He was not going to defend himself about Rachel, and he definitely was not seeing her again. “That’s shaky,” Huck said. “I doubt we have enough to get a warrant for the mayor’s home. Besides, Rachel won’t give up a source. Not even for me.” Definitely not for him. She’d tossed his ass to the wolves for a story before. They weren’t even engaged now. “Sorry.”
Laurel looked back at the board. “That’s okay. Go call Abigail, and I’ll meet you outside.”
His phone buzzed and he glanced down to read the message from Monty. “Apparently Morris Lamber is in class for the next two hours. We could swing by the station and talk to the officer who took Dr. Rox’s complaints. He wasn’t on duty when I dropped by earlier.” Then he paused. “Is it weird that Morris is back teaching when his wife hasn’t even been buried yet?”
“I think so. We’ll have to ask him what he thinks. I’ll see you outside in a few moments.” Laurel moved past him and walked into the computer room without another word.
Huck watched her go. It was impossible to dig into her head and see what she was really thinking. Being back at work was stressful enough; he didn’t need to be arguing with his partner on this case.
But he didn’t know how to fix things with Laurel. He’d known that sleeping with her during the Snowblood Peak case would be a mistake.
But it had been a hell of a night.
* * *
The interview room of the local police station was only minimally heated, making Laurel glad she’d worn a sweater. Huck hadn’t been able to reach Abigail, so he’d left a message, and hopefully she’d return the call soon. For now, Laurel needed answers.
Officer Frank Zello was around thirty years old with a wide chest, handlebar mustache, and intense brown eyes. He sat straight at attention in the interview room, his gaze on whomever asked him a question. His uniform was pressed, his fingernails trimmed, and his hair a dark buzz cut. “I spoke with Dr. Rox on three occasions, and each time, she was visibly upset.”
Laurel read the reports, appreciating the very neat signature at the bottom of each signed page. Aeneas flopped on her feet and started snoring. “You were detailed in each form.”
“Thank you.”
Huck kept his focus squarely on the cop. “After three reports, why didn’t you offer her protection?”
“I did,” Officer Zello said. “But budget constraints made it impossible, according to the sheriff. So I had uniforms drive by Dr. Rox’s condominium as often as possible, and I went by several times day and night when I wasn’t on duty. Never saw a thing out of place.”
“Did you look inside her condominium?” Laurel asked.
The officer bit his lip.
“Officer?” Huck said.
Officer Zello sighed. “Yeah, I did. The sheriff said she was being hysterical or trying to get attention, and maybe that was true, but I did go through her place with her just in case. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.” He scratched his ear. “She was convincing, at least to me. I couldn’t get the sheriff on board to dump her phone and find out who was harassing her.” He shifted uneasily in his chair. “I was the one who finally advised her to maybe get out of town. Look how that turned out.”
Huck lifted his chin. “Even if you had been able to dump her phone, all of the calls came from an untraceable burner. And getting out of town was her only good option if the sheriff wouldn’t put someone on her door.”
The officer shook his head. “Even so, she came to us for help and now she’s dead.”
Laurel drew out the photographs of the black dahlias on the porch as well as one of the victim’s car with something etched into the snow on the windshield. “She gave these to you?”
“Yes.”
“What does that say in snow on her vehicle?”
The officer shrugged. “‘Die, bitch, die,’ we thought. It was hard to really tell. Also, she thought somebody wiped snow off her car several times in different locations, and that’s something odd that she wouldn’t have reported without everything else that happened. Her tires were slashed about three weeks before this, but she went and got them fixed without taking a picture. Apparently she had a couple of patients who were known to be violent, and she also worked outside of Seattle where crime has skyrocketed, so she didn’t make a proper report, like she should have.”
Laurel leaned forward. “Did Dr. Rox say anything else? Anything that didn’t make it into your reports or notes?”
Officer Zello breathed out. “I don’t think so. I was thorough and even documented the slashed tires, although she didn’t want those added to the report. She didn’t say anything else about her clients. She had three ex-husbands and said not one of them would’ve bothered to stalk her. Wasn’t dating anybody and hadn’t broken up with anybody in years.”
The officer had done an admirable job of trying to figure out who’d been stalking Dr. Rox. He scrubbed both hands down his face. “I can’t believe this happened. I mean, I felt she was in danger, but not danger like this. And now the mayor’s sister-in-law was also murdered by the same psycho? It’s crazy. They were both nice women, and now they’re dead. We have to catch this guy.”
Laurel slid the photographs back into the file folder. “You knew Sharon Lamber?”
Zello’s shoulders went back. “Yeah, we all did. Most of the Genesis Valley officers voluntarily worked the charity auction each year, and she made sure we were fed during the event. Then she brought pizzas and cookies the next week as a thank you for us. She was a really nice lady.” Zello adjusted his badge on his chest. “I can’t figure this out.”
Laurel tapped the file folder so all the papers settled inside. “Do you know Abigail Caine? She’s a professor at Northern Washington Tech.”
