“I didn’t.”
Wright opened a file folder in front of him and took out a stapled stack of paper. “Do you know what this is?”
“No clue,” Huck said, looking at the paper.
“This is the GPS record of your phone the night that Delta Rivers was murdered. Your cell phone pinged off the closest cell tower to Snowblood Peak and Iceberg River.”
“Well, yeah,” Huck said. “We’ve already covered this. I was across the river on a case.”
Wright slammed his hand on the file folder. “We did cover this. You were in the vicinity of all four of the murders . . . excuse me, the three murders and the one kidnapping. Don’t you find that to be an incredible coincidence, Captain Rivers?”
Huck actually found it to be pretty damn unfortunate.
Wright leaned toward him, his nose leading the way. “What are the odds that the same guy was actually at the location of every single one of the murders? If I also recall, based on witness statements, you don’t have an alibi for Haylee Johnson’s murder, do you?”
Huck thought back. Laurel had stayed with her mother that night. They hadn’t been together. He looked at Monty. “I would like to get that lawyer now.”
Chapter 37
Laurel sat at her office conference table with an uneaten bagel next to her. She stared at the murder board, to which she’d also added Rachel Raprenzi’s picture.
“I’ve got them.” Monty hustled into the conference room.
Laurel reached for the photographs. “These are pictures of the crime scene where Rachel had been pushed toward a river?”
“Yeah,” Monty said. “Fish and Wildlife officers were close by because of the search and rescue, so when Rachel called it in, they quickly tracked back to where she thought she’d been taken.”
“Helping me will get you fired, Monty.” But he was all she had. Everyone else was gone.
“Don’t care,” Monty said. “Plus, it’s Sunday. It’s my day off. I can do what I want.”
Not true. Laurel peered more closely at the broken ice, which appeared as if crampons had been used. The edges exhibited a rough but symmetrical quality. “Rachel said Huck kidnapped her?”
Monty nodded. “But Rachel didn’t actually see Huck. She felt a muscled male body hold her and was put into a dog crate in a truck, so she thinks it was Aeneas’s crate. But she didn’t see him.”
“Did she hear a dog?”
“No.”
Laurel quickly considered her options. “I’m still on this case.”
“Probably not for long.”
She nodded. “What do you say we pull Rachel in for an interview? This is a serial murder case, and we do have jurisdiction, especially since this crime occurred on federal land.”
Monty had dressed in his Fish and Wildlife uniform. “I would have to take lead.”
“I agree. I’ll do my best not to interfere.”
He lifted his shoulder. “I need Raprenzi’s number.”
Laurel looked it up on her phone. Rachel had given it to her months ago while asking for information on a case.
Monty lifted the phone to his ear. “Ms. Raprenzi, it’s Captain Monty Buckley from the Fish and Wildlife service. I need to interview you about what happened last night.” He waited a beat. “Yes, I’m aware you’ve accused Captain Rivers, and that’s fine. But I’ve been on this case since the beginning and would like to bring you in for an interview.”
Laurel held her breath.
He shook his head. “No, I’m not consenting to an on-camera interview. You would come to our offices.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m still not consenting to that. Either you come and talk to us, or I will put out word with your competitors that you are unwilling to help in this case and just want to use it to further your career.”
