Haylee hovered closer to Davie. “I think we should stop this now until Davie’s mom can be here.” She stood slightly in front of the kid. “He’s a minor and you’re the FBI. This feels like more of an interrogation than a couple of questions.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Davie said, glaring.
Laurel nodded. “Okay. Just curious. What size are your feet?”
He drew back. “That’s a stupid question. It depends on the shoe. Eleven to twelve, I guess.”
Interesting.
“That’s all,” Jason said.
“What about you, Jason?” Laurel asked.
He snorted and looked down at his feet. “Size thirteen, and it’s tough to find shoes.”
She angled her head; he did have large feet.
He met her gaze evenly. “I’m sorry, but we do need Davie’s mom here if you want to ask any more questions.”
Fair enough. Laurel withdrew a check from her pocket. “The retainer for my barn. Davie? I’ll be calling your mom to set up an off icial interview. Thank you.” She turned and walked out the door, her mind drawing connections again. For now, where was Tommy Bearing?
Sighing, she jumped into her SUV. It was time to relieve Kate at the hospital.
Hopefully Walter had regained enough strength to survive a surgery.
Chapter Twenty-One
After a sleepless night, Huck strode from his office up to Laurel’s, finding the reception area empty. Considering it was five in the morning, he wasn’t surprised. He continued through the door to locate Laurel in the conference room, butt on the glass tabletop, staring at the two whiteboards. She’d placed pictures and notes about the victims on one and had taped photographs of suspects on the other. Then she’d drawn lines between them, noting all connections.
He looked at the suspects but didn’t get a feel for any of them. “The mayor has a verified alibi for Charlene Rox’s murder as well as during the time Christine Franklin was taken yesterday.”
She stood and yanked the mayor’s picture off the glass. “This is all too perfect. Too textbook. The killer might be taunting us.”
“I know.” Huck rolled his shoulders. “We have to find this guy before he beats another woman to death. Do you think he’s speeding up? If so, how soon will he kill Christine?”
“Yes. I think he has a taste for killing and hungers for more. It makes him feel powerful, and he needs that. He craves that. Christine doesn’t have long to live unless we find her. Fast.” She tossed the mayor’s picture onto the table and stared at the remaining suspects.
That left Steve Bearing, Tommy Bearing, Dr. Joseph Keyes, and now Davie Tate. “None of these are good suspects,” Huck mused, looking at the connections. “This is a small town and most people are connected. Anybody who attended one auction would be connected to both Sharon and Abigail. Besides, with ritual killings like these, are connections key?”
“No.” Laurel retook her seat, her gaze still on the board. “He could have found them all on the Internet. Professional women in the area who have advanced degrees. The word doctor in front of their names. He might not know any of them personally.” Stress vibrated from her.
“We’ll find him.” Huck drew out a chair and sank into it. “All criminals screw up.”
“No.” She turned those dual-colored eyes on him. “We onlycatchthe criminals who screw up. Just think of the ones we don’t even know about.”
He didn’t want to do that. Instead, he glanced at his watch. “The search team is back in the air, but we’re flying blind as to where to even look. Canvassing of Forest Ridge and the outlying neighborhood hasn’t led to any results, and I went back over the autopsy results for Charlene Rox and Sharon Lamber last night and didn’t see anything new.”
Laurel placed her stocking-covered feet on a chair. Today she wore gray slacks, a blue cashmere sweater, and cream-colored socks. Sage green stones made up her earrings and her necklace—they looked like they belonged to her mother. Most likely were a gift.
Laurel’s stunning dark red hair was up in a ponytail, and she looked young but tired. “Sharon Lamber had a greenhouse, and I’m waiting for a warrant to search it as well as one for Charlene Rox’s work or storage space at the hospital. Even though Christine Franklin verbally gave us permission, I want the warrant. We’re waking up judges as we speak. Also, the techs have a result on the shoeprint mold from the snow. Size eleven and a half Climber Man’s boot. They identified it quick.”
“That’s a common size and boot,” Huck muttered. He probably had a pair of those, but his feet were a size fourteen. “Well, it’s one more element, I guess. Do you want to drive to the hospital to interview Dr. Keyes now?”
“No. The mayor agreed to bring his son in for a brief interview this morning before his first class, and Davie’s mom agreed to bring Davie in afterward. Apparently they’re all concerned about school suddenly.” Her eyes gleamed. “Do you have an interrogation room in the Fish and Wildlife office?”
He winced. “We do, but I prefer to use our conference room. The interrogation room is a closet with no windows past a bunch of filing cabinets, and it’s kind of creepy. I’ve only been in there once to look for bottled water, but I’m not in the office much. More lately because of Monty slowing down and because of this case, but I prefer to be quartered at home. As you know.”
She tapped her finger against her lips. “That’s perfect. Make sure it’s cleared out, would you? I want Tommy in there.”
