Break the Silence (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“If we’re looking at homicide, we have a direct link to the football team.” Jenna looked up as Kane joined them with Duke at his side. “Maybe the killer’s motive is to destroy the team. First, Chrissie dies after a brutal rape, and she was supposedly heading for Lyons’ house on the night it occurred. It wasn’t exactly a secret she was going to the party with Seth Lyons; at least two people knew: Livi and Stein.” She narrowed her gaze. “So, someone could’ve intervened. I think Lyons is a creep but he could be telling the truth and she didn’t arrive at the party. If so then someone is trying to shift our focus onto the players. We didn’t arrest anyone, so the perp moves it up a notch and takes out two key players. This tells me someone has a beef with the entire team or the coach.”

“I like the way you think out of the box but three murders means we have a serial killer loose in town again. I know we’ve had our fair share of psychopaths of late, but we can’t assume every death is a murder.” Wolfe rubbed his chin. “If this is the work of a serial killer, we’d see similarities in the cause of death. So far they’re miles apart—if they’re homicides.”

“If they are, I’m seeing cold and calculating.” Kane rubbed his chin. “A sociopath tends to be more hot-headed and does things on the spur of the moment without thinking of the consequences, yet in both cases the CCTV cameras were disabled. The killer walked in and walked out and nobody noticed him. To me that says planned, not out of control, heart racing, and sweating.” He stared at Wolfe. “I guess you’ll know more after Devon’s autopsy?”

“Yeah, I’ll do the post first thing in the morning. I’ve already extracted a sample of bone marrow for diatom testing.” Wolfe met his gaze. “I’ll be able to give you the results later and explain the tests involved in a suspected drowning.” He sighed. “I realize the CCTV camera going offline at the same time each night seems suspicious but we can’t rule out a malfunction, or someone turned it off for a short period of time—maybe a security guard to cover something else. You’d have to go back over the last s

ix months and see if it’s happened before around the same time.”

“That’s impossible—the drives are overwritten every week.” Kane rubbed his chin. “It’s an old system; a malfunction is possible.”

Jenna lifted both arms into the air and then dropped them at her sides. “Darn it, every time we find evidence, something wipes it out.”

“Hello, what’s this?” Kane turned a full circle then looked at Jenna. “See the devices hidden in the trees?” He pointed in two directions. “That’s a Wi-Fi silent alarm. They’ve installed an early warning system for unwanted visitors and we’ve already tripped it.” He shook his head. “When we came via the tree line last time, we didn’t set it off—no wonder Lyons was surprised to see us.”

Jenna frowned. “They know we’re here now, so let’s get it over with.” She turned back to Wolfe. “How do you determine if someone murdered Devon or he just slipped and drowned?”

“Drowning is more difficult to prove than murder, believe it or not.” Wolfe headed down the pathway and walked toward the house, his boots sounding on the cement pathway. He turned to them and raised a pale eyebrow. “Although, from my initial examination, if someone murdered Pete Devon, they covered their tracks like a pro.”

Twenty-Six

They made their way along the tree-lined pathway to the house then paused at the foot of the steps. Jenna looked at the vehicles parked close by. “The road with the no-entry sign must lead right here. I figure they send their visitors the other way, so they have a warning of any unexpected arrivals. She placed her hands on her hips and looked at Wolfe. During a search for trace evidence, the ME took seniority. “How do you want to play this?”

“One of them might have been the last person to see Pete Devon alive, and if we had a timeframe for his movements it would help. My TOD is an educated guess right now.” Wolfe scratched his chin as if considering his next words. “With the Chrissie Lowe case, as we have no DNA evidence, we’ll need to prove she was inside the house. All the men you interviewed insisted she didn’t arrive at the party. If we can prove the opposite, with the samples I have of her stomach contents and the evidence from the vehicle, we can build a case. We have proof Jacobs was involved as his hair was a match to one found in the vehicle; now if I can match the other hair to one of these guys, we can at least implicate them in her rape. If you can pin them down and question them, we’ll handle the search.” He glanced back at the door. “I’ll be collecting samples of everything that might be relevant to the case. If she was here, we’ll find trace evidence.” Wolfe handed Kane a plastic bag. “This belonged to Chrissie Lowe; see if Duke can pick up her scent.”

“My gut tells me Lyons is lying.” Kane took the bag. “If she was here, Duke will know.”

“Don’t forget to look for her shoes.” Jenna led the way up the steps and banged on the door. A young man she recognized from their visit, Josh Stevens, gaped at them open-mouthed. Jenna held out the search warrant. “We have a warrant to search these premises.”

“For what reason?” Seth Lyons appeared at the door and stood beside his friend, barring the entrance.

Jenna pressed the warrant to his chest. “The reason is listed, now stand aside.” She pushed past them, walked into the family room, and surveyed the group all sitting around watching TV. The smell was the same: marijuana and beer with a hint of stale sweat. “Is anyone else in the house?”

“No.” Lyons was looking over the paperwork. “You won’t find anything here. I told you before, Chrissie was a no-show.” He glared at Jenna. “I’m getting tired of you leaning on me, Sheriff. Maybe it’s time I called my dad.”

Annoyance at his veiled threat prickled Jenna’s neck. “You can call Santa Claus for all I care, now stand aside. I want everyone in the dining room. Go sit at the table until we’ve completed our search.” She stared at Lyons. “Non-compliance and I’ll handcuff you to the chairs. Understand?”

When they shuffled to the table, giving each other worried looks, she nodded at Kane. “Give Duke the scent.”

“Okay, Duke.” Kane opened the evidence bag and held it out for Duke. “Seek.”

The dog pushed his head into the bag then moved around the room, nose to the ground, tail wagging. Jenna watched him systematically move from the front door across the carpet then head for the sofa. She kept a close eye on the men sitting at the table, and several were moving around as if they had ants in their pants. Of course, they had no idea what Duke was looking for, so she wondered if any of them had a stash of drugs.

A bark broke her thoughts and she turned her attention back to Duke. The dog was sitting on the floor at one end of the sofa. She glanced at Wolfe. “That’s a positive response.”

“Don’t call him.” Wolfe glanced at Kane. “I’ll need to take a few shots for the record as we go.”

“Sure.” When he’d finished, Kane called Duke to his side, but the dog walked in circles and barked again. “He hasn’t finished yet, he still has the scent.” He rubbed the dog’s ears. “Good boy.” He reinforced the scent then gave the command again. “Seek.”

As Duke continued his search, Wolfe came to Jenna’s side.

“I’ll take a look.” Wolfe carried his forensics kit to the sofa, examined it in detail, and then took out a portable vacuum cleaner and went all over the chair. Next, he removed the seat cushion and collected all the detritus from below. He waved the seat cushion at the men around the table. “I’m confiscating this for evidence.” He pulled a huge evidence bag from his kit and dropped the cushion inside. “I’ll need to analyze the stains on the fabric.”

Duke’s barks came twice more, once in the hallway and again on the staircase, not on the step treads but halfway up the stairs on the handrail side. Jenna looked up as Wolfe examined the area closely. “What have we got?”

“Blood, as if someone spat it out.” Wolfe took photographs then collected samples. His expression was ice-cold when he met Jenna’s gaze. “Okay, I’m done down here. Now we move to the bedrooms.” He turned to the group of men. “Which one is Pete Devon’s bedroom?”

“First on the right, top of the stairs.” Lyons snapped to attention when Wolfe looked at him. “He shares with Dylan Court.”