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

Sarah’s homicide is looking more like an opportunistic thrill kill. She gave Daniels a long look. He was not law-enforcement material. “Have you thought about a different career away from Black Rock Falls?”

“Oh yeah.” Daniels gave her a crooked smile. “I’ve always wanted to join the rodeo circuit. Those boys play hard and fast. I haven’t really left Black Rock Falls and I’m hankerin’ for some fun in my life. This job with the murders and all is depressing.”

“Okay, you’d better grab Walters and go to lunch.”

She stood and followed him out the door. Noticing Kane was typing up a report, she decided to go through Sarah’s purse with Rowley and log the contents but required Kane’s key to the evidence room. Marching up to his desk, she tapped Deputy Rowley on the shoulder. Miffed to see him on Facebook, she snapped at him. “With me. Bring a notepad.”

“Is everything okay?” Kane glanced up from his computer screen.

“Yeah. I need your key to the evidence room. I’m taking Rowley with me to make a list of the contents of Sarah’s purse.” She moved closer and dropped her voice. “Why didn’t you inform me Daniels found the damn thing and in my recycling bin? Plus he had Clough’s damn address? He has a piggery on Rocky Mile Road. What’s going on?”

“In our trash?” Both dark eyebrows rose to the hairline. “He did mention he’d found out where Clough lived but refused to tell me and insisted where he found the purse was for your ears only. What a jerk. Do you think he believes I had something to do with Sarah’s murder?” He tossed her a bunch of keys.

“I have no idea.” She rubbed the back of her neck then waited for his reaction to her next bombshell. “Did you know the Daniels brothers own the Old Mitcham Ranch?”

“Nope, Rowley gave me a rundown of the history but didn’t mention the current owners. I assumed it was part of a deceased estate.” Kane took his notepad from his jacket pocket and flipped through the pages. “Yeah, I was going to ask John Davis for the lawyer handling the estate to inform him about the murder. Has anyone told him?”

“Not about the murder.” Jenna wet her suddenly dry lips and eyed the coffee takeaway cup on Kane’s desk with longing

. “I don’t want gossip going around until Sarah’s family has officially identified the body. Obviously, we don’t need to speak to the Daniels brothers as Pete has already informed them. Apparently, Dean contacted John Davis and removed the place from sale.”

“So we’ve found our leak?”

Jenna sighed. “Looks that way. I think Pete needs to find a new occupation. By the way, when is Sarah’s uncle coming to identify her body?”

“He should be arriving in the morning. The forensics are back and Maggie has put them in the files.” Kane moved his wide shoulders and stretched his legs. “Do you want me to go over Rockford’s interview with you now?”

“I’ll check the purse first.”

* * *

Jenna unlocked the cage, snapped on gloves, and slid Sarah Woodward’s purse out of the evidence bag and onto the aluminum tray on the table. She turned to Rowley. “Take pictures. Every step.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley took a camera from the shelf and played around with the settings. “I’m ready.” He snapped a few shots.

“Driver’s license in the name of Sarah Woodward, car keys with a tag for Miller’s Garage.” Jenna tipped the bag upside down. A few coins tumbled onto the tray, a pink scrunchie, a pen from the Black Rock Falls Motel, and a packet of gum. She searched inside, found a zipper, and opened a compartment. “Cash.” When she unfolded the notes, she found a phone number written on a scrap of notepaper from the motel. “Sixty-five dollars.” She stepped away from the table to allow Rowley to take photographs.

“No clues to the murderer here.” Rowley displayed the shots on the camera screen. “Do you want me to dust everything for prints?”

“Yeah.” She smiled at him. “Nice job. I’ll chase up the phone number but I’m guessing it’s one of the owners of the properties her grandmother visited, or should I say planned to visit.” She pulled out her notepad and jotted down the number. “I’ll look over the list she received from John Davis before I bother anyone.”

“One thing. There is a pink scrunchie missing. She had two in her hair last time she came into the office and it’s not on the list of personal belongings you found at the scene.” Rowley dusted the items and collected fingerprints. “I think other things are missing, don’t you?” He glanced up at her. “There’s no hairbrush or makeup. Women usually have tissues, lip gloss, and women’s items in their purses.” He shrugged. “She was out for the day. Wouldn’t she take more than this with her?”

A cold chill slithered down Jenna’s spine and the years of profiling criminals came to the front of her mind. “The killer has taken something personal as a trophy. Something to remind him of the event.” She stared at the small array of belongings. “I need to see if anything is missing from the clothing left at the scene. When I went over the list of items from her motel room, I noticed she owned matching sets of underwear. Taking a victim’s panties or other personal items is usual. The forensic report arrived earlier. We’ll need to check if anything is missing. We could be looking at a serial killer. Some twisted lunatic who enjoys reliving the thrill.”

She waited for Rowley to pack up the evidence then locked the room. “Scan those fingerprints into the database then come to my office.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley stood back to allow her to mount the stairs. “Do you want the other deputies to attend the briefing?”

“Not this time.”

Too much information made its way out of her office and she needed to nip it in the bud. She trusted her men but now assumed all the leaks came from Pete Daniels. He had likely kept his brothers up to date with the latest cases. He should have realized his brothers would gossip. Nothing I can do about it now but as sure as hell, it won’t happen again on my watch.

Forty-Eight

Jenna wandered into the main office and went straight to the kitchenette. After grabbing three mugs of coffee, she strolled to Kane’s desk. “We need to talk in private and I’m ready to go over the forensic reports.”

“I’m done here.” Kane stood and rolled his wide shoulders. “One of those for me?”