“Do you want to be involved in the takedown or would you prefer that I make the plans?” Rio pushed away from the wall and took a seat beside Kane at the conference table. “We’ll be able to hit them on the first delivery after the agents arrive. Until they get here it’s going to be a waiting game.”
Jenna tapped her pen on the table considering the implications of allowing her deputies to go it alone. The idea didn’t make her happy. As a team, they worked closely together and knew exactly what the next person would do in a crisis. “Make the plans, by all means. You’re going to need Dave to act as your sniper backup. I would suggest you confer with him along with the others as he is an expert in takedowns. If we are not snowed under with the current case, we’ll be out there in the field with you. You’ll need as many boots on the ground as you can lay hands on. Keep me in the loop.” She sighed. “Now I would like you to concentrate on the case at hand. We need to find Laney Prescott’s next of kin. Divide the work between you. We will also be searching social media and contacting Laney Prescott’s workmates for her close friends. I’ll call the director of the socialservices department and see if I can get them to give me any information on anyone who may have put in any complaints or caused a problem for her. It will be difficult getting them to divulge any information. I’ll feel them out during the phone call, and if I consider they might be withholding information, I’ll get a search warrant. I don’t believe the judge will withhold one, as we are talking murder here.”
She glanced at the serious faces around the table. They chatted together for a few moments and as usual worked as a competent unit. Standing, she left the conference room and went to her office. Once inside, she contacted the director of the social services and spent her time refilling the coffee pots in her office while she waited on hold. She’d met Christopher Paul, the new director, when he’d arrived from Helena. As the Her Broken Wings Foundation needed to work closely with his departments, she needed to be on his good side. He agreed with her charity work and her passion for protecting anyone abused or bullied in the community. When he finally came to the phone and apologized profusely for keeping her waiting, she gave him the information about Laney Prescott. “I’m sorry to deliver this bad news over the phone but we are exceptionally busy and the weather is terrible at the moment to be driving around to see people in person.”
“I understand completely.”A door clicked shut and Jenna heard a scrape of a chair as Paul sat down at his desk.“I’m extremely shocked about Laney. She was a very special person. She had a deep compassion, which after working in this profession for a long time can often become jaded. Am I allowed to ask what happened to her?”
Jenna thought for a beat as she didn’t usually give out any information prior to an autopsy or the next of kin being notified. “The cause of death is undetermined at the moment. The medical examiner will be performing an autopsy in the morning and maybe then I’ll have some more information. The reason Icalled you is because I need the next of kin details you have in her file. I also want you to consider telling me if she had any particularly nasty cases that might have caused someone to strike out at her or if she’d been threatened in any way.”
“You believe someone murdered her, don’t you?”Paul sucked in a long breath.“I can’t believe it. Poor Laney, she certainly didn’t deserve that. Do you figure it was one of her clients?”
Not expecting any assistance whatsoever, the man took her aback with his enthusiasm to help in the case. It immediately sent up a red flag and she sat slowly in her office chair, trying very hard to compose her next sentence. “I’m sure that information would be at your fingertips. Do you recall her mentioning any problems she had?”
“Laney had a few cases on the go. A couple of them concerned spousal abuse, and removing a woman from an abusive relationship can often cause repercussions. She worked a case where a child was taken into protective custody and both parents became very aggravated. We discovered a seriously neglected child who hadn’t attended school for a long period of time. The parents made all sorts of excuses, but it was obvious when she went to view the child that he was neglected. He had bruises all over him and we had to intervene. It’s not something that we enjoy doing but sometimes we don’t have any choice.”His chair squeaked as he moved around.“I would need to access her files on her computer to see if she’d made notes about any problems with these recent clients. One thing I do know is she didn’t come to me with a complaint. Sometimes we just take it on the chin and keep going.”
Unable to believe her luck, Jenna cleared her throat. “Any information you could give us would be very helpful. One other thing. Are any of her workmates close friends?”
“I’m not sure.”Paul drummed his fingers on the desk.“I’ll go and speak to them and see what I can find outfor you, and then if necessary, I’ll be happy to arrange a time for you to come in and speak to them.”He sighed.“That’s all I can do for now. I have a client waiting.”
Making a few hurried notes, Jenna stood. “Thank you very much. I’ll wait to hear from you.” She disconnected, grabbed the two coffee pots and hurried back to the conference room. She smiled at Kane. “The director is going to cooperate.”
TWENTY
The smell of fresh coffee wafted through the open door and Kane turned in his chair as Jenna walked into the room. She carried two coffee pots to the counter and slid them into the coffee machines. He returned her smile. At last, something had turned their way in the case. “That’s good to know and I’ve found Laney Prescott’s next of kin. She has a sister in Atlanta and her aunt lives in Helena. I’ve instructed the local police to inform them of Laney’s death. I’m hoping they will contact us so we can make arrangements for her body when Wolfe releases her.”
“The social services director has agreed to go through her files and see if he can find any problems she had with her clients. He hasn’t said he will release the names to me, but if he does find anything suspicious, then our next step would be to get a search warrant so it covers him from being prosecuted for divulging the names.” She filled cups with coffee and handed them around to the team.
Kane stood, collected the fixings from the counter, and put them in the middle of the table. He added cream and sugar to his cup and opened his mouth to ask for more details whenJenna’s phone chimed. He regarded her expression as she answered the call. All the color had drained from her face. Assuming something had happened to the children, he stood. “What is it?”
“It’s the office administrator from the middle school. I’ll put the call on speaker.” Jenna placed her phone in the middle of the table. “Okay, you’re on speaker and my deputies are in the room with me. Please take a deep breath and tell me exactly what happened.”
“I believe someone has hurt Ms. McBride. I’ve called the paramedics and they’re on their way. One of the maintenance team found her in the boiler room.”
“That’s good the paramedics are on their way. I assume you haven’t gone to see if she’s okay?” Jenna looked at Kane and raised one eyebrow. “Why is that?”
“The man who found her said she looked like she’d been strangled. He ran all the way back here and we locked ourselves in the office. The rest of the maintenance staff and the other two teachers who came in today have left. They wanted to get home before the blizzard got any worse.”
A man’s voice came through the speaker.
“I’m Jesse Holland. I escorted Ms. McBride to the boiler room. I checked it out and didn’t see anyone. She noticed her purse in there and headed inside when I got a call to go and help with a burst pipe. Once we’d repaired it, I went back past Ms. McBride’s classroom to see if she was okay. When I didn’t find her, I went to tell Ms. Bell. She sent me back to the boiler room and I found Ms. McBride lying on the floor with a cord around her neck. Her face was blue. I didn’t spend any time hanging around. I just got out of there and ran back here to tell Ms. Bell.”
“You mentioned your boss.” Jenna stared at the phone. “Where is he and are there any other people in the school we should know about?”
“No, once we’d sealed the pipe, the boss told us all to gohome.” Jesse gasped in a deep breath.“I saw them head for the parking lot, but I figured I should look in on Ms. McBride, considering what had happened to her.”
Kane cleared his throat. “This is Deputy Kane. I want you to tell me the reason Ms. McBride needed to go to the boiler room.”
“Someone pranked Ms. McBride again this morning.”Ms. Bellbreathed heavily. “She found a note on her whiteboard saying they’d left her purse in the boiler room. She wanted to go and look for it, so I sent Jesse with her to make sure she’d be okay.”She let out a small sob.“I didn’t know he’d left her there alone.”
“I’ve been here all day and I didn’t see anyone but the normal guys working around here.”Jesse’s indignation came through the speaker.“No one goes down to the boiler room unless there’s a problem with the furnace. It’s way down the other end of the school. The chances of anyone from the outside getting in, especially now we know someone is trying to hurt her, would be virtually impossible.”
Kane exchanged a glance with Jenna and shook his head. “And yet they did.”
“When the paramedics get there, tell them to check for signs of life and that the sheriff is on the way.” Jenna stood. “Tell them that it is a crime scene and to respect it as such.”
Kane downed his coffee. “When you hear our siren, make sure someone is at the door to let us in. I’ll be contacting the medical examiner.”
“Okay, we’ll be here locked in the office until you arrive.”Ms. Bell disconnected.
