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“I absolutely will keep you in mind,” Charlotte said, standing up, “and thanks so much for brunch. I apologize again for eating and running.”
“No worries,” Nina said, dropping several bills on the table.
“Okay, take care,” Charlotte said. She gave Nina an awkward kiss, grabbed her Veronica Beard black leather jacket and Hermes purse, and headed out.
She was halfway across the dining room when, against her better judgment, she glanced back. Nina hadn’t moved. She was sitting still, looking at the chair that Charlotte had left, a vacant stare on her face.
As guilty as she felt, Charlotte couldn’t help but find the sight unsettling. And though she would never say it out loud, the image reinforced her resolve. She would not be hiring Kirby & Kirby Law Partners anytime soon.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Jessie stared at the name on the screen, wondering if she had finally hit paydirt or just another dead end.
“What do you think?” Jamil asked, waiting for her to weigh in on the suspect he’d uncovered.
“It’s promising,” she said. “Do we have any word on a potential alibi?”
“Beth is looking into that now,” Jamil said, “but I wanted to let you see what I’d found right away.”
“That was the right call,” Ryan said. “So she lives right down the street?”
“Same street as Ava Martell and just a few blocks over from Gabriella Silva,” Jamil told him.
“And she knows both of them definitively?” Jessie asked.
"Yes," Jamil said. "Here are photos I found of them together at various local events over the years. You can see that they're often right next to each other. That doesn't mean they're close, obviously, but it seems clear that they at least traveled in the same circles."
“Now explain the backstory again,” Ryan requested. “You’re saying that she’s in financial trouble.”
“That’s an understatement,” Jamil said. “Based on the financial data I’ve been able to pull up so far, Kayley Wallace is bankrupt.”
“Because of her husband?” Jessie confirmed.
“That’s right,” Jamil said, pulling up a newspaper headline. “As I mentioned, her husband, Ron Wallace, was a member of the Westside Regional Council. But as you can see, he was arrested on corruption-related charges two years ago. He'd been pushing local contracts to businesses that paid him under the table, and he was siphoning money from the city coffers.”
“So they were already struggling financially?” Jessie asked.
“That’s the thing,” Jamil said. “The Wallaces seemed to be doing just fine. I don’t know if Ron just got greedy or what, but he started taking the bribes about five years ago. He began stealing city funds around the same time. He got busted two years ago, and the trial was last year. Their subsequent bankruptcy appears to be due to a combination of him losing his job and the legal costs for his defense. That money apparently didn't help much because he was convicted eight months ago. He's serving three to five years up north."
“And it looks like Kayley Wallace has been living a lie ever since?” Jessie noted.
“Correct,” Jamil said. “She sold their vacation home. She got a line of credit against the house. And she’s in credit card debt up to her eyeballs.”
“Meanwhile, she sees all her neighbors living the high life,” Ryan said. “I wonder what made her finally crack.”
Jessie couldn’t help but wonder if she had cracked. On paper, she seemed to fit the profile of the person they were looking for, but what would have made her go from scrambling for financial resources to murdering women who had them? It felt like a real leap. There had to be more to it.
“I’ve been poring over her social media to see if that can help fill in her location over the last few days,” Beth interjected, “but it’s not much help. She was active on multiple platforms until fairly recently, always with posts and videos highlighting her supposedly lavish lifestyle. But there’s not much at all this week.”
“I think it’s time we talk to her in person,” Ryan suggested, “and while we’re at, let’s put out a BOLO on her vehicle. Maybe we can track her down that way. I don’t want us showing up at her house while she’s off trying to take out another victim.”
Jessie and Ryan left Research and returned to the bullpen to collect their things before heading out to Wallace’s house. As they grabbed their stuff, Ryan looked over at Parker’s office.
“Do you think we should stop in and update her before we go?” he asked.
“Let’s hold off,” Jessie suggested. “No reason to get her hopes up until we know more.”
She didn’t mention her own doubts about this lead. Just because it didn’t all fit perfectly in her head didn’t mean Wallace wasn’t their killer. Jessie had been wrong many times before. She hoped this would be another one.
