“Indeed it can.” She smiled. “I have enough for my report now, so I won’t bother you anymore tonight. I want you to get some sleep. If they release you tomorrow, drop by the station and we can give you your phone, your purse, and your identification. I’ll leave my card here on the table for you. Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?”
I opened my mouth to say “no,” but then shut it quickly.
Yes, there was something she could do for me.
Chapter Nine
Jonah
“Oh my God. Who do the fingerprints belong to?”
Talon cleared his throat. “They belong to Felicia.”
Talon’s housekeeper and cook. A young woman from the Dominican Republic who lived on the outskirts of Snow Creek in a small house with her ailing parents. Felicia had been with the family in one capacity or another for nearly ten years. This was unbelievable.
“There must be some mistake.”
“That’s what I thought too, but they’re definitely hers. I had Mills and Johnson check them twice.”
“When we all got fingerprinted, to rule out anyone with access to the house, did Felicia give you any trouble about being fingerprinted?”
“No. But that may not mean anything.”
“That means she’s not guilty. Or it’s a pretty good indication. It’s possible they could’ve planted her fingerprints on the card. Or, when Colin came over to see Jade, perhaps he handed Felicia his card when she answered the door. Do you remember?”
Talon shook his head. “I’ve been over and over it in my head. I don’t remember Felicia ever interacting with Colin.”
“Have you talked to Felicia?”
He shook his head again. “I don’t know how to bring it up.”
“You’re going to have to. Maybe he stopped by when no one else was home, Felicia answered the door, he gave her his card, and she never thought to tell anyone that he had stopped by.”
“Yeah, I suppose that could have happened.”
“We don’t know anything until we talk to her. You don’t for a moment think that Felicia is guilty, do you?”
“God, no,” Talon said. “She’s been with us for…how long now? No, there’s not a criminal bone in that woman’s body.”
“I don’t think so either,” I said.
I turned toward footsteps.
Bryce walked into the foyer. “Hey, Talon, what’s going on?”
“Sorry,” I said to Bryce. “We’ve got some new evidence that Talon came by to talk to me about.”
“Oh, okay. Let me just get Henry, and we’ll be on our way.”
“No!” My voice sounded harsher than I intended. “I mean, don’t disturb him. In fact, why don’t you leave him here for the night?”
Bryce started laughing. “No offense, Joe, but I don’t think you know anything about kids.”
He had me there. “Then you crash here too. God knows I have the room. It’ll be fun, like old times.”
“You mean when you and I used to pass out in your barn because we were too drunk to move?” He shook his head, still laughing. “It’s not even nine o’clock yet. It’s early. Henry will be fine.”
“Bryce, I really need to talk to you.”