It wasn’t as if the man had talked much. Natalie had carried the bulk of the conversation after her cousin emerged from the basement. So it couldn’t have been anything the man said. There hadn’t been—
Wait.
Brad stiffened.
That was it.
It was what Stevenhadn’tsaid that was peculiar.
He should have been surprised to find the sheriff on the other side of the basement door. His first logical question should have been, “What are you doing here?”
Instead, he’d acted as if the appearance of a law enforcement officer in the house at that early hour wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. It was almost as if he’d expected him to be there.
But why would he have anticipated that unless he knew what had gone down last night?
Brad took a long, slow breath. Stared again at the blood on his shirt as a shocking theory began to take shape in his mind.
Steven’s cut had been real, no question about it—but what if he hadn’t gotten it in the basement? What if he’d been injured in the woods hours earlier and reopened the wound inthe basement to create a plausible and innocent explanation for it?
What if Steven was the late-night trespasser?
Brad exhaled and leaned against the washer.
That theory seemed outrageous.
Yet it made sense.
Who would have better access to Natalie’s property at night than someone staying on the premises? Someone who could come and go in the wee hours without anyone noticing—except a night-owl professor?
But if Stevenwasthe trespasser, what was he doing in the woods?
Why did it have to be done covertly, under the cover of darkness?
And what connection, if any, did he have to Micah’s death?
As questions tumbled through his mind, Brad fingered the cuff of the shirt.
Preposterous as it was to think that Natalie’s beloved cousin could have any connection to all the strange happenings on the grounds or to Micah’s death, the pieces fit.
And there was one simple way to find out if Steven knew more about Micah’s death than he’d admitted.
A DNA test.
All they had to do was analyze this blood sample and see if there was a match to the vomit Rod had found on Micah’s shirt.
Pulse picking up, Brad returned to the kitchen, shirt in hand, and pulled an evidence envelope from the stash he kept on hand. Slid the shirt in.
If he could get the test expedited, it wouldn’t take long to see if there was a match.
But if a matchdidcome back, his work would only be beginning. One piece of circumstantial evidence linking the two men wouldn’t lead to a conviction. They’d have to have more.
Like a motive.
Whatever Steven was doing in the woods might provide that, however.
So if the lab confirmed they had a match, he’d have to figure out how best to play this to get the answers they needed.
In the meantime, it could be instructive to dig into his background. Delve into his history, run his credit, see how much information was available that didn’t require a court order to access.
