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THIRTY-SIX
It was difficult to avoid attracting attention as Rio walked with Rowley to the front desk of the company where Lucas Davies worked. The sight of two deputies asking questions had everybody’s ears pricked and he had serious doubts the suspect would cooperate with them. As he’d been released from prison only in the past three months, he would likely be working on a trial basis. Davies would no doubt consider any intrusion by the local law enforcement a threat to his job. He wondered why Jenna had considered him in the first instance. They were pursuing a killer, not an arsonist, and Lucas Davies had been convicted of setting fire to a neighbor’s vehicle after he discovered his wife had had an affair with him.
The receptionist at the front counter showed them into the company’s break room and then hightailed it off to find Davies. When a man in his thirties with neat blond hair and wearing smart casual dress came into the room, Rio stood and waved him to a seat. Lucas Davies? I’m Deputy Zac Rio and this is Deputy Jake Rowley. I know you’ve recently returned from a business trip, but were you in town at any time from last Thursday through Monday?”
“Do I need a lawyer?” Davies eyed them suspiciously. “Because you would only have to check with my employer to know where I was and when.”
Flipping open his notebook, Rio shrugged. “Well, that’s up to you. I know we could ask your employer, but we figured you’d prefer to answer a few questions rather than have him suspect you might be involved in an offence.” He sighed. “We’re asking anyone who was released from jail in the last six months or so the same questions. They’re routine, is all. If we believe you’re involved in a crime, we would read you your rights and take you in for questioning. You’ve been around the block a few times. You know the deal. So, what’s it going to be? Answer my questions or do we take you down to the office?”
“Okay.” Davies looked over his shoulder as if concerned someone might overhear him. “I left town on Thursday and spent the weekend in Helena. I visited a few of our stores on Saturday and Monday and then I drove home.” He frowned. “We’re required to keep a log of our visits, including mileage, which is checked before we leave and when we return.” He sighed. “We aren’t assigned a particular truck. They’re all the same and we take the one with the merchandise packed ready for the stores. That’s why the mileage is checked.”
So, it’s pointless checking for an oil leak. Rio made a few notes and nodded. “Did anyone see you in Helena over the weekend?”
“Yeah.” Davies shuffled his feet. “I’m seeing someone, but I really don’t want you calling them for an alibi. I’m not sure how she would react if she believes that you’re checking up on me.”
“If you show us your logbooks and they check out, you’ll need to give us her name, should we need it to clear you.” Rowley gave him a direct stare. “We don’t have to inform her that we’re looking at you for a crime. We have other ways we can use to protect your privacy.”
“Okay, I’ll go and get the logbooks.” Davies gave them the name of his girlfriend and her details and then hurried back to the office.
Rio stared after him. “His logbook should give details of the contacts he made during his workday. I’ll use my phone to make copies of each page and make random calls to see if they are legit. If so, I think we can recommend the sheriff strikes this guy from her list of possible suspects.”
“He sure isn’t acting like a killer to me.” Rowley tipped back his hat and rested one hand on the handle of his weapon. “He is cooperating. Well, I figure he’s trying to make a new life for himself. When he set fire to his neighbor’s vehicle, it was probably a crime of passion.”
Rio checked out the logbooks when Davies presented them to him. Each page had been checked by the company and stamped as being correct. He copied each page using his phone and then handed the book back to him with a nod. “Thank you for your cooperation. I doubt we’ll be bothering you again.” He led the way out of the office and headed back to their cruiser.
As he slipped behind the wheel his phone chimed. It was Bobby Kalo and he answered using the Bluetooth device in his vehicle. “Don’t tell me you’ve found a link between those trinkets and a murder?”
“How about three missing persons files? I’ve sent the details to the office. They go back seven years and are in three different states. The pieces of jewelry are distinctive and the missing people were wearing them in photographs, which made life easier. All three were single women who lived alone, known to frequent bars, and were in the high-risk category.” Bobby tapped away on his keyboard. “In each case, they were reported missing by people they worked with. There’s no supporting evidence whatsoever. It was as if they vanished from the face of the earth.”
Exhilarated by the news, Rio smiled at Rowley. “It would be too much of a coincidence for someone to have all three of them in their house, wouldn’t it? Did you cc Wolfe as well? He’ll send the victims’ dental charts to all the dentists in Colorado. It will be a breakthrough if we can get a positive match on any or all of them. Thanks, Bobby. I figure we’ll go and visit the Bright cousins again.”
“My pleasure and, yeah, Wolfe has the files. Catch you later.” Kalo disconnected.
“I’ll call Jenna.” Rowley pulled out his phone.
Shaking his head, Rio flicked on lights and sirens and headed toward the Brights’ residence. “She won’t have her phone with her during the interview, and if she’s on the way home in the chopper, she won’t be able to hear you. We’ll just drag the cousins back to the office for questioning and I’ll get the paperwork ready for an arrest warrant. We’ll explain everything to Jenna when she gets back.”
When they arrived at the Brights’ house, the place was locked up tight. No vehicles were in the yard and the shutters had been closed. Needing to know if the two men had left town, Rio used his lock pick to open the front door. They moved inside, weapons raised and cleared the ground floor, and then moved slowly up the stairs. The bedrooms still held a few clothes in the closets but the personal items they’d spotted during the search of the property were missing. He holstered his weapon and turned to Rowley. “Dammit! It looks like we’re too late. They’re in the wind.” He glanced at his watch. “The sheriff said she’d be back from the state pen before noon. I’ll send out a BOLO on the Brights’ vehicles, but they probably left town the moment they were released and have a twelve-hour start on us by now. Maybe something in the questioning spooked them or they knew the box of trinkets was a smoking gun?”
“We can’t just sit by and do nothing.” Rowley’s mouth turned down in annoyance. “If they came into an inheritance, they’d have spare cash. I figure we contact the airport and see if they’ve taken a flight in the last twelve hours. If I were planning on making myself scarce, I’d take the first flight out of town.”
With his mind running through different scenarios, Rio looked at him. “We can, but that’s easy to trace and these guys are way too smart—and Sam Bright would send up a red flag the moment he purchased a ticket as he’s a parolee. I figure they’d take the best option and go off the grid—they’ll be holing up where they keep the women and biding their time to see if we connect the missing women to the trinkets. We’ll send their pictures and descriptions of their vehicles to the local rangers and ask them to spread the word with the hunters and hikers. I figure it’s our only chance of finding them.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Rowley smiled at him. “I’ll make some calls.”
