Haley?”
“Right away. She was all over him.” Justin’s lips pressed into a flat line. “We had a beer together, but he was more interested in her.”
“Did it bother you that he was spending all his time with her?” Morgan asked.
“Why would that be a problem? He wanted to hook up with her.” Isaac shot Justin a look. “Noah didn’t usually go for the slutty type, but he was really into her. We all let him do his thing.” He frowned. “But I don’t get it. She definitely wanted to go home with him. Did she plan to kill him all along? Is she some kind of psycho-killer bitch? The whole thing is totally fucked.”
Lance couldn’t agree more with the last sentiment. “Was anyone else paying attention to Haley?”
Isaac shook his head. “Noah had it wrapped up.”
“Did you all leave together?” Morgan asked.
“We walked out together,” Isaac said. “Then Haley and Noah left in his car.”
“What did you three do?” Lance scanned their faces.
Isaac shrugged. “Not much. We came back here and played video games.”
“Do you remember what time your party broke up?” Lance wanted specific times to establish alibis.
Isaac gestured to the adjoining living room. “Justin and Chase ended up crashing on my couches.”
Lance leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. “The three of you were together all night?”
“Yes.” Isaac blinked and looked away, his eyes misting. “We were hanging out and chilling, while she was killing Noah.”
Eyes tearing, Justin abruptly stood, turned, and punched the wall. For a skinny guy, he was either stronger than he looked, or his emotions lent him some power, because he left a decent dent in the wallboard. He spun around and stared at Morgan and Lance, his chest heaving, his face red. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. The fist he’d hammered into the wall opened and closed as if he were testing his fingers for damage.
“You should put some ice on that hand,” Lance said. “Could be broken.”
Justin flinched at the words. Then his shoulders caved in. He grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter and fled the house. The front door slammed behind him.
“He’s taking it hard.” Isaac stared out the window, but his gaze didn’t seem to be focused on the wooded view. “We all are.”
“We understand.” Lance did commiserate with them. They hadn’t even buried their friend yet. But there was no way to investigate Noah’s murder without digging into everyone’s background, including the victim’s.
Especially the victim’s.
“Did Noah have a temper?” Morgan asked.
“No.” Isaac picked up the whiskey and poured two shots. He slid one across the table to Chase. “He was a quiet guy.”
Morgan wrote something in her personal shorthand. “Did he have a recent girlfriend?”
Isaac spun his shot glass on the table. “He broke up with a girl last summer.”
“Do you know her name?” she asked.
“Sorry.” Isaac ran a finger around the rim of the small glass. “I don’t remember. They didn’t go out for long. Noah wasn’t ready to be a one-woman guy.”
“Her name is Callie Fisher.” Chase tossed his shot down. “But Isaac is right. They weren’t together more than a month or two. Noah lost interest in her pretty fast.”
“If Noah didn’t have a steady girl”—Morgan lifted her pen and looked up at the two men—“did he hook up often?”
Chase banged a fist on the table. If he was trying to intimidate Morgan, he was going to have to try much harder. She ignored his display of temper. Lance had seen her up against hardened criminals. These two geeks were hardly menacing.
“Stop it!” Chase leaned away from the table, his body tense as he jabbed a finger toward Morgan. “I know what you’re trying to do here, but I won’t let you say anything bad about Noah. He was a great guy.” Anger glittered in his eyes. “He didn’t deserve to die like that.” He turned away and crossed his arms over his chest.
“We’re just trying to get a sense of who he was.” Lance tried to defuse the men’s anger.
Isaac got to his feet. “I think we’ve answered enough of your questions. We aren’t going to drag Noah’s reputation down. Attacking the victim is not OK just because Noah is a man.”
“Thank you for meeting with us.” Morgan slid her notepad into her tote and stood. She was doing her best to school her expression, but Lance could see the subtle signs of pain on her face. Her mouth was tight and her voice slightly higher than normal. “I know this was difficult for you.” Morgan lifted her coat from the back of the chair, but she didn’t pause to put it on. She headed for the door with it draped over her arm.
“We can see ourselves out.” Lance followed Morgan outside. In the cool air, she exhaled hard, clearly stressed.
“How do you feel?” He took her bag while she donned her coat.
She nodded. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
Lines fanned from her eyes, and her color had gone gray.
“Do you need to go home?” Worried, Lance scanned her face. As much as he would respect her decision, he also wanted to sweep her off her feet and tuck her into bed until she was fully healed. He followed her as she walked to the Jeep.
“I can work through tired, and I can work through a headache.” She turned to meet his gaze. “What I need is coffee.”
“Back to the office?” he asked.
“Yes.” Once inside the vehicle, she checked her phone.
Lance gestured out the window. “What did you think of Noah’s friends’ reactions?”
“I think they’re grieving, and it’s natural for them to defend their friend’s reputation.” She glanced back at the house. “But I also felt as if there was something specific they didn’t want to tell us about Noah.”
“I agree. You didn’t ask for any dirt on Noah. You asked if he hooked up with girls. That’s nothing incriminating. That’s a normal activity for twenty-something men.”
“So what are they trying to hide about Noah?”