Be Mine Forever (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Kane nodded. “We couldn’t manage without you.” He headed after Jenna.

As he turned into the alleyway, Wolfe was coming down the stairs leading to Jeanette Turner’s apartment. He was in a deep hushed conversation with Jenna. He moved to their side and they went into a huddle. “What did you find?”

“What you described.” Wolfe looked at him. “There’s been a crude attempt to cover up fingerprints but we found a variety of sets in the usual places people miss and one set are a match with Dr. Bob Turner.”

“That’s interesting, considering he claimed in his statement that he didn’t know where his wife was living.” Jenna frowned. “So, we have to assume the first time he came here was last night and as a bonus, his truck was seen outside. We have him dead to rights.”

“Hold your horses.” Wolfe looked from one to the other. “Just to add a little twist to the investigation. I found more than one match for Wyatt Cooper as well.”

Astounded, Kane turned to Jenna. “I figure you’d better call Mr. Cooper now. I’d really like to know what Wyatt was doing in Jeanette Turner’s apartment.”

“Yeah, me too.” Jenna pulled out her phone and made the call. She disconnected with a nod. “He can drop by at noon. He’ll go and collect Wyatt from school and come see us in his break.”

“I’ll need to lock the apartment down and keep it as a crime scene.

There’s more work to do here now.” Wolfe frowned. “We’ve completed a thorough forensics sweep but I’ll need to revisit after the autopsy. I want to discover the timeline of the murder and I can’t do that properly until I’ve examined the injuries to the victim.” He smiled. “Rio filmed inside and now that we have 3D imaging software, we’ll be able to see the scene from all angles in the lab as well. Having a media expert on the team is a bonus, so far his work has been exemplary.”

“He is a good fit.” Jenna’s lips flattened into a thin line. “Although, I’m surrounded by experts, yet we have three murders and the evidence is a tangled mess. Nothing seems to fit. There are so many missing pieces in the timelines, and although my gut tells me it’s two killers in one case, the evidence to date in the other two murders point to one person.”

Kane looked from one to the other. “Then we have to consider we have different people responsible. A pair for sure for the Becky Powell case but maybe we have a completely different person responsible for killing Laurie and her mother.”

Forty-Five

The wind had picked up and it whistled down the alleyway in an eerie moan as if nature mourned the murder of another innocent victim. As Jenna made her way to the Beast, her boots crunched on the leaves overflowing the gutters. A beautiful nuisance, the leaves came in every shade from green to honey brown and brought back memories of her childhood, running through the piles, knee deep and kicking the leaves about to watch them settle like feathers again. She valued the leaves, and welcomed them to the small garden she rarely had time to tend. The leaves offered her rosebushes nourishment and would disintegrate come the first rain. Pushing back her memories into their safe place, she climbed into the truck and fastened her seatbelt. As they headed back to the office, she turned to Kane. “I want to drag Dr. Turner down here right now but I guess we’d better wait until he views the body.”

“I figure we’ll have our hands full with the Wyatt Cooper interview.” Kane followed the line of traffic, mostly sightseers driving slowly to admire the town, and then turned into the parking space out front of the sheriff’s department.

“I’ll send Rowley over to the viewing and he can escort him back here.” Jenna stared out the window thinking. “I hope Turner comes in voluntarily. He doesn’t have to speak to us and I’m not sure what evidence we have is enough for an arrest warrant. The judge has been harder to convince lately.”

“Tell Rowley to ask him to come in to sign some paperwork.” Kane scratched his cheek. “Add that he’ll need to apply to claim their bodies as well. I’ll call Wolfe and make sure he gives Rowley all the documents to bring back with him. I doubt Dr. Turner will know those matters are usually handled by the ME.”

Milling over the scenario, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, we’ll take him down to the interview room, get him to sign the papers, and then ask the questions. I’ll switch on the camera and read him his rights.” She blew out her cheeks. “He’ll probably walk right out the door.”

“We’ll see.” Kane thought for a beat. “Do you think Jo would come down to sit in on the interviews with both suspects?”

Jenna lifted one shoulder. “She might be back by now, she wanted to go on a tour of the sapphire mines out at Louan yesterday. I’m not sure when she’s due back. Call her and see if she can drop by.”

She headed into the office and before she could stop to talk to Maggie behind the counter, Duke came flashing from her office and skidded to a halt with a half yawn, half whine. She bent to pat him but he’d spotted Kane behind her and did his usual welcome dance. She turned and laughed. “He’s happy we made it back for lunch. Just how many times a day do you feed him? Most people feed their dogs once a day. He ate the entire bowl of food at my house last night.”

“He’s kinda stuck on three meals a day.” Kane shrugged. “I don’t feed him three full meals. It’s become a habit since I found him. The V-E-T told me to give him small meals or he’d vomit after being starved for so long.” He bent to give Duke a full body rub along both sides. “He’s not overweight and I like him to be happy.”

Jenna smiled and turned to Maggie. “Anything happen I need to know about?”

“Not a thing.” Maggie stared at the hotline phone. “I’m expecting a few calls once the story about the murder hits the news.” She waved a hand toward Rio and Rowley working at their desks. “I have help if I need it.”

“Well, you’ll have one of them.” Jenna indicated toward Rowley. “I’m sending Rowley to do a victim identification for me at noon.” She headed toward Rowley and filled him in with their plan to get Dr. Turner into an interview room. “He’s prickly, so stay as friendly as possible. We need to ask him some questions and I have a strange feeling he’s not going to like it.”

“Copy that.” Rowley leaned back in his chair and looked at her. “Thanks for giving me the time to be with Sandy. It made her settle having me there.”

Jenna leaned one hip against his desk. “Family is so important and we can always manage, Jake. This is a tough job and marriages of law enforcement officers have been spoiled because of the workload. I’m going to make sure that never happens here.” She glanced up as Mr. Cooper and Wyatt walked into the office. “Hmm, they’re early.”

She straightened and went to greet them. “Ah, thanks for coming in, can I get you anything, coffee, water?”

“No, we’re fine.” Mr. Cooper looked apprehensive. “What is it you need from my boy, Sheriff?”

Jenna waited for Kane to come to her side, as it was obvious he had something on his mind. She smiled at Mr. Cooper. “Just a few questions. If you’ll give me a minute? I’ve just walked in the door. I’ll have Deputy Rio take you to an interview room. It will be more comfortable.” She turned to Rio. “Take Mr. Cooper and Wyatt down to interview room one for me please and wait with them.” She looked at Mr. Cooper. “I won’t be long. I know you have to get back to work.”

She walked away with Kane. “Has something come up?”