That snapped Ash out of his trance. He looked at Chad like he was a stranger. Chad saw it, too. He panicked.
“No, no, I didn’t! He was hit by that drunk, remember? Everyone knows that.”
Ash’s voice came out in a broken rasp. “You’re lying. You killed him, then drug him out into the middle of the road and left him there.”
“It wasn’t like that.” Chad had tears in his eyes. “I only wanted to talk to him, to convince him to leave you alone, stop blackmailing you. I went to Nora Slater’s house late that night, after I knew Nora would be asleep. I just wanted to see if I could reason with Lewis. But he was leaving just as I got there.”
Jamie tried his best to keep his tone even. “So you followed Ben just like you followed Ash?”
“Yes. No.” He was getting frustrated. “You’re twisting it. I fo
