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Jenna folded her notebook and pushed it into her pocket. “Okay thanks.”
As they walked back to her vehicle Kane’s phone buzzed. She leaned against the Beast’s door enjoying the sunshine as he answered the call.
“Kane.” Kane moved closer and put the phone on speaker. “Yes, Susie. Did you find anything on the CCTV footage?”
“Sure did. Roger Suffolk was here, just before six, he ate his meal and was away by six-thirty. I ran the footage right up to closing and he didn’t return. Does that help you?”
“It sure does. Can you download a copy onto the flash drive I gave you?” Kane glanced at Jenna and shrugged.
“I already have.” Susie chuckled. “I’ll keep it safe until you stop by.”
>
“Thanks.” Kane disconnected and looked at Jenna. “Hmm, this leaves Suffolk’s alibi wide open. I don’t like Jo and Carter’s chances of finding anyone at the Triple Z Bar willing to stand up in court and testify he was there around the time of the bombing.”
Jenna strolled around the hood and rested one hand on the door handle. “My thoughts exactly.”
She glanced at her watch. “Jo and Carter should be through speaking to the barkeeper at the Triple Z Bar by now, I’ll give them a call.” She placed the phone on speaker and waited for Jo to pick up. “Hi, Jo, did you get anything from the Triple Z Bar?”
“Yeah, the barkeeper mentioned he’d seen him around seven but doesn’t recall when he left. It was busy but he remembers Suffolk asking him if he needed any repairs at any time, to call him and gave him his card.” Jo sounded animated. “Think about it, Jenna, when we spoke to him, he was snowed under with work, yet he made a point of speaking to the barkeeper, to establish an alibi.”
Jenna exchanged a meaningful look with Kane. “Yeah, it sure sounds suspicious. We have him in Black Rock Falls until around six-thirty.” She smiled. “He had plenty of time to drive into Louan and commit the crime.”
“Not only that.” Carter’s voice came through the speaker. “We’ve walked from the Triple Z to where the blue Ford was stolen. He had plenty of time to steal the Ford, commit the crime, stash the girl, and return the vehicle. He wouldn’t have been seen in the dark and the parking lot at the Triple Z has no CCTV cameras. No one would have seen him returning to his truck.”
“Then Haralson gets a ride to the Triple Z the following morning and spots the open vehicle, keys in the ignition, and decides to drive it into town.” Jenna could picture the entire scenario in her head. “He would have checked out the glovebox, looking for anything else he could steal, read the registration and gave that name when Kane pulled him over for speeding.”
“The Ford had been wiped clean and Wolfe only found Haralson’s prints.” Kane turned to face her. “I don’t figure Haralson was involved in the kidnapping.”
Jenna agreed and chewed on her bottom lip thinking. “Hmm, I’m inclined to agree. He sounds like a kid who took the opportunity of a free ride. I figure he’d have dumped the Ford in town and walked away.”
“Yeah, we felt the same.” Jo came back on the line. “The tires would have already been caked with soil from the forest.”
“Something else, Maggie called.” Jenna’s stomach gave a squeeze. “I’m sure it’s nothing to do with our case but the granddaughter of the sheriff out of Blackwater has gone missing.”
“I doubt it’s the same man.” Jo sighed. “It’s a different MO and Blackwater would likely be out of our guy’s comfort zone. If it’s the same bomber as in DC, he kept to one area, and they don’t usually change.”
After considering what Jo had said, Jenna shook her head. “Not if you consider the three points: Louan, Black Rock Falls, and Blackwater make up a nice triangle, he could be living in the center.”
“Or maybe move between the three points in his day to day routine.”
All the clues pointed to Suffolk. “Yeah, like Roger Suffolk.” She sighed. “Now if Kalo discovers he has some background in explosives, we have a prime suspect.”
“Yeah, he sounds like a fit.” Kane raised both eyebrows. “But I’m not ready to discount Dexter or Cleaves yet. They fit the profile as well and unlike Suffolk we can put them at the scene.”
“I have to agree with Kane.” Carter was back. “What we have is circumstantial at best. Without hard evidence, the judge will never issue an arrest warrant.”
Of course, he was right. Jenna let the case run through her mind. Chasing their tails wasn’t an option, with only one possible case to compare with the DC bombings, she’d have to do the grunt work and re-visit the persons of interest. She’d missed something, a small clue to link the cases together other than the detonator. “It’s getting late. I figure we return to the office and regroup. We’re chasing shadows.”
“We could work from the ranch tonight?” Jo sounded tired. “Then there’s no long drive home to fall into bed.”
“Sure.” Jenna glanced at Kane who shrugged. “I’ll need to head back to the office. I want to make sure Rowley’s wife is okay. I’ll explain later. We’ll update the case files, and then call it a day. I’m guessing you’ll want to stop by the steakhouse for a meal before we head home?”
“You’re reading my thoughts again.” Carter’s voice came through the phone. “We might as well eat before anything else happens. Jo has been insisting all day, if this guy is out for revenge, he isn’t done yet.”
A cold shiver ran down Jenna’s spine at the thought of more burned bodies. “They never do stop at one, do they?” She sighed. “We can’t have eyes on all the suspects, all the time.”
“If we set up surveillance it might not help.” Carter cleared his throat. “If it’s the same guy as the DC bomber, he’d have everything planned and could have planted the devices by now. He’s very smart and finding a way into people’s homes isn’t that difficult. Disguised as a meter reader, for instance. All he’d have to do is detonate them when he’s ready. We don’t know if he’s planning on repeating the same scene as he did for the Woods. My guess is as the FBI is all over the case, he’ll be more careful.”
