“So I hear. Well, give her my best, won’t you?”
“Will do.” He shot them a friendly salute and trotted back to his truck, firing it up and pulling out of the driveway.
“Do you have that five minutes now?” Erica asked.
“I suppose so.” Olivia sighed, then opened her front door and allowed Erica to step inside. “Would you like coffee?”
“Ah, you said the magic word,” Erica breathed in pleasure. “I’d love some. It’s been a long afternoon. Dealing with the chief always makes my teeth ache.”
“He’s not an easy man, is he?”
“That’s an understatement,” Erica muttered as they stepped into the cheery kitchen.
Olivia indicated for Erica to take a seat at the island in the center. Pulling down two thick mugs, she turned back to the other woman.
“I’m afraid I only have instant coffee. I don’t usually drink a lot of it.”
“Instant is fine. Black with one sugar, if you don’t mind.”
“Ms. Kelly,” Olivia began as she set the two steaming mugs down on the counter.
“Erica.”
“Erica,” she amended. “I’m still not sure why you’re here. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Well, like I said, Jake called, and I owed him a favor. He seemed to think the chief was taking an unhealthy interest in you. I have to say, after talking to Chief Walcott myself, I agree with Jake. There’s something not quite right going on here.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Well, for starters, he had no grounds to have your car towed to the police impound. After it was clear that it hadn’t been involved in an accident, it should have been returned to you, but when I arrived, they were searching the interior of the car and taking samples. Based on what Jake’s told me, my guess is he’s trying to find some evidence to link you to Adam Miller’s murder.”
“Yeah.” Olivia sighed. “I figured he might.”
“You don’t seem too concerned?”
Olivia shrugged. “I didn’t kill Adam. I spoke to him once for about ten minutes in the pub. He wasn’t anywhere near my car. The chief can search the car as much as he likes. He isn’t going to find anything.”
Erica nodded in approval. “I pointed out to the chief that without probable cause or the correct warrant, anything he did find would be inadmissible in court.”
“I bet he didn’t like that.” Olivia’s mouth curved.
“No, he didn’t, but at that point, he didn’t have any reason not to hand over your car, and he knew it. It should have been relatively straightforward, but they’ve had me jumping through hoops all afternoon to try and get it back.”
“They were stalling?”
“Yes. I hate to admit it, but Jake may be right. Chief Walcott is ignoring all other evidence in favor of going after you. I’ve taken a look at some of the evidence and really, apart from the fact you saw Adam in the pub the night he disappeared, along with a dozen other people I might add, all they have is that the body was discovered in your woods. There is nothing to tie you to the Miller murder at all.”
“I’ve been trying to tell them that.”
Erica gave a puzzled frown. “The thing is, I’ve known the chief ever since I opened my own practice here in town. The man’s a pain in the ass, there’s no doubt, but he’s a straight-down-the-line, by-the-book kind of guy. He never cuts corners.”
“So?”
“So,” Erica continued, “what is it about you that made him throw the book away? He’s mishandled this investigation from the moment the body was discovered. Their case against you has so many loopholes it would get laughed straight out of court, but for some reason he’s fixated on you being the murderer. It’s like he has tunnel vision.”
“Great. That’s just what I need while I’m trying to get the people of Mercy to accept me and forget the fact that my father is a murderer—the chief of police with some kind of vendetta against me.”
“I think this goes deeper than just the fact that your father was convicted of murder. It almost seems personal.”
