Already Dead (Laura Frost FBI)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Laura took the seat that was offered to her, sitting opposite Diana Christianson. The woman was the kind of formidable matriarch you expected to see in a family drama show: strong, tall, and upright, her makeup intact and her face stony despite the grief she was no doubt feeling.

“Thank you for talking with us,” Laura said, hoping to break the ice a little before getting into the questions. “We’re doing everything we can to catch the person who did this. With your help, we might get a little closer.”

“I spoke to Detective Waters and his colleague yesterday,” Diana said, a tremor around her upper lip the only outward sign of the distress that she must have been feeling. “Surely, you already have enough information.”

“Sometimes, going over the same ground more than once can help to trigger something,” Laura said, trying to keep her smile gentle. “I’m sure Detective Waters and the local police here are more than capable, but now that the case has been escalated to the FBI, we like to hear things for ourselves. Having that outsider perspective can make a real difference.”

Diana made a kind of motion with her hand, a move that traveled to her lip as well. A permission to continue, even if she didn’t quite seem to agree with the reasoning.

“Are you aware, first of all, of there being any connection between your daughter and Evelina Collins?” Laura asked. She didn’t make any attempt to hide the reason why she was asking about the other woman. In a bigger city, you could say a name and not mention why you were bringing it up, and the other party wouldn’t know. But here, it was obvious that everyone in town would already know the name of the first victim, whether they’d seen it in the news or just heard it from a neighbor on the street.

“I’m not,” Diana said. Then she shook her head, just slightly. “But Ashley is – was twenty-two. She has a whole life that I’m not really involved in. I suppose it’s possible they could have met at the diner, or even through mutual friends.”

Laura nodded. So far, so expected. “And how about Ashley herself – do you remember her talking about anyone who might have held a grudge? Someone she fell out with, even a while ago? An ex, things like that?”

“Not really,” Diana said. Her fingers twitched slightly, her eyes darting towards an ashtray on the side table by the sofa. It was clean. Laura guessed that Diana had quit smoking some time ago, but now in the hour of her grief, the urge was back. “But there was one customer at the diner. A bit of a stalker.”

“A stalker?” Laura said, pricking her ears up. She looked at Detective Waters briefly. He hadn’t mentioned this in the briefing notes, nor since meeting them at the town border. He shifted a little, looking uncomfortable, as though he’d been caught out. “Tell me about him.”

“He would go into the diner when Ashley was working her shift,” Diana said. Her fingers played restlessly on a cushion beside her, as if she wanted nothing more than to be holding a cigarette. “She said it was nothing, but I kept thinking she needed to keep an eye on him. You do read stories.”

“What kind of behavior did she report?” Laura asked. “Was it just that he was always going in when she was on shift, or was there more to it?”

“He would leave her notes,” Diana said. “Things like a napkin with his number on it. Or a compliment on the bill beside the tip amount. She said he was always watching her, too. Like his eyes would follow her around the room.”

“Did you ever witness this yourself?” Laura asked.

Diana nodded, once. “Briefly. I was in there for lunch and saw him talking to her. When I asked her what it was about, since she looked uncomfortable, she told me he’d gone there to ask her out.”

“And she turned him down?”

“Yes, apparently quite a number of times. She said it was harmless, but she didn’t like having to do it.” Diana sighed, “She was a nice girl. Much nicer than I am. I would have told him to buzz off a long time ago and asked the other staff not to serve him. But she said she didn’t mind him coming in and being a customer, since all he ever did was ask her out.”

“Do you have his name?” Laura asked, flipping open her notebook to take it down.

“Colt Peake,” Diana said. “I did mention him to Detective Waters.” This last was said with a reproving look at the man himself, who shifted from foot to foot awkwardly where he stood near the door.

Laura glanced at Agent Won. It was a practice born out of habit – normally, she would wait to see if Nate had anything more to ask before wrapping up the conversation. But this time, she was actually glad that Agent Won was keeping his mouth shut. Waters, too. So long as Laura could run this show and not have to field any stupid interruptions from either of them, she would be happy.

“One last thing,” she said, because she already felt that Diana was the kind of woman who would have said up-front if she had any other suspicions, rather than keeping them until asked. “Can you think of any significance that a candle would have for Ashley?”

Diana didn’t frown at the reference. Clearly, the local PD had already shared the specifics of the crime with her. She only shook her head. “I guess that’s something the killer knows more about than I would.”

Laura stood up. “Thank you, Ms. Christianson,” she said. “I’ll leave you my card, in case something else comes to mind.”

Diana nodded but didn’t get up to show them out. Her fingers twitched again. Laura had the feeling that the moment they were gone, she was going to light up.

Laura led the two junior officers out of the house and back onto the sidewalk outside, into a bright sun that did little to dispel the cold air coming off the sea. Still, Laura reflected again that it was refreshing rather than bracing. There was a stuffiness about being in the home of someone who had suffered a recent loss. Breathing fresh air again felt good.

“Well, this is it, right?” Agent Won said excitedly.

Laura wheeled on him, glaring. She pulled him further away from the house, back towards the two cars parked along the street, before replying. “Don’t be so loud. Bear in mind that the relatives of our victim can probably hear you if you start yelling right outside their house.”

“Sorry,” Won said, though he didn’t seem to be completely apologetic. “But we’ve got him now. We should go arrest him and wrap this all up.”

Laura wasn’t so convinced. She turned to Detective Waters. “Why didn’t you mention this lead to us before?”

“She made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal before,” Waters said, squirming a little. His hand went up to rub the back of his neck. “And I know Colt. I don’t think he would do something like this. He’s a little creepy sometimes, sure, but he just doesn’t know how to talk to people.”

“Hmm.” Laura leaned on the side of the car for a moment, thinking. “It would be a big leap. From stalking to murder. And you’re not aware of any connection to Evelina?”

“No, ma’am,” Waters said. “That’s why I didn’t think it was important.”

“Detective Waters,” Laura said, evenly. “You remember how I asked you to defer to me first before giving potential evidence back to the families?”

“Yes,” he said. His eyes went a little wider, like he was expecting he was about to get yelled at.

“I’m going to ask you to also defer to me on whether something’s important or not,” she said. “Did you learn anything else that you haven’t disclosed yet?”

Waters hung his head and looked at the floor. His eyes raced back and forth across it, like he was panicking as he searched his memory. “I don’t think so.”

He looked like he’d been told off by his high school principal. Laura didn’t exactly enjoy playing the bad guy, but she was starting to feel like she was looking after a couple of teenagers who didn’t know how to play by the rules. Why couldn’t Rondelle at least have given her someone with a little more experience, if she was coming to a place where the locals had no experience either? She hated to be a hard ass, but this was an ongoing murder case. There wasn’t time to spare anyone’s feelings, not when doing so could lead to another death.

“Good.” Laura sighed. “We’d better go talk to this Colt Peake, either way. We can’t leave any stone unturned if we’re going to solve this case.”

“Right,” Waters said, fumbling to get his car keys out of his pocket. “He lives out by the beach. I’ll take you there right now.”

“Thank you,” Laura said, turning to get into their rental car while Waters walked a few paces ahead to the patrol car.

Inside, Agent Won turned to her with that same enthusiasm that was beginning to grate on her nerves. “This is going to be him,” he said. “I can feel it in my bones. We’re going to arrest him, and he’ll probably fold and confess. I bet he’s one of those shy guys who doesn’t know how to talk to girls, and then he just snapped. You know, you read about them online. They get really angry about it. Incels.”

“We’ll see,” Laura said, paying more attention to the road as she started the engine and pulled out. “I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. Everything’s only a lead until we prove it.”

“We’ll be on the way home before the evening,” Agent Won said gleefully, apparently ignoring what she’d said.

Laura sighed, following Detective Waters through the streets of Pacific Cove and wondering which of her particular sins had been the one to make her deserve this.

***

When Laura had heard that Colt Peake lived by the beach, she’d pictured a sunny little apartment, maybe even a beach hut. Something bright and cheerful and, although probably cheap, quite luxurious compared to what the same money might buy in the city.

She couldn’t have been further wrong.

Detective Waters led them to an apartment building that looked shabbier than most of the rest of town, far out to the side in an area that didn’t seem to be as frequented as other parts. There was a beach, but it was mostly pebbles, unlike the smooth sandy areas that seemed to surround the rest of Pacific Cove. And he led them not to the main entrance of the block, which opened into a sun-filled atrium beyond a modern intercom system, but around the side – to the basement door.

He knocked for them, then seemed to think better of being so forward and stepped behind Laura, causing them all to have to shuffle awkwardly around one another on the stairs down to the basement. He cleared his throat a couple of times as he went, as if in recognition of the fact he’d made it more difficult rather than better.

“Detective Waters,” Laura said, at length, as they waited for the knock to be answered. “Why don’t you wait by the cars? We don’t want to come on too strong.”

Of course, what she actually meant was that there were too many cooks hanging around right now. It was enough that she had to deal with Agent Won. Having someone there who knew Colt personally already was only going to complicate matters further, and they didn’t need that at all.