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Kit nodded, understanding. “That’s when the killer got the Wüsthof knife from Georgia’s kitchen. He must have stolen Mr. Flynn’s key card. Did he use it again to reenter Mr. Flynn’s apartment?”
“Yes, Detective, Mr. Flynn’s key card was used again two minutes later at seven fifty-seven, to reenter Flynn’s apartment. And then he used Mr. Flynn’s key card again the next day at nine a.m. to enter his apartment a final time.”
“When he pulled the I’m-okay cord.” Connor leaned so that he could see Jeff’s screen. “Does that tell you who the master key card was issued to? The one he used when he first entered Flynn’s apartment?”
Jeff nodded. “That master key card belonged to Kent Crawford.”
Chapter Nine
San Diego PD, San Diego, California
Tuesday, November 8, 2:25 p.m.
The master key card used to break into Frankie Flynn’s apartment on Saturday night had been Kent Crawford’s? So many things about that didn’t make sense to Kit.
“But Crawford had been dead for at least twelve hours by then,” she said, “if he died between midnight and eight a.m. on Saturday.”
Navarro frowned. “His killer must have stolen the key card along with his laptop and phone.”
Kit rubbed her forehead. She’d never taken any pain reliever for her headache and it was getting worse. “Jeff, was that key card used at any other time?”
“It was used a lot, actually. Before Saturday, anyway. One of Crawford’s responsibilities may have been opening doors for the residents if they locked themselves out. I would have overlooked that master card entry if I’d continued thinking that Mr. Flynn died on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday it was used to enter Mr. Flynn’s apartment at seven thirty-five, but it had also been used earlier on Saturday, at four oh five a.m., to get into Mr. Dreyfus’s rooms.”
“When he stole the coins,” the assistant chief said. “So the coins were stolen when Mr. Dreyfus was still alive?”
Kit sighed. “So it would seem. Someone had a lot of nerve.”
“Mr. Dreyfus didn’t notice they were gone?” Navarro asked.
Sam was quietly shaking his head. “It was the Sabbath. He wouldn’t have done anything like that on the Sabbath. Benny was very devout. It’s unlikely that he would have looked on Saturday evening because he’d have been tired from Eloise’s party. He said he was going right to bed. I don’t know if he checked the safe on Sunday, but I have to believe he would have made a ruckus if he’d found them gone.”
“When did the birthday party break up, Dr. Reeves?” the captain asked.
“About eight thirty Saturday night,” Sam said. “Georgia and Benny left together, and I escorted Miss Eloise to her apartment door. She hadn’t brought her walker that night because the rhinestones didn’t match her outfit, and she needed help. Eloise lives on the same floor as the others, but at the opposite end of the corridor. I was on their floor for only a few minutes with Eloise. Maybe from eight forty to eight forty-five. I didn’t see anyone in the corridor, so Frankie’s killer must have been gone by then.”
“So the killer was in Flynn’s apartment for an hour or less,” Kit said, “and that includes the time it took to kill him, then come back with the butcher knife. That doesn’t seem long enough to create the mess we found.”
“Maybe he went back on Sunday to continue his search when he pulled the I’m-okay cord,” Connor suggested. “Which is more than cold. I mean, searching the room while Mr. Flynn was lying on the floor with a butcher knife in his chest.”
“This killer is a sociopath,” Sam said quietly. “No compassion for Frankie or respect for his things. But there’s also fear. He took a big risk coming back the next day. The residents have a later breakfast on Sunday, generally from eight to ten. That’s the day many of them go to the store or play games in the common room, so they come to breakfast prepared for their day. Many of them don’t go back upstairs, so the coast would have been clear. Seems like this killer knew their schedules pretty well.”
“Another reason to suspect staff,” Kit said. “Can you give us a psych profile?”
Sam shrugged. “A basic one. Male, although a female isn’t out of the question. Very confident, intelligent. Good at planning. The camera had to have been disabled before he exited the elevator or came up the stairs early Saturday morning to steal the coins. I’m betting he used the stairs. He also had to have some upper body strength in order to…” He exhaled. “To make that wound on Frankie’s chest.”
“Maybe not as much strength as you think,” Alicia said. “I believe the original wound was smaller, the one made with the stiletto blade. The one made with the butcher knife was made once the victim was lying on the floor.”
“True,” Sam acknowledged, “but he had to have been strong enough to carry Benny from bed to the safe. Probably why the coins were stolen when Benny was still alive. Otherwise, how could he have opened the biometric lock? It required a fingerprint, didn’t it?”
Detective Goddard nodded. “I was thinking about that. Was there a wheelchair in the room?”
Kit nodded. “There was. You think the killer moved Mr. Dreyfus from the bed to the wheelchair, rolled him to the safe, then used his finger to open it?”
“You said a fingerprint and a combination code,” Navarro said.
“Yes,” Kit said, “but if the killer knew the coins were there, he may have seen Mr. Dreyfus open the safe. How come Mr. Dreyfus didn’t wake up when the killer used his finger to open the safe? Do you know if he was a light sleeper, Sam?”
“I don’t, no, but Georgia might. He was sometimes given a sleeping pill at night, though. Helped control his night terrors. If he’d been dosed the night before, he would have slept through the thief stealing his coins.”
