His fingers dashed over the keyboard, then he flicked them over the trackpad. “I’m not sure what we’re looking for.” He turned the computer so I could see the screen.
I scooted closer and leaned in, looking at the pictures that populated the top of the search results. “There.” I pointed at an image of a man in his fifties. “I knew I recognized the name. He’s a local handyman. I’ve never used his services, but I’ve seen him around town. Do you know him?” It would make sense if he did, since they might run in the same business circles.
Luke squinted at the screen. “I don’t, but I’ll ask my dad. I haven’t run too many projects in Parker’s Landing. Mostly, I worked on the crew before college, but I don’t remember anyone named Rich on them. Since then, I spend most of my time in an office, drawing up plans. Dad might know more.”
Staring at Rich Stevenson’s picture, my mind spun out in several directions. We had a direct connection between Moira Duluth and Parker’s Landing now. With someone who knew construction…
The implications of that hit, and I reached out, tugging the laptop closer so I could type.
“What?” Luke asked. “What did you remember?”
“Nothing. I just had a thought. Rich would know how to cut open and repair a wall. I want to know if there’s a connection between him and Walter Shuman.” I typed both names into the search box.
Results popped up, and I scrolled.
But nothing in the list connected the two men.
My shoulders slumped. “Damn. I was hoping there’d be a smoking gun.”
“I think if it were that easy, the cops would have found it a long time ago.”
“Maybe. But they didn’t know Moira was in Mr. Shuman’s wall.”
Luke tipped his head. “True.”
Mouth pressed tight, I stared at the laptop screen and tapped my fingernails on the table. Was it Rich Stevenson who was responsible for Moira’s death? Or Walter Shuman? Or both? If it was Rich, how did she end up in the wall at the antique store? He had to know Mr. Shuman, somehow.
One thing was certain: it was Moira Duluth’s body we found. The other women didn’t have any ties to Parker’s Landing. RichStevenson’s role as Moira Duluth’s boyfriend at the time of her disappearance gave her a direct connection to the town.
I leaned sideways, taking my phone from the back pocket of my jeans.
“Who are you calling?”
“Ozzie.” I found his number in my contacts and touched his name.
“Put it on speaker,” Luke said.
Tapping the icon, I put the phone on the table as it rang.
“Hey, Mina.” Ozzie’s deep voice came over the line. “I gave Claire a full report on what I found out today, which wasn’t all that much. I’m sure she’ll tell you about it in the morning when she stops in for coffee.”
“That’s great,” I said. “But it’s not why I’m calling. Luke and I discovered something.”
“Oh?” Intrigue with a healthy dose of skepticism tinged Ozzie’s voice.
“So, you know that list of names we came up with from the missing persons database?”
He expelled a breath, clearly exasperated. “You mean the list I told Claire to forget? That I was working on it and to let me handle things? That list?”
I rolled my eyes, a smirk tipping one side of my mouth as I glanced at Luke. “Yeah. That one. It’s a good thing we didn’t listen to you. We narrowed it down based on the style of clothing on the body. I think we might know who she is.”
“Because of her clothes?” His voice was full of skepticism now.
“No.” I sighed. Why did men have to be so dense sometimes? “We went to the library and looked up the articles on their disappearances. One woman stuck out to me because of her boyfriend. He’s quoted in one of the articles. His name is Rich Stevenson. I recognized the name, but couldn’t place it, so wesearched it. Once I saw his picture, it clicked. He’s a local handyman.”
A short pause came over the line. “Really?” The intrigue and interest were back in his tone, the skepticism gone now.
I chuckled. “Yes.”
