“No, I can’t think of anything,” Caleb said. He was supremely confident – he didn’t even blink when
Nate mentioned checking the alibis. Like he had no worry at all about them finding anything untoward. “It’s just such a shock. I don’t know why anyone would want to hurt them – either of them. They were nice people. Then again, I guess I can’t really understand why anyone would want to kill someone.”
“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do, as an actor?” Laura asked him. “Put yourself into someone else’s shoes, understand their motivation?”
Caleb smiled at her. He had perfect, straight, white teeth. It was such a dazzling smile, she was almost expecting a ‘ting’ sound effect to come up over a shining star, like in old cartoons. “Yes. I guess that’s why I’ve been to so many acting coaches and I’m still not famous.”
Laura flipped her notebook closed, glancing at Nate. He nodded. They were done here. There was no point taking Caleb in for further questioning, not when he’d provided them with alibis. If they turned out to be fake, they could revisit him later. “Alright, Caleb. Thank you for your cooperation. We’ll get the local police to call someone out about the door.”
“Thanks,” he said, springing to his feet out of what seemed like automatic polite impulse to show them to the door.
They were almost about to step over it when he spoke again.
“Um, sorry,” he said. “I didn’t get your name, Agent?”
“Laura Frost,” she said, turning to look at him as Nate stepped over the ruins of the door. “My partner is Agent Nathaniel Lavoie.”
“Right,” Caleb said. “So, Laura – can I call you Laura?”
Laura inclined her head silently, waiting for him to go on. She preferred Agent, because it meant the suspect was showing respect, but she wasn’t going to be a stickler about it with a man who, she was fairly convinced, was innocent.
“Great. Laura, can I get your number?” Caleb asked. “In case I think of anything or anyone that might help solve this case. I’m really sorry to hear about both of them, I really am. I’m going to be thinking hard about this, and maybe talking to a few people if I can.”
Laura dug one of her official cards out of her pocket. “This has my cell,” she said, handing it over. “Anything you think of, we’d be very keen to hear about it.”
“Right,” Caleb said, glancing over the card and then looking up to fix her with another of those dazzling smiles. “Thank you, Laura. I’ll be in touch.”
“Of course,” she said, turning to step over the door herself and out into the hall. Nate was waiting for her, but as soon as they were together, they set off walking.
They were outside of the building before either of them spoke again, conscious that it was possible for Caleb to hear them without his door blocking the noise. “There’s nothing to follow here, I don’t think,” Laura said. “We can ask Mills to put one of his detectives on following up the alibis, but it seems like he was being sincere.”
“I agree,” Nate said, shooting her an amused look that she didn’t quite understand. “We should head over to Lucile Maddison’s home, speak to her boyfriend.”
“Agreed,” Laura said. “Hey, maybe we’ll get lucky. Maybe he was having an affair with both of them, and this is just a classic case of ‘the partner always did it.’”
Nate chuckled. “We can dream,” he said, getting behind the wheel of the car before she could protest that she was still fine to drive.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Laura watched Seattle flash by their window. They were driving into the more recognizable parts of the city now, the parts that were shown on television or in tourist guidebooks. Sometimes, being an agent and traveling all around the country meant losing track of where you really were. Cities could blend into one another, particularly those that were developed around the same time. All of the architecture from a particular time period looked the same, and it was only in the historic centers that things started to look different.
She was distracted from the view by a buzzing in her pocket. Grabbing the phone out just in case it was a necessary update from Captain Mills, Laura was somewhat disappointed to find that it was only a message from the man she had met in the bar back in Washington, DC. Nolan, she remembered – with a little difficulty. All of that had been pushed so far back in her mind by everything else happening.
Hey, it was great to meet you. I know you had to get going for work, but I’d really love to see you again. I didn’t get a chance to show you the truth about me. – N
Laura read the message over a couple of times, trying to figure out if she believed him. It was possible that he was just a massive flirt, and trying to impress girls with stories of being psychic was his thing. It was also possible that she had been too hasty, and that he really was psychic. Just a different kind of psychic to her. She had no idea about her ability, about where it came from or why she had it, or even really how to control it. If she didn't know any of that, how could she say for sure that she knew whether or not different kinds existed?
Laura didn't reply, not right away. She turned off her phone screen and put it back in her pocket, trying to think. There was so much going on right now. She didn't even know when she was going to be back from this case, whether it was going to take a single day or several months. That was the thing about being an FBI agent. Until you solved the case, the case wasn't solved. What looked like something open and shut could turn out to be the most complex thing you had ever come up against.
Of course, Laura sincerely hoped that was not the case this time, because she needed to get back home. Lacey, Amy, all of it needed her attention. So, even if she did manage to go back home tomorrow, crossing the case off her list, this Nolan character would not be anything close to a priority.
Which did not mean that she wasn't curious.
“I think this is it,” Nate said, wrenching Laura's attention back to the present. They were pulling up outside a modern-looking apartment building, clearly a more recent addition to the neighborhood.
The home where Lucile Maddison had lived, until now, was on the fourth floor. Nate spoke quietly into the intercom, introducing himself and Laura on her behalf, holding up his badge so that the camera set above the speaker could catch it. After a short pause, the door buzzed to indicate that it was unlocked, and Laura headed inside first.
They took the stairs rather than the elevator, a choice that Laura regretted after about the third floor. It wasn't as though she was unfit - being an FBI agent meant that you always had to be ready to run after a suspect at a moment's notice, and that meant plenty of gym time in her days off - but being an alcoholic for so many years had put her off-balance. It was just one of the many things that you didn't really notice building up on you while you were drinking. Now that she was sober, she was starting to realize just how much work she had to do to get back to how she used to be.