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The kid pounded his chest.“I’m immortal! I’ll live forever! ACKERMAN! ACKERMAN! ACKERMAN!”

“Oh, give it a rest,” said Gran, who didn’t like people making a fuss.

At this, the kid suddenly turned on her.“You’re evil, old woman—you’re part of the conspiracy to keep me away from Ackerman!”

“Gran, watch out!” Odelia shouted.

The kid had pulled back his fist and was about to give Gran a good pounding. The old lady must have seen it coming, though, for she’d quickly dug into her purse, brought out a small can of indeterminable origin, and the next moment was spraying it straight at her attacker’s face. I have no idea what it was, but it definitely made an impact.

“Aaaaaarrgggh!” he said, and dropped to the floor, clawing at his eyes.

Moments later, Chase Kingsley came hurrying through the lobby doors, accompanied by three more cops, and before long the troublemaker was duly booked and dragged off to prison, where hopefully he’d calm down a little.

“Who the heck was that?” asked Gran.

“Stalker,” said Chase.

“Who was he stalking?” asked Gran.

“Ackerman,” said Chase.

“That would explain the yelling and raving,” said Odelia.

“He wasn’t supposed to come within a hundred yards of Ackerman. Obviously he had math issues.”

“Technically not,” said Odelia. “Ackerman isn’t here, so he wasn’t in breach of his restraining order.”

Chase rubbed his chin, thoughtful, then locked eyes with Odelia.“You don’t think…”

“That he was at the library last night?”

Chase turned to Gran.“You were there, Mrs. Muffin. Is he one of the people you saw?”

“Um…” Gran darted a quick look down at us. Unfortunately Big Mac wasn’t amongst those present, so all I could do was shrug. “Ooh!” suddenly said Gran, bringing a hand to her head. “Do I suddenly feel woozy! Must be delayed shock from being attacked by that crazy hooligan. I better take a seat.” She walked off, giving me and Dooley a big wink.

“Check the sketches,” said Odelia, and Chase duly took out his phone and did just that.

For a moment, he flicked through the seven sketches Lara Dun had made on Big Mac’s instigation, then he growled, “Bingo.” He looked up, an expression of triumph on his face. “It’s him. Hewas at the library last night. And if his present behavior is any indication, there’s a good chance he’s the guy we’ve been looking for.”

Chapter 25

Chase was in his favorite position: seated next to his commanding officer, across the table from a known culprit, ready to sweat the guy until he confessed. Once again they were in the interview room of the police precinct, and this time the culprit in the hot seat was the‘crazy hooligan’ who’d recently been maced by Grandma Muffin.

The shabby-looking man’s eyes were still red-rimmed and teary, but he’d calmed down on the ride over, and even more after spending about an hour in solitary lockup.

“Darius Kassman,” said Chase. “What were you doing at the Hampton Cove library last night, when you weren’t supposed to be anywhere near Chris Ackerman?”

Darius, a white-haired youth with bad skin, gave Chase a baleful look.“You can’t keep me away from Ackerman, dude. That man is like the sun and I’m the planet that revolves around him. He draws me in.”

“Planets aren’t drawn in by the sun. If that were the case they would be destroyed,” Chief Alec pointed out.

“Exactly, man. Ackerman is destroying me. His brilliance is such that it’s devouring me. Wiping me out.”

“Please tell us what you were doing at the library,” Chase repeated.

“Like I told you—Ackerman called me.”

“Called you,” said Alec dubiously. “Like, literally called you on your phone?”

Darius tapped his temple.“He called me in here, dude. He’s been calling me for a long time. Telling me ‘Come—come to me. Be with me. Be me.’ It’s been tough getting here—seeing as some cops picked me up in Philly two nights ago—but here I am. I heeded the call.”

“You were arrested for the possession of illegal substances,” said Chase. “And released on your own recognizance.”

“The judge knew I had a higher purpose to fulfill,” said Darius, nodding. “No prison could have kept me away from Ackerman and she knew it. So here I am.” He spread his arms. “Tell Ackerman His Loyal Servant has come. I commend my soul to him—to do with as he sees fit.”

“Mr. Ackerman was killed last night, Darius,” said Chief Alec. “Did you kill him?”

Darius frowned briefly, then laughed.“You’re trying to confuse me. Is this a test?”

“This is not a test. Mr. Ackerman is dead and we’re trying to figure out who killed him. Was it you?”

But Darius had covered his ears and was shaking his head.“Ackerman, Ackerman, Ackerman,” he was saying softly, swaying back and forth.

Chase sighed, and so did Alec. They both got up at the same time, and walked out. In the hallway, Alec said,“I don’t think we’re going to get a lot more out of him right now.”

“He’s not exactly of sound mind and body,” Chase agreed.

“He is the second suspect I like, though. In fact I like him even more than Drood.”