Free Dying Eyes by Ryan Casey Page B

pen on the table and twirled it with his finger. His grey eyes were vacant, his body rigid underneath his green Converse t-shirt. Dandruff dangled from his thin, greasy hair.
    Marsden leaned forward again. “Detective, I would appreciate it if you‌–‌”
    “It’s all right, I can speak for myself.” Danny glared at the duty solicitor then turned his attention back to Brian and Cassy. “I needed to get away from all this shit.”
    Brian took down some notes. “Your grandma didn’t see you yesterday morning when you went missing. It all just seems a little too convenient for me. How did you know about any of ‘this shit’ if you had nothing to do with your girlfriend’s death?”
    Danny shook his head at Jonny. “I thought this was…? I don’t see why that matters.”
    “It matters if you want to clear your name, because the way I see it, you’re not in the best position, son‌–‌”
    “All right, Scott told me. He called me as soon as he found out she was dead. And the night before, me and Nicola, we…‌Well, I saw her. Scott just thought I should know, so I ran. My…‌my girlfriend was dead. Someone told me my girlfriend was dead, so I needed some space. Satisfied?”
    Brian shuffled in his chair. Scott Watson hadn’t told them anything about contacting Danny Stocks. “Right. You realise how this looks right now though, don’t you? You realise you’re our main lead. You realise you, the main lead, did a runner when the news came out and tried to kill yourself.” He reached into his pocket and slammed the camera down in front of Danny. “You realise that you, the main lead, were one of the very last people to see Nicola Watson before she was killed. So talk.”
    Danny smiled when he saw the camera. “I knew this is what it’d come to. I knew you’d start throwing accusations at me. Just knew it.”
    “Care to elaborate, Danny?”
    “The camera. I knew I’d have left something that could ‘smear’ me or put me in the shit one way or another. That’s why I deleted the stuff off my hard drive. I was in the middle of putting the pictures on the computer.”
    Brian took another note. “So what you’re trying to say is you deleted the pictures from your hard drive, but not the camera? Sounds to me like you went to a lot of trouble to cover these photos up, Mr. Stocks.”
    Danny laughed, and Jonny opened his mouth before being interrupted.
    “Not enough trouble, though, eh, seeing as we’re sat here now?”
    “Mr. Stocks has a point,” Marsden said, his bald head a plum-red shade now. “If he were so desperate to cover up for something, then why would he leave a camera lying around with potentially incriminating evidence?”
    “Maybe he was in too much of a hurry to get away,” Cassy suggested.
    Danny closed his eyes and held his hands to his face. “And I really looked like I was trying to get away when you saw me, did I?” Tears collected in his eyes. “I didn’t want to live anymore. I deleted the pictures because I couldn’t bear to look at them. I just wanted to be back there with a spliff and to see my days out.” Danny’s eyes twinkled in Brian’s direction. Marsden stared at his hands.
    “Mr. Sto‌–‌No, Danny,” Brian continued. “I appreciate what you’re saying, but you’ve got to see it from our angle and how this looks. You’re not in a good position. Where were you after eleven p.m. on 2 nd January?”
    Danny shook his head. “I…‌I was hanging out with Scott and Nicky. Smoked some new blend. And then I…” He froze. “Scott left for work. I chatted with Nicky. Not for long. Then I left.”
    “New blend?”
    “Cannabis. There, I said it‌–‌I smoke. Don’t pretend you didn’t already know.”
    Brian noted down a reminder to mention this ‘new blend’ to Stephen Molfer. Perhaps it could help him with his little case. Not even on the drug lead and still bailing Molfer out. “What did you talk to Nicola about? Did you leave