The Veiled Cage (Lady Lawyer Series Romantic Suspense Novels Book 1) (25 page)

“
Precisely, and this fits with the narcissism I described. In making his plan, he failed to factor in how long it takes to clean a kitchen
,”
Amy said.

“
And w
e’
re not talking about light cleaning
,”
Ruby said, raking a hand through her hair
.“
I studied her cleaning supplie
s—
collectibles, rather. She could have used a decrepit old mop, and yet the kitchen footage shows her on her hands and knees. The mop is missing, and so is a wooden bucket. Where did they go? These pieces seem inconsequential on their own
.
”

“
The owner of the neighboring cabin, Carol Lawrence, smelled wood burning
.
”

“
Yes, Jazz. Good
.”
Ruby scanned her team, eyes glinting
.“
They could be coincidences
.
”

“
But you do
n’
t believe in coincidences
,”
Justin, Jasmine, and Colin said in unison.

“
No, I do
n’
t. It all means something. What else
?
”

“
Friday was Susa
n’
s birthday
,”
Jasmine said.

“
Yes, that matters
.
”

“
Abusers love to ruin special occasions. Longhorn picked Valentin
e’
s Day
,”
Arianna said, and searched Rub
y’
s eyes.

“I’
m okay
,”
Ruby said for Ariann
a’
s benefit
.“
Ar
i’
s right
.
”

“
And i
t’
s another piece to consider
,”
Amy said
.“
Who would
n’
t figure in that a woman would wear an impractical outfit for murder on her birthday? The killer is male, and i
t’
s personal
.
”

“
Does it fit the profile for him to have an accomplice
?”
Ruby asked.

“
Yes
.
”

“
Thank you, Amy. Jazz, walk us through the traffic flow, please
.
”

“
Yes, sir
.”
She gave Ruby a jaunty salute.

“
Sh
e’
s a natural fit to the team
,
” Amy murmured to Colin.

“
Yes, I adore her
.
”

“
Proceed
.”
Ruby gave Jasmine an exaggerated bow and sat to gulp coffee.

“
With Coli
n’
s help, I animated the traffic to and from the cabin. Colin
?
”

Colin tapped his PSC and an aerial view appeared on the center wall screen.

“
At approximately six-thirty, a green truck drove to the cabin followed by a blue car
,”
Jasmine narrated
.“
About fifteen minutes later, a rattletrap came down the road. It parked here, behind the blue car. At around seven, the truck left, and returned fifteen minutes later. Five minutes after the truc
k’
s return, the rattletrap and blue car left. Around eight, a black sedan pulled into the driveway where the blue car had been. It stayed until around ten-thirty, when Ruby and I saw its driver get in and take off
.
”

“
Whose car was it
?”
Emilio asked.

“
Stuart Johnsto
n’
s
.
”

“
What about the others
?”
Emilio followed up.

“I’
ll take that one
,”
Justin said
.“
Thanks, Jazz
.
”

She beamed at him and sat in her seat with a sigh.

Justin sauntered to the front of the room, smiling at Arianna as he passed
.“
I ran the truc
k’
s plates. I
t’
s registered to Jerald Combes. As for the other vehicles, Susan has a blue car. I collected mud samples from the driveway, and from the tire of Susa
n’
s car. They match. Her car was at the scene. The rattletrap was unidentified
.
”

“
Until this morning
,”
Ruby added
.“
Alfred introduced another player into the mix. Jerald Combes was at Alfre
d’
s on Friday morning to pick up a piece of jewelry for a business acquaintanc
e—
Anthony Priestley
.”
Ruby nodded at Kottke.

“
Anthony Priestley is twenty-seven years old. The feds looked at him during their investigation into a coke ring run by a Mexican cartel, and nothing stuck
.
”

“
The same ring that was dismantled during the big federal bust six months back
?”
Colin asked.

“
Same ring
,”
Kottke confirmed.

“
What kind of vehicle does Anthony Priestley drive
?”
Emilio asked.

“
Nicely done, New Guy. Colin, put it on-screen, please
.
”

Colin complied.

“
It looks like a rattletrap
,”
Amy said.

“
Ther
e’
s more
,”
Kottke continued
.“
There was a missing-person report filed yesterday night for Anthony Priestley
.
”

“
Who filed it
?”
Emilio asked.

“
His mother and a woman who claimed to be his best frien
d—
Elizabeth Priestley and Rebecca Phillips. Ms. Priestle
y’
s record is squeaky. Phillips is charged with felony possession of cocaine, and is currently represented by counsel
.
”

Colin stood
.“
I have an update on that front. Ruby, I put it on your calendar but did
n’
t want to disturb you. Ms. Phillips called to make an appointment. I booked her for seven tomorrow morning
.
”

“
She fire her previous lawyer
?
”

“
Yes
.
”

“
Lady Luck strikes again
.
”

“
Do you want me to move the appointment
?
”

“
No, tha
t’
s perfect. Good work, team
.”
Ruby retook control of the room
.“
We need to figure out what happened to Anthony Priestley. Is he a murderer? Did he chicken out and flee? Is he in a hidey hole somewhere? Is he an eyewitness who has
n’
t come forward? Is he even alive
?”
she peppered.

“
Did Stuart Johnston and Anthony Priestley kill Jerald Combes
?”
Amy asked.

“
Yes, we have to pursue all viable possibilities
,”
Ruby said.

“
Why would Johnston kill his best friend
?”
Jasmine asked.

“
The motive could be a classic
,”
Justin said
.“
Greed. I found Jeral
d’
s will at his residence. Johnston was set to inherit everything from Jerry if he knocked Susan out of the picture
.
”

“
He struck me as a killer
.
”

“
I
t’
s not just based on Jasmin
e’
s killer instincts
,”
Ruby said
.“
Jazz and I paid a visit to Levi Hollins, the charging attorne
y—
on paper, at least. Johnston spoon-fed him the PC statement. If yo
u’
re writing a PC statement and submitting it to the on-duty judge at midnight on a murder case, would
n’
t you also ask to search the house? He restricted it to the cabin and Susa
n’
s car. Why the car and not the house? Makes sense if you know where the knife is. What did we find in the house? Who would have had an interest in keeping it hidden
?
”

“
Surveillance equipment. It confirmed Susan was in the residence all night
.
”

“
Right, Kottke. What were the forensic results
?
”

“
It was Jeral
d’
s blood. The tox-panel revealed cocaine. Candace also found anti-coagulant
.
”

“
So we have in the blood trail an additive to stop blood from clotting. Her
e’
s another piece. Jazz, what did we notice alongside the blood trail
?
”

“
Gravitational drops
.
”

“
Combine that with the pieces missing from Susa
n’
s kitchen collectible
s
—”

“
And you have a person or persons laying a tidy trail to Susan Combes
,”
Emilio concluded.

“
Yes, and I bet one such person is Stuart Johnston. Kottke
?
”

“
Johnsto
n’
s prints were found on Susa
n’
s ca
r—
the door handle, the steering wheel
.
”

“
He was so cocky about his misdirection he did
n’
t bother to wear gloves. Johnston did
n’
t factor us into his plan
.
”

“
Why are
n’
t we going to Rebecca Phillips and finding out what she knows about her friend
?”
Jasmine asked.

Amy Larson stood
.“I’
ll take this one, Ruby. If they are involved in illegal activity together, Rebecca may have filed the report to cover his tracks. If Anthony is in hiding, then alerting her could cause him to go deeper
.
”

“
It is also possible she genuinely does
n’
t know his whereabouts
,”
Ruby added.

“
What do you have in mind
?”
Colin asked.

“
W
e’
ll gather intel today and have a better idea of the players. W
e’
ll dig deeper into Jeral
d’
s activities. Alfred mentioned a farm property that Jerald Combes had converted into a private lab
.
”

“
I have more on that front
,”
Justin said
.“
I spoke with Jerr
y’
s boss at Tycon. Jerry was gung ho about DNA experimentation and wanted to move forward with i
t—
fast track it to human trials. His boss not only did
n’
t give him the green light, he pulled the plug
.
”

“
How did Jerald react
?”
Amy asked.

“
He was pissed for a while. Then he was fine. Before the project pull, h
e’
d come in earlier than anyone and leave later. After, h
e’
d come into work on time, do his job, and leave
.
”