Her breaths quickened. “What are you saying, Cole? And be very careful with your next words.”
“She had a gift, Jo, like you have a gift. The question coming from my client is why Mira identified an innocent man, nothing more.”
“Are you accusing my mother, as if she was some sort of criminal?”
Cole released a heavy sigh. “Absolutely not. I was hired to look into things by someone who believes a loved one is innocent. That doesn’t mean heisinnocent. I’m not trying to build a case one way or the other. And honestly, you should already realize that I’m focused on what is going on with you.”
“You figure, work with me and you’ll figure this out for Naomi too.” Her breath hitched. “Why take the case, Cole? It feels almost like a betrayal.”
“Jo, please. I’ve explained this. I wanted to help you to be free of the danger. I’m looking for the truth, no matter what that is. Learning who killed your mother is key to setting you free.”
“From that danger, but now there’s my father and his issues.” Jo looked out the window. She couldn’t catch a break. Right now, it felt like everyone had betrayed her. Lied to her.
Finally, the detective’s face popped up. Both Jo and Colesat back. She struggled to remain calm after the heated exchange with Cole. With wire-rimmed glasses on a thin face, Detective Wilson appeared to be somewhere in his late forties and looked more like an accountant than a detective.
Cole adjusted the sound. “Detective Wilson.”
“Hi, Cole, thank you for meeting me.” Detective Wilson smiled. “Please just call me Rick. I don’t like formalities in situations like this.”
Situations like this?
“Okay, Rick,” Cole said. “This is Jo Cattrel.”
“Ms. Cattrel.”
Jo nodded her acknowledgment. She didn’t correct him. He could just address her formally for now. Jo tried to act enthusiastic, but a sense of dread filled her. She’d longed for someone to look into Mom’s death, but she was so distracted and weirdly torn since her mind was consumed with thoughts of Pop, especially after last night.
She sat up taller. Mom deserved justice. If only Pop was here now, he would agree, and he would join her in this meeting.
“I’ll get right to it, then. When I spoke with Cole, I warned him that you were in danger. I know that you informed the Lansing Police Department early on that you feared for your life and that you believed your mother had been murdered.”
“And the police ruled it an accident, but now you’re looking into the possibility that she was, in fact, murdered,” she said. “Cole told me some of it, but I want to hear from you what changed.”
Rick nodded and looked at his notes a few seconds, then said, “Your mother had finished a sketch just before her death. We had never been able to identify the person who murdered a man at an ATM. We couldn’t get a clear image of him, but Mira was able to work her magic. Buteven then, we didn’t have a name. Just a face and no leads. That is, until this week. We received an anonymous tip identifying Mason Hyde as the man in the sketch. I’m sure Cole has told you what’s going on, since he was hired to investigate.”
“He’s told me some of it, but I’m still not sure how this connects Mason Hyde to my mom’s death. Unless you suspect that he killed her because she’d drawn his likeness.”
“I’m getting to that. We tried to find him and bring him in for questioning. We weren’t able to track him beyond his address in Michigan, so clearly, he intentionally dropped off the map, which makes him look guilty. But then yesterday, we found him, or I should say we learned of his death.”
Jo bit back a gasp.
Cole tensed next to her. Her throat grew tight. Still, what did any of it have to do with Mom? So she sketched a criminal. It wouldn’t be the first time. “I’m still not surewhymy mother was murdered, because I do believe she was, or whyyoubelieve that I’m in danger from what happened three years ago.” There must be a reason. And maybe that reason was the same reason Mom warned her to hide.
“Yes, well, we recently uncovered previously unknown security footage of Mira Cattrel meeting with a man on the night she was killed. If you recall, her vehicle was found overturned in a flooded ditch.”
And Mom was already dead when they found her. “And now you believe she was forced off the road?”
“We’re looking into the matter again. I should sayI’mlooking into it. So, the man with whom she met before she died is the spitting image of the man in the ATM attack, and the tip led us to Mason Hyde. I wanted to question him about Mira and why he met with her and ask about the fact that she ended up dead moments later.”
Jo focused on breathing, slow and steady.
Cole grabbed her hand and squeezed.
“And now you say the man is dead,” Cole said.
“Murdered. That ramps up the danger factor in my opinion, specifically for you, Jo.”
“But why? He’s gone now. Do you think he was coming after me?” She almost shrugged. It all seemed pointless. Her mother wouldn’t get justice if Mason Hyde was her killer. “Wait. You don’t think the danger was coming from him. I’m sorry, Detective Wilson, but I’m confused. First, what makes you so sure he was the one who killed her?”
