Free The Promise by Patrick Hurley Page B

way.”
     
    Gallagher thought quickly to himself, “ Why is this guy already defending himself? Doesn’t he know what Shakespeare said?”
     
    As he thought this, he extended his hand, “Detective Gallagher, Mr. Shaw, pleasure.”
     
    Justin shook it and smiled broadly. “It’s nice to meet you, too, detective.”
     
    Gallagher noticed that Shaw’s hands were clammy. Was it nerves, dishonesty? Hiding a secret of some kind? He wanted to know more about this kid and the first question literally flew out of his mouth.
     
    “Can you describe for us the nature of your relationship with Allison Taylor?”
     
    Justin Shaw didn’t even hesitate, “Friends, just friends. My parents would probably want more for us, but so far, Allison and I have kept it cool. I have known her since kindergarten. She’s my buddy.”
     
                  Gallagher seamlessly moved deeper into the questioning, “When was the last time you saw her?”
     
    Again, Justin was on it. He smiled at the detective and explained their meeting, “We went out for pizza the night before she disappeared. We had been to the mall buying some clothes and we got hungry. So, we ate.”
     
    Gallagher hit him verbally again, “Do you remember much of your conversation?”
     
    Shaw responded, “Sure, she was really excited about school starting up and she liked her new roommates. It was just typical college stuff.”
     
    The detective was unfazed by the young man’s confidence, “That’s all she talked about? Nothing unusual or odd that struck you funny?”
     
    Justin thought a moment than dramatically looked at Gallagher as he spoke in whispered tones,
     
    “Yes, there was one thing. She told me she was planning on disappearing the next day and joining the circus because she always wanted to be a clown.”
     
    Gallagher frowned, “Don’t be a smartass, Shaw. We need to be serious here. Can you think of anything that would make her disappearance rational? It would really help us.”
     
    Justin Shaw put his head down and stared at the rug for an interminable amount of time. Finally, he looked up and said, “Okay, she told me some personal things about her feelings for me. She asked me to promise to marry her someday.
     
    I was stunned. I had never heard Alli talk like that before. I was so taken aback, I joked about it. I told her dramatically that we couldn’t get married because we were actually brother and sister, that our parents both had affairs with each other.
     
    She got irritated with me that I was not taking her seriously. She said, ‘Maybe if I disappeared, you would miss me and take stop taking me for granted then!’
     
    I just laughed and said, ‘Okay, Allison, disappear. That will be a brilliant plan to win me over.’
     
    Then, she laughed and said, “If that’s what it takes, maybe I will!”
     
    We finished our pizza and I took her home.”
     
    Justin Shaw looked down at the floor and then looked up at Gallagher with some doubt in his eyes, “You don’t think that Alli was serious about disappearing do you?”
     
                  Gallagher looked over at Chief Parker. For several seconds none of the three men spoke as they absorbed this new potential development in the case.
     
    Could Allison Taylor be that insecure to voluntarily vanish so she could goad Justin Shaw into loving her more? This was not the profile of the girl they had thought they knew.
     
    What was going on here? 
     
                  Gallagher stared at Justin. “It would have been nice if you had come forward with this earlier. This could have major significance on the case, young man.”
     
    Shaw just shrugged. “I didn’t take what she said seriously, so I forgot about it. Honestly, it never connected with me, until just now.”
     
    Chief Parker was more sympathetic. “Justin, do you believe this is something Allison would really do? Is she that kind of person? You know her as well as