“I hate going somewhere new to search the premises. It reminds of my patrol days,” he said.
“Everything okay?” said Katie.
“Aren’t I the one asking you that?”
“Usually. Well?”
“Had a fight with Denise—actually, an argument.”
“Oh.”
“It’s nothing really, but she’s getting antsy.”
“About?”
McGaven glanced to his partner. “Wedding… tying the knot… getting hitched…”
“I see.”
“So… I took two hours back at the office yesterday and I dug a little deeper on Griffin Jr., even though I was planning on staying home,” said McGaven.
He had Katie’s attention. “And?”
“And… I couldn’t find any tax records or employment records. He must’ve worked for cash. And then I checked his visitor log when he was in prison on a couple of occasions: once for one year and then for three.”
Katie waited. The rain poured in sheets, making it difficult to see the country road. McGaven decided to pull off and park, leaving flashing lights on so other drivers would see them. The rain was so hard it was difficult to hear each other talk. The detectives waited about ten minutes until the pouring rain subsided to a regular level.
“Wow. Is it flooding?” she said. When that much water came down it made country roads flood and caused a host of other driving hazards.
McGaven looked out of all the windows and even lowered his. “It’ll be okay to drive on. I might just wait another few minutes.”
Katie agreed.
“So. I almost didn’t see it, but guess who visited Griffin Jr. when he was in prison—both times?”
Katie wasn’t in the mood to play “guess who” games and pulled a face.
McGaven chuckled, obviously recognizing his partner’s annoyance. “What would you say to Mr. Tom Grand?”
It caught Katie off guard. “Tom Grand, the manager at Crowne & Miller Construction?”
“The one and only.”
“Are you sure?”
“I doubled-checked. He had apparently been a manager for a metal place and taught machine shop at a high school. Maybe he knew Griffin Jr. from one of those.”
“Being on the visitors list to see Griffin Jr. still doesn’t mean he’s connected to the Collins family,” she said.
The rain had subsided. McGaven eased the police sedan back onto the road. “No. But it’s a strange coincidence,” he said.
“How convoluted is this case? So many people, but we can’t find what binds them together.” Katie sighed. “Someoneisgoing to talk to us to fill in the blanks.”
“There’s my feisty partner.”
“It looks like the only ones who have been honest with us have been the Young brothers.”
“The excavator worker and his super seemed to tell the truth.”
