Roy Cunningham stifles a yawn.

“I as’t him. He says he didn’t. He says they were studying together at a friend’s house off campus. He said she was all over him from the time she got over there.”

I jot down what he says, knowing there is a lot more to this situation than I’m hearing. If I want this case, I’ve got to give the Cunningham brothers a reason to hire me.

“Has his bond been set?” I ask, wondering what James Cunningham thinks of me. We’ve lived on the same street for years and have barely nodded since Rosa’s death.

When she was alive, we went to a few parties in the neighborhood, but I never felt comfortable around the black males. Too much history and not enough future. I always had the feeling I was on their turf and never felt quite welcome. Still, one on one he seems like a nice guy, and Rosa liked his wife.

James answers, “It’s fifty thousand. I’ve told Roy I’d help him take care of the bond once we got a lawyer for Dade.”

I wonder if James is calling the shots on this job. I wish I had been more friendly over the years.

“Good,” I say.

“The sooner he’s out of jail, the better.” I ask Roy, “Do you know anything about the girl?”

Anger comes into Roy’s voice.

“All Dade had time to tell me was that her name is Robin Perry and she’s from Texarkana. She didn’t even go to the cops until the next morning.”

“It sounds like a classic case of a woman changing her mind after the fact,” I suggest, knowing that this is what the father wants to believe; in this instance it is plausible.

The girl may have decided to scratch an itch and later realized Dade wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut.