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“You knew the only way to get her quiet and pliable was to make your move as soon as you opened the trunk. You didn’t want to fight. Fighting leaves marks.” He held up the bag with her rings in it. “So you opened the trunk and stabbed her in the chest. Dr. Graves can show you all the knife wounds and point out which was the first blow. It was a shallow stab wound and didn’t hit anything but flesh and rib, so not a lot of blood. But it was enough to surprise her and allow you to get her out of the car. Your rage had taken over by that point. Stabs to the abdomen and chest. She couldn’t fight back. She was just trying to protect herself. And it made you angrier because she was still wearing the lingerie she used to seduce your boyfriend.
“Thirteen times you stabbed her,” Jack said. “And then you tossed her over the railing and into the water. The lingerie snagged on one of the beams. And then you tossed the knife in the water with her. Got back in the car and drove home. You took Cami’s robe to your room until you could hang it back in her closet. Did you really think you wouldn’t get caught?”
She shrugged and her smile was pure evil. “I heard you myself. Cami died by drowning. Looks like nobody murdered that bitch except for Mother Nature.”
“Take her away,” Jack said to the deputy.
Chapter Seventeen
There was still a couple of hours of daylight left once we’d gotten back in the truck. It was dinnertime, but we still had loose ends to tie up. I wanted to get it done, pick up Chinese food, and take it home where I didn’t have to see anyone else but Jack for the next twenty-four hours.
“Good catch on the rings,” Jack said.
“Yeah, well, maybe with enough evidence a jury won’t care about her Mother Nature defense and will lock her up where she belongs. What about Kevin?”
“I connected him with a rehab facility my family helps support,” he said. “I made him a deal that I’d drop all the charges if he’d check himself in and stay there. I’ll check in with him in a few days and see how he’s doing.”
“You can’t save everyone,” I said, putting my hand on his arm.
“No, but if you see a glimmer of hope in someone then you have to try. But they’ve got to do the work.”
“What about the Ables?” I asked.
“That is a place where there’s no hope,” Jack said. “Look at my phone. I got an email from forensics after they went back to the Hargroves’ and looked for more prints.”
“They found viable prints beneath the chair,” I said, reading the report quickly. “But no match yet on who they belong to.”
“Which is why we’re going to see Joe Able, whether he’s ready for us to talk to him or not. I had Martinez reach out and make an appointment with him at home. He’s expecting us. Maybe we should go on a date.”
“Right now?” I asked. “Seems inappropriate during a murder investigation.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “I meant later. Dinner out. Someplace nice.”
“I was thinking sex, followed by Chinese food in bed and a Peaky Blinders marathon,” I said.
“I like your idea better,” he said.
“So what’s the plan here?” I asked. “How do we match fingerprints with the ones on the chair?”
“Martinez and Riley will meet us there,” Jack said. “We’ve got a warrant to fingerprint the entire household since they all have immediate access to the Hargroves’. It’ll help eliminate all of the other fingerprints found in the study as well. And I’ve got a warrant to search for the clothes he was wearing that morning. Even if he was ducked down under the desk there would still be blood spatter somewhere. Most likely on his shoes.”
“It’s sad, really,” I said. “Cami Downey and Coach Hargrove. Killed because they were a stumbling block for other people. Greedy people. What kind of world do we live in where we’ve resorted to wanting something so badly for ourselves that we’re willing to take another human life for it if they get in the way?”
Martinez and Riley were already parked in front of the Hargroves’ house and Jack flipped on his lights and then back off again as we passed them to park at the Ables’ home.
Joe Able was standing in the front door, waiting for us as we walked up the porch steps. And then he watched as two other units parked in front of the house.
“What’s all this about?” Joe said, taking the papers Jack handed him.
“It’s a warrant to search the premises,” Jack told him. “Is there somewhere we can talk privately? I’m sure Mrs. Hargrove has been through enough.”
“She left a couple of hours ago to go to her daughter’s,” Joe said, reading the warrant. “I don’t understand. Why are you looking through our clothes? And for a football helmet? I’ve got lots of football helmets. I played semi-pro ball. We’ve got a basement full.”
“Let’s go inside,” Jack said again.
“Sure,” Joe said, standing aside so Martinez and Riley could file through and then four more deputies I didn’t know by name, only by sight.
“We can go in the kitchen,” he said.
