Whisper in the Night (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Jenna turned back to look at her deputies. “We have one more person of interest to interview and I’ll be heading out to speak with him when we’ve wrapped up here. Charles Anderson. He’s a technician working with a company by the name of Silent Alarms. He installed the alarm system at the Rosens’, had access to the home, and had contact with the family, so he comes under our scrutiny.”

“Didn’t Kane mention he came up clean?” Rowley glanced down at his notes. “He’d have been background checked to work for a security company.”

Jenna gave him a long look. “You’d be surprised how many killers have no priors. That’s why over half of them are never caught. Anyone who met Lindy is a person of interest until proved otherwise. These five men are the tip of the iceberg. On the way home tonight, I want you to head out to the Triple Z with Walters and see if anyone remembers seeing Kittredge there Sunday evening and see if you can find the woman he spent the night with.” Exhausted, she sucked in a deep breath. “First thing in the morning, I want background checks on everyone who worked on the Rosens’ ranch over the last month. You’ll need to contact the Green Thumb Landscaping Service and Silent Alarms because they would’ve used a number of men over that time.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley made notes.

Jenna dropped into her chair and waved them away. “Okay, when you’re done, go home and get some sleep.”

Twenty-One

Kane waited for Jenna to shrug into her coat. She looked pale and her eyes were huge in her thin face. Knowing how concussion could sneak up on a person, he moved closer and cupped her chin in one hand. “You doing okay?”

“Says the man with a butt full of splinters and torn ligaments in his shoulder.” Jenna smiled at him. “You don’t look so good either. Are you in pain?”

Kane smiled at her and brushed the red marks on her cheek. “I’m hurting all over but I figure we’re pretty lucky to have survived the explosion with a couple of scratches.” He eyed her critically. “These are superficial, they won’t scar.”

“That’s good.” She looked up at him. “Let’s get this interview over with, and then it’s Chinese, watching TV then hitting the hot tub.” She sighed. “We’ll be working around the clock until we solve this murder and I’ll need to grab a couple of hours’ rest while I can.”

“Yeah, a good sleep will help.” Reluctantly, Kane dropped his hand. The hot tub would have been his choice too. He turned to head out the door and she touched his arm. He turned and looked back at her. “I’ll grab my coat.”

“Have you changed your mind about coming over tonight?” Jenna gave him a puzzled look, pulled on her knitted cap and met his gaze. “My sofa is way more comfortable than yours and we can eat in front of the TV.” She pointed to his dog. “Duke can come too.”

Kane let out a long sigh and smiled. “I’d like that.”

* * *

Anderson lived three miles from the Rosens’ ranch, in a small house walking distance from Stanton Forest. The same white pickup they’d seen at the Rosens’ sat in the driveway. Kane pulled up behind it and climbed from his truck. He leaned over the back seat and rubbed the dog’s ears. “Stay here, Duke, we won’t be long.”

He waited for Jenna and they headed to the front door. When Anderson opened the door, he gave them a horrified stare.

“What happened to you?” Anderson looked from one to the other. “Been in a car wreck?”

“Something like that.” Jenna offered him a smile. “May we have a word with you, Mr. Anderson? We’re speaking with everyone who came in contact with Lindy Rosen before she went missing.”

“Sure, you want to step inside? It’s getting cold.” Anderson stood to one side and opened the door wide. He was still in his coveralls. “I’ve just gotten home but I’ve had time to light a fire in the family room.” He waved them through a door.

Kane did a visual scan of the house. It had a lived-in appearance, old overstuffed furniture and a musty smell of stale lavender as if his grandma lived with him. He glanced down the hallway into a seventies-style avocado and teak kitchen. The house had paintings on every wall in an overindulgence of art, each of landscapes of places he didn’t recognize. He’d an appreciation of art. He walked closer to examine a study of a clearing in a forest. It was precise right down to the wildflowers and butterflies.

His quick sweep of the interior hadn’t picked up any sign of a security alarm. The house seemed out of sync with a man working in a high-tech profession. “Lived here long?”

“Nah, I inherited it from a distant cousin last summer. I was living down in Colorado, working for the mines.” Anderson shrugged. “When I discovered she’d left me this house, I decided to move here. I had the qualifications to get a tech job with the security company and take a casual job with the council. I run community art classes once a week at night. The security job isn’t as hard as working shifts in the mines and it pays well enough.”

“Are these your pictures?” Jenna peered at the framed landscapes. “They’re very good. Do you sell them?”

“No, they’re scenes from places I’ve been, memories I want to keep.” Anderson straightened a frame, and then looked back at Jenna. “Now, you mentioned Lindy Rosen. Have you any suspects yet?”

“Suspects?” Jenna’s brow creased into a frown. She flicked a glance at Kane then shook her head. “We don’t have a cause of death yet. For all we know she was sleepwalking and died of exposure.”

“I can’t imagine how she walked right out the house without tripping an alarm or a CCTV camera.” Anderson rubbed his chin. “I was in the crew that set up the system. It needs a code to disable it and that’s not something I’d imagine she could’ve done in her sleep.”

Kane watched the man’s reactions closely. Although his body language was outwardly calm, asking about suspects was a red flag. He shrugged. “Not necessarily. I’ve heard of cases where people unlock six deadbolts in their sleep. If Lindy had memorized the code, she could’ve used it in her sleep. This is why we aren’t ruling out sleepwalking.”

“I see, so how far did she get?” Anderson directed his question to Jenna. “On the TV I heard you were searching all over Black Rock Falls. Surely if you believed she’d just walked out the door, she couldn’t have gotten too far.”

“It’s normal procedure. We’d no idea what happened to her so we covered every possibility.” Jenna had ignored him and her face became a mask of professionalism. She’d obviously had enough of his questions and turned the interview back around. “When did you last see Lindy?”

“When I installed the floodlights.” Anderson leaned casually against the doorframe. “That was a few weeks ago, I guess. I could check my work sheets to give you the dates I worked there if you like?”