Don't Tell A Soul (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Kane stared after him, shaking his head. One asshole down. He turned his attention

back to the interview with Rockford. He had dealt with super-cool psychopaths before and it was not beyond reason to assume Josh Rockford had the ability to hide the fact he had killed Sarah. Yet something did not gel. His demeanor was wrong, especially the quip about the DNA sample. If he had been acting the part of an innocent man, he would be up for an Oscar.

However, he refused to remove him as a suspect for the attempts on Jenna’s life; Josh had been in the area and could not account for his whereabouts during the time of both incidents. His father owned the same model vehicle, and he had motive. He would have to examine the pickup for damage and inspect John Davis’s vehicle as well. Kane stared down at the list of suspects. He found it hard to believe the real estate broker was responsible and the list was getting shorter. Take Billy Watts and Josh Rockford out of the equation, and all I have is Dan Beal and Stan Clough.

Forty-Seven

Jenna removed her coat and gloves then dropped into her chair. “Shut the door.”

“This isn’t about finding Sarah Woodward’s purse, is it?” Daniels frowned down at her. “I dropped it down the evidence chute. Kane said you’d want to log it in personally.”

“Where did you find the purse?” Jenna leaned on her desk, clasping her hands. “I hope you followed procedure.”

“I wore gloves and sealed it inside an evidence bag.” Daniels looked at his hands then over one shoulder at the closed door before dropping his voice. “I wasn’t going to bother to look inside your bin but you did say to check every trash can from the crime scene to town. I found it inside your recycling bin.”

Jenna gaped at him in astonishment. “In my bin?” She had not brought the recycling bin inside since the collection on Friday and it should have been empty.

“Yeah.” Daniels pulled out his cellphone. “I have pictures.” He handed her the phone.

After scrolling through the images, she handed him back the cellphone. “Did you make an inventory of the contents?”

“No, I looked inside looking for confirmation of ownership. I found her ID, noticed a set of vehicle keys but I’m pretty sure the motel key was missing.” He gave her a suspicious look and cleared his throat. “How come it’s in your bin?”

“The Old Mitcham Ranch is on the same street as my ranch. Maybe my trash can was the only one left out or maybe leaving it in my bin was a way to taunt me, who the hell knows?” She narrowed her gaze. “Don’t for a second think that Kane is involved. I can account for his movements on Monday. He was with me.”

“Sure, it must be a coincidence, but yours wasn’t the only can left out. I searched four other bins along that road.” Daniels raised a brow. “So they picked yours on purpose. Must be a local to know where you live.”

Jenna lifted her chin. “Talking of locals, why didn’t you tell me your brothers live next door to Stan Clough? I had to find out from John Davis.”

“I didn’t think it mattered.”

She glared at him. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“Well, I guess.” He squirmed “We own the Old Mitcham Ranch. I asked Mr. Davis to sell it. My brothers had nothing to do with it.”

“What?”

“I thought you knew Sheriff Mitcham was our grandpa and left us a bunch of land. It’s common knowledge in these parts.”

“Obviously not.” Anger straightened her spine. “You should have told me. I’m not a local and all this happened before I arrived.” She cleared her throat. “Sit down. I want to know everything. When did you decide to sell the property?”

“Oh, about three months ago.” Daniels lowered into a chair and stretched his long slim legs before him, looking far too at ease for Jenna’s comfort. “I’m the youngest and the only one of us with a proper job. When my parents died, they left debts and we had to sell personal items to pay the bills. We are often short of cash over winter so I put the old place on the market. I didn’t tell my brothers, I thought it would be a nice surprise.” He grimaced. “When I rang Dean and told him about the murder, he went ballistic and said I was trying to sell part of our family’s heritage. He called John Davis and had the property removed from the listing.” He gave her a chagrined look. “Gave me a tongue lashing last night on the phone as well. That’s the last time I try to do something to help.”

Jenna drummed her fingers on the table. “I see.”

“I didn’t know Sarah’s grandmother was planning on visiting the place either until I saw it on the list Davis dropped here.”

The image of Sarah Woodward’s glassy death stare flashed across her mind and she blinked hard to push the horrific vision away. “If Mrs. Woodward had put an offer on the place, they would have mentioned it to you, especially as they didn’t know you’d put it on the market.” She unclasped her hands. “Exactly how well do you know Stan Clough?”

“Huh?” Daniels stared at her blankly.

“You know Stan Clough, who is a person of interest. Why didn’t you admit to knowing the man, let alone where he lived? Are you hiding something?”

“I know of him, everyone knows what he did. I didn’t know where he lived when I spoke to you this morning.” Daniels shrugged nonchalantly. “I rarely go to the ranch during winter. There is nothing to do and my brothers are quite capable of handling the stock. They don’t need me; in fact, most times I get in the way.” He gave her a petulant stare. “At the moment, Dean is real pissed with me—oh, sorry, ma’am—angry with me about trying to sell the Old Mitcham Ranch, but when I called him on the satellite phone he mentioned Stan Clough. He told me Clough was living on Rocky Mile Road with a bunch of stinking pigs. He told me not to tell you because Stan doesn’t want anyone, especially you, knowing where he lives.”

“Oh, really?”

“I guess he wants a quiet life, ma’am.” Daniels winced. “I sure do.”