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“I’m telling you the truth.”
“Then you wouldn’t mind showing us your phone so we can see this call,” she countered.
“You still have my phone. Go ahead and check the call history, I have nothing to hide.”
She took the phone from the table and headed straight to the call log. Scrolling back to Tuesday night, she saw an incoming call from Mom that lasted a minute. She put the phone back down. “All this tells me is your mother called you. Not that you left Felicity’s property.”
“Please. I swear…”
“I know. You wouldn’t hurt her,” Amanda parroted, pulling from his tired defense.
“Call my mom, and she’ll confirm what I told you. Please.”
Amanda wasn’t so sure what his mother’s word might do for him. Blood could be strong and defend in blind faith. “We’ll speak with her.”
“Just call her. Right now.” Sheldon’s face flushed.
“We’ll get there, but we have more questions. You might be able to help us.” She presented this as if she were coming around to his side. She really just intended to cover as many bases as she could with this initial interview.
“Whatever you need.” Sheldon shifted up straighter in his seat, hope seeming to lighten his spirit.
“In the time you were at Felicity’s house, did you see anyone else lurking around?” She revisited his claim that he hadn’t seen anything a moment ago. “Perhaps a different vehicle in her driveway?”
Sheldon pressed his lips and seemed to give the question serious thought. A few moments later, he was shaking his head. “Not that I recall. And I would; I have a sharp mind.”
She doubted tendencies toward stalking and obsession were an indication of strong mental health. “We’re going to leave you for now, Mr. Lowe, while we look into what you’ve told us.”
“What? No, let me go! I’m innocent here.”
“You might be when it comes to Felicity Kelley’s murder, but you are facing charges for evading arrest and street racing that endangered the lives of others.”
“Oh, please. I just ran because—” He snapped his mouth shut.
“I think it’s quite clear to us why you ran, Mr. Lowe,” Amanda said. “If we have more questions for you, we’ll bring you back in here.”
Sheldon had dropped his face into his hands and was sobbing when she and Trent left the room.
“Hardened killer is a crybaby?” Trent said once in the hallway.
“Killers can experience strong remorse. I’m not putting anything past this guy, and neither should you.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
A quick call to Sheldon Lowe’s mother confirmed his statement. He had arrived at her house just after ten thirty and fallen asleep on her couch about two in the morning. Then again, that testimony was contingent on whether the mother’s word could be trusted. A second call to CSI Blair confirmed the curtains in the back of Felicity’s house were closed. Sheldon had told the truth about that. And a third call that she made to Celeste confirmed she knew Sheldon Lowe. She also said that Flick tolerated him and was nice to him because she felt sorry for him.
Trent made a call to Cynthia from the bookstore and confirmed that Felicity Kelley dropped off signed copies of her books and never acted strange or afraid of Sheldon Lowe.
Regardless, Amanda wasn’t releasing Sheldon from suspicion that easily, and given that he was facing unrelated charges, it wasn’t like she and Trent had to scurry to build their case. This had her mind returning to an avenue they’d started down but never explored.
She called Garrison & Marrow on speaker at her desk and asked for Ian Moss. She was given a slight runaround, but nothing that wasn’t expected for a man of his position and importance within the publishing house. She drank some coffee while on hold and listened to sales pitches for several novels. That certainly made better use of a captive audience than meaningless music.
Then a soft click.
“Mr. Moss, speaking.”
“Detectives Steele and Stenson here. Did you receive our signed forms? We sent them over this morning.”
“One minute.” He put her on hold and returned several seconds later. “I have them here. All appears to be in order.”
