“Mary’s not stupid. I think she’s put together her sister’s questions, her answers, and the bad things that are happening to Grace.”
Reno nodded. “The not-talking-about-her-sister is the tell.”
Boone finished with, “Mary’s done the math and thinks her sister’s involved in the harassment. She just doesn’t know what to do with the answer.”
Reno took a slow breath. “She needs to tell Grace.”
“Yeah, she does.”
“Will she?”
“Maybe. In her own time. Charlotte says Mary’s notoriously stubborn. If we try to question her or push her to tell Grace, she’ll dig in her heels and refuse to say a word.”
“Cooper needs to know, now.”
“Then tell Cooper.” As Boone headed for the office, Reno pulled out his phone and texted Cooper. Got a minute?
The reply came back inside thirty seconds. You at the Mustang?
Yep.
Cooper replied, There in twenty.
Cooper rolled into the bay twenty-two minutes later in his own truck, not a squad car, wearing civilian clothes and a baseball cap. So. He didn’t want to look like a deputy standing across the street from the bakery, did he? Fair.
Reno told him about Mary’s sister, Mary’s recent and unusual silence, and his and Boone’s read on what it meant. Cooper listened intently without interrupting.
Then he said merely, “Noted. I’ll look into it. And my read’s the same as yours.” Cooper looked at him a beat longer than necessary, then said, “I had a long night last night.”
“Do tell.”
“Curtis Marchand slipped out the back way from his mother’s place again last night. Apple Pie PD discreetly tailed him to this side of the lake and handed off the tail to me.”
“And?”
“He drove by the bakery real slow, headed over to Lily’s preschool to make a drive-by, drove past the cottage, then drove home.”
“He’s casing locations for another hit of some kind,” Reno bit out.
“Seems so.”
“At least we know whatever he’s planning is probably going to happen at night,” Reno said grimly.
“Likely, but not guaranteed. He may have spotted the daytime surveillance on the bakery and pre-school and just be doing his casing when he thinks no cops will be around.”
Reno took a slow breath. “Can’t we find something to arrest this guy on? Get him into custody?”
“Patience, Counselor. You know we’ve got to have probable cause to pick him up.”
Reno huffed. Sometimes following the law was a pain in the butt.
Cooper shot him sympathetic look. “I know how freaked out I was when some kids tried to frame Rose’s son for a crime I knew he didn’t commit. Let our investigation take its course, Reno. Slow, steady, methodical police work catches more criminals than flashy, premature action.”
“My head knows you’re right. My heart’s another matter.”
“I get it.” A pause. “The good news is Curtis doesn’t know we found the back way out of his mother’s place. He wouldn’t have used it again last night if he’d spotted our surveillance on it.”
“Can we put a tracker on his vehicle?” Reno asked.
