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“When I asked him how he could see all of that detail, he said the motion-sensor lights were on.”
“That makes sense.”
“It might,” Wallace said, clearing his throat. “Except that none of the neighbors remember the lights being on. When we set them off last night, they stayed on for sixty seconds and then turned off if they weren’t set off again. They’re not connected to the alarm system which was our first assumption.”
Sixty seconds wasn’t a long time to see that much detail especially when a person was under attack from a deadly assailant. Grant never wanted to say that something was impossible though. He’d seen stranger things happen.
“Maybe there were accomplices outside that kept tripping the lights,” Grant suggested.
“It’s a possibility, but as I said, none of the neighbors remember the lights being on.”
“Why would they?”
“Apparently, one of the lights shines in the next-door neighbor’s bedroom windows. He gave me an earful about it as he’s complained to Mike Ellers in the past about it. The neighbor was up binging something on Netflix. He said that he never saw any lights.”
“Do the neighbors have doorbell cameras?”
“A few. I can show you the footage. You won’t see anything, however, because there’s nothing to see.”
“You didn’t see anyone walking around?”
“Nope, of course, they could have known who had cameras and avoided them. All by themselves they aren’t definitive.”
“But with everything else, you’re wondering what the hell happened here last night,” Grant said. “You’re not buying Mike’s account.”
“Let me ask you this. You’re a cop, an experienced one. If you had never met Mike and Lane Ellers, would you believe this story?”
Fuck it all to hell. This wasn’t good. At all. This was shit and Grant didn’t like it one bit.
“No, I’d be asking a lot more questions. You said earlier that the forensic team didn’t clean up in the living room?”
Nothing had been disturbed. Even the lamps and drinks coasters were still on the end tables. No marks on the wood floor or the furniture. Grant had seen more damage after a toddler birthday party.
“They didn’t,” Wallace confirmed. “And yet a violent altercation between three grown men supposedly took place there only hours ago. Lane didn’t fight back yet her home alarm was sounding the entire time. And according to Ellers, she was awake while he was fighting for his life and to keep the men from getting to her.”
“How did he know that’s where they were headed?”
“I have no idea. I’m only repeating what he said.”
“Maybe he just didn’t want them any closer to her. Is there more that I don’t know?”
Wallace smiled and nodded toward the door.
“Why don’t we go back outside?”
Grant followed Wallace out of the house and down the front steps. The air was heavy, and the sky had turned dark. It was going to be one of Florida’s daily summer thunderstorms in a few minutes.
“We found no footprints around the house of any kind, and it rained yesterday and the day before. No strange fingerprints that shouldn’t be there, and Ellers didn’t mention gloves. Apparently, the cleaning service had been there just a few days before, so the place was pretty clean to begin with. None of the neighbors heard or saw anything despite the homes being so close together. Also, the wounds to Ellers were relatively minor despite fighting to protect his wife. Even the stabbing didn’t hit anything except some ribs while his wife suffered massive trauma. She never had a chance in hell of surviving.”
“I don’t even know what to say at this point. I know what I would do if I were in your shoes.”
He’d be inviting Mike Ellers down to the station for a long chat. He might want to bring an attorney with him.
“One more piece of information I received right before I arrived at the hospital,” Wallace said. “We found that Mike Ellers purchased life insurance six weeks ago on his wife. One million dollars. Now, to be fair, he also purchased a policy of the same value on himself with his wife as the beneficiary. But it does pique my interest. How about you?”
Mike might have purchased the policy on himself to alleviate any suspicion that buying insurance on his wife would bring.
Damn, now I’m thinking that he’s guilty.
