“What about money?” Finn asked, stepping closer. “Did she seem to have enough? Or was she always broke?”
“I never had the impression she was broke or had more money than she should.” He could sense the frustration in her tone but ignored it.
“Eva, I have to ask. Is there any way your sister could have been involved in something illegal?”
“No. Absolutely not.” Her instant denial seemed to come from loyalty rather than certainty.
“I need you to think carefully about this,” he pressed. “Cocoa’s life depends on it.”
She met his gaze head-on. “I know what you’re thinking. Drugs, right? What else could be in a missing package?”
“Drugs, stolen goods such as precious gems or cash itself,” Finn pointed out. “But yeah, those are the three main possibilities floating through my mind at the moment.”
Eva shook her head. “I just can’t imagine Malina being involved in anything like that. It’s surreal. She had a loving husband and a beautiful son. I can’t believe she’d risk her family for something like that.”
“Yet the two men who assaulted you obviously believe that you know something about their stolen package.”
She fell silent for a long moment. “I know. But she may have got the package by accident. Like they think she stole it, but someone set her up.”
He levered one eyebrow skeptically. “Doubtful.”
“But possible. I’ll search my brother-in-law’s house, see if I can find anything.”
“Good plan. I’ll help.” Finn glanced back at the window. “It’s interesting that the vandal knew which window to target. Are you sure you haven’t noticed anyone lurking around outside? Not just today but over the past few weeks?”
“I’m positive.” Again there was no hesitation in her tone. “You know as well as I do that there are always people coming and going. I had no reason to believe I was being watched, no reason to notice anyone in particular behind me.” Her expression turned grim. “But you’re right about the window. It freaks me out that they know so much about me. I guess I’ve been a bit clueless, huh?”
“Hey, it’s okay.” Finn reached over and took her hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “We’ll figure it out.”
“I hope so.” Her crystal-blue eyes were troubled. “I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to Cocoa. And what about my roommates, Alecia and Julie? I hate to think they may be in danger.”
Finn didn’t much like it, either. “You’ll have to warn them, encourage them to stay someplace else for a few days.”
“I will.”
It was clear to him that the perps had decided to use the dog as leverage against Eva as a way to get their precious package back. What if they weren’t able to find it? If the package contained drugs, and if Malina was a user, it was highly likely the package no longer existed.
Except...he kept coming back to the hit-and-run that had taken Malina’s life. What if the accident that had turned deadly had been intended as more of a scare tactic? A way to get her to turn over the stolen goods? He imagined the driver could have been a bit overzealous in an attempt to appear to be a distracted driver, hitting Malina with more force than was necessary.
The end result had been that she’d died, making it impossible for the perps to get the location of the missing package.
Warming to his theory, he decided to go back to recanvass the area around Malina’s accident to see if he could resurrect any witnesses the original officers might have missed.
First, though, he needed to get this rock logged into evidence. Fingerprints would go a long way in helping them identify the perps and what they might be involved in. And he wanted to stop by the training center again to talk to Yost. He’d fired Malina for a reason and Finn wanted to know the details.
“I have a few stops to make, and then we can pick up Mikey from preschool and I’ll take you home.” Finn turned, hesitated and glanced back at her. “Do you have anything in the basement that I can use to board up the window?”
She nodded. “I think there are some odds and ends down there. The previous owners had done some renovation work.”