From his position beside the cruiser, Brad surveyed the crime scene where he and Larry had spent the past fifteen minutes. His chief deputy was taking a statement from the farmer whose equipment had been stolen, but that didn’t require two people.
Nevertheless, his agenda for today was full thanks to theflu wave that continued to decimate the department. While deferring the discussion with Steven for twenty-four hours wasn’t ideal, a drive to St. Louis would take a chunk out of his packed schedule.
Besides, it wasn’t as if the man was hanging around Natalie’s house today and in a position to cause any further disruption. He rarely came down until Friday afternoon.
May as well wait. Deferring their conversation until tomorrow would give him an opportunity to practice his patience.
Brad huffed out a breath.
As if.
The odds of him ever mastering that when it came to solving a case were nil.
At least he could call Natalie and confirm Steven was planning to visit this weekend, using an update on the camera installation delay as an excuse for getting in touch. No sense raising any alarms with the woman until he talked to her cousin.
He also needed to work through the inconsistencies with his theory about the man’s involvement in the incidents on the property.
Like the alibi Steven had provided for the Sunday morning Micah had been killed, complete with the names of patrons and staff who’d been on hand at the gym he frequented. Given how easy it would be to verify those facts, it was doubtful he’d lied about his presence. Plus, Natalie had said he’d left Saturday night.
But he hadn’t. Otherwise his vomit wouldn’t have been on Micah’s shirt.
Meaning he must have connected with the groundskeeper at the beginning of the time-of-death window Rod had identified, then driven straight to St. Louis to be at the gym early.
If Micah’s cause of death ended up being homicide, and Steven was responsible, he’d planned the crime in meticulous detail.
How Steven’s financial straits fit into the picture was a mystery, but theydidfit. Brad could feel it in his gut. He just had to connect the dots.
He pulled up Natalie’s number on his cell and tapped it in.
After three rings, she picked up.
“Natalie, it’s Brad. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“No. Cara and I finished our morning translation session about five minutes ago. How can I help you?”
“I wanted to apologize for the delay in getting the cameras in place. The company I recommended is working through an unusual backlog. They promised to be there bright and early Monday morning.”
Silence.
“Natalie?”
“Yes, I’m here. I was going to call you today about that. I’m going to hold off on the cameras.”
He frowned as he watched a combine harvest soybeans in a field across the road.
What was that odd inflection in her voice all about?
He kept his tone conversational even as his antennas went up. “Why wait? My encounter with the man may have put a temporary stop to his trespassing, but since Cara’s seen lights in the woods on multiple occasions, I think we can assume he’ll be back. The cameras may be our best hope of spotting him and getting someone over there to intercept.”
More silence.
This time he waited her out.
At last a sigh came over the line. “That won’t be necessary, Brad. I know who the man is. It’s Steven. I wanted to talk with him before I said anything to anyone. I’m sure there’s a simple explanation for his nighttime trips. I intend to ask him about those as soon as he gets back from his walk to the lake.”
An alert began pinging in Brad’s mind.
“He’s there now?”
