The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted: A Psychological Thriller by Andrew E. Kaufman Page A

unfolding the sugar packet. “When you’re a convicted sex offender, you become an instant suspect in just about anything that happens within a twenty-five mile radius of where you live, sometimes even farther. But when all was said and done, they had zip for evidence. Couldn’t charge him.”
    I gazed at her for a long moment and thought. Nothing earthshaking here, but it did raise some questions. I said, “The cops were led to your brother because of an anonymous tip. Ever find out who that was?”
    She laughed, but again there was no humor. “Sheriff wouldn’t say. No way to know if the person even existed.”
    “You don’t have much faith in law enforcement, do you?”
    She leaned forward and looked directly into my eyes; I could have sworn I saw something burning in hers. “My brother went to the electric chair for a crime he didn’tcommit. How in God’s name could I trust them?”
    “Okay,” I said, raising my hands. “I get what you’re saying here, and it does appear there could have been some evidentiary issues during the trial—there’s no denying that. But to be perfectly honest, what you’ve told me doesn’t necessarily scream out his innocence, either.”
    She reached into her bag and removed a sheet of paper. Slid it across the table, and said, “How about this Mr. Bannister? Does this scream it loudly enough?”
    She watched me carefully as I picked it up and read it.

Chapter Twenty-Two

    It was a handwritten statement:

    I Emma Louise Stephenson hereby swear the following is true:
    I was with Ronnie Lucas from the hours of 4pm to 5 pm on June 29, 1976.

    My hand shook slightly as I took it in. I said to Nissie, “Why wasn’t this introduced during the trial?”
    “Ronnie didn’t tell anyone he had an alibi.”
    “Even though it would’ve saved his life?”
    She was rolling her hands against one another. “It’s complicated, but let me see if I can explain. Emma was Ronnie’s on-again-off-again girlfriend. Mostly off again. A real winner, I might add. She was in the process of losing her two-year-old girl in a custody fight. Her ex claimed she was an unfit mother, which she was.”
    I raised an eyebrow.
    “Drug problem,” Nissie said, “and the father was worse. Abusive as hell. He liked to beat the crap out of Emma, even smacked the kid around a few times. That’s when Emma decided enough was enough, that it was time to get out of the marriage. Of course, she had Ronnie’s arms to run into. They’d been carrying on together for quite some time by then.”
    The waitress came by to refill our coffee cups. We paused, watching and waiting for her to finish and leave. She flashed me another Big Texas Smile as she left the table.
    Nissie continued, “So one day, Ronnie calls, wanting to meet, but she tells him she can’t, that she has the baby at home and doesn’t have a sitter. Of course, he couldn’t come to her. His parole officer wouldn’t allow him to go near any minors, and obviously, Emma couldn’t bring the baby with her, either. But he insisted, told her he was thinking about ending the relationship. Well, that was all Emmahad to hear. She put the baby in the crib for a nap and rushed off to meet him at The Alibi bar a few blocks from her house.” She saw my response to the name and smiled. “I know, talk about irony, huh?”
    “And this is the same time that Nathan went missing...”
    “Yeah. The exact time.”
    I held the paper up. “So why didn’t he use this to clear his name?”
    She raised her hand. “I’m getting to that. So, they argued for a while, and then they made up…it took a while. Fast forward to when she gets back home. She finds the baby on the floor, bleeding. She hadn’t closed the crib properly and the baby fell out and hit her head. Emma panicked. She rushed to the emergency room and told them the baby had fallen while playing in the driveway.”
    “Knowing that if she told the truth, she could lose the kid.”
    “Exactly, yeah. Then