“Not only that,” Sierra said, “you can’t say the catapult was set for her alone, right?”
“I suppose,” Micha said. “But she would be the only one in the group to take that path.”
“I’ve testified at enough trials to know an attorney could use this to cast reasonable doubt,” she said. “He could even say the person set it as a trap to kill his dinner.”
“Good point and something we’ll consider.” Micha shared a look with Colin.
Colin slowed the SUV to take a sharp curve on the narrow two-lane road. “They could even say Jamal only made the catapult, but someone else set it.”
“Maybe I can help with that.” Sierra’s tone brightened. “Now that I know we’re looking at Jamal, I can also focus my boot print search to the Lowa Caminos and Jim Greens that Jamal mentioned owning. Put him at the scene. We can’t say when, but if I find a match it will at least put him there.”
Micha wondered if any of this was going to help, but they could evaluate all of that when he didn’t need to make sure Ava was okay. “Sounds like a plan.”
“After I finished the prints, I took the drinking glasses to Emory’s department to run the DNA. That was two hours ago. She told me DNA from the blood sample you provided from Buck’s wall has been completed, and we can compare it to the glass DNA once processing is done.”
“We still looking at a minimum of twenty-four hours?” Micha asked.
“Maybe a few less. The samples were straightforward and took only a few man-hours to isolate the DNA. It should complete in twenty hours or less.”
“Get back to me the moment you know anything if you can.”
“Will do.” She ended the call.
Colin glanced at Micha. “I would’ve killed to have resources like this when I was with the Bureau.”
“But I thought the FBI had the best lab of any government agency.” Micha shoved his phone into his pocket. “At least that’s what agents always spout.”
“You’re right, but turnaround times are nothing like the support we’re getting here. Maybe the big investigations in the public eye get this kind of treatment, but not us little guys in the Portland field office.”
“Could be worse,” Micha said. “Military turnarounds were legendarily slow and not from the top lab in the country. But yeah, I get what you’re saying.”
“At least we now know Jamal was the one most likely to try to hurt Ava, and he’s connected to Layne.” Colin pulled to a parking section for a waterfall overlook at the side of the road. “You think it’s time for us to pay Layne a visit?”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” Micha looked at Colin. “But first we find Ava and make a plan to keep her out of prison and the killer away from her.”
Ava sat back in the car seat, stunned, her phone in her hand with the pictures of her music storage drawers open at home. She blinked a few times and looked again. Yeah, third drawer down, the C2 bocal was gone. Likely now in Jamal’s neck or the ME’s evidence bag.
“The bocal is mine,” she said, hating the sound of it.
Dev glanced at her. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure one of them is missing and it’s of the size that fits the one in Jamal’s neck.”
“That’s too bad,” Dev said. “Micha’s not going to be happy when he hears this.”
“I know.” They fell silent and didn’t talk again.
Dev pulled into the hotel parking lot and Ava cringed but didn’t share her thoughts as he had chosen the place for her safety. He parked by the lobby door, and they went in together.
The place wasn’t as gross as she’d expected. It was even worse. The building was old and falling apart, and the lobby reeked of something she didn’t even want to contemplate. The guy sitting at the front desk behind bulletproof glass fit right in. He had greasy, stringy, long hair and graying stubble on his chin. His white Guns N’ Roses T-shirt held dark stains, and he grinned at her with a lecherous smile as Dev forked over the cash and slid it through the small opening in the window and continued until they walked out the door.
Dev escorted her through rain that had picked up beyond their normal spitting downfall at this time of year to their room that they would share until they heard from Micha. The space smelled of old cigarette smoke and mold. She flung back the worn floral bedspread to reveal white sheets emitting a hint of bleach smell, giving her confidence to sit down. The burgundy carpet was threadbare, but looked like it had been vacuumed. She didn’t even want to see the bathroom.
She shuddered and perched on the edge of the bed. “Anyone who knows me would never look for me here.”
“Sorry about this place.” Dev rolled her suitcase in and secured the door. “It’s disgusting. I get it, but no one looking for you here is exactly why I chose it. Hopefully the detective won’t keep Micha and Colin all night, and we’ll be out of here soon.”
“What about going to that diner just off the highway for a while? It has to be better than this, and we didn’t have dinner. You must be hungry.”
