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She didn’t say she was sorry for his loss, although he could see that she was. “Why do you think he was murdered?”
It wasn’t a condescending question. She believed him already. At least she believed that he believed it, and for now, that was enough.
“My father had been behaving strangely. Startling easily. More than once I caught him looking over his shoulder or doing that cop thing where they look through a crowd, searching for one face.”
“So, he was cautious. Maybe even afraid. Do you know why?”
“No.” Gabe bit out the word in frustration. “I surprised him one day about two weeks before he died. He was on his laptop and when he saw me, he went ghost white and slammed the lid shut.”
She nodded once, her gaze never leaving his face. Her eyes were blue-green. Which wasn’t important. That they were sharply intelligent, however, was important. “Were you able to get into his laptop after his death?” she asked.
That he’d tried seemed to be a given, and he appreciated that. “Yes. And it was wiped clean. Factory new.”
Her brows lifted. “Well, shit,” she said, her accent drawing the expletive out to three syllables.
He snorted a surprised laugh. “Yeah, that’s about right.”
“Your father could have wiped it. Or whoever killed him could have done it. Have you taken it to an IT expert for analysis?”
“He brought it with him,” Burke supplied. “I’m going to hand it over to Antoine as soon as he comes in today.”
Antoine Holmes, Burke had explained, was their IT guru.
“That’s good,” she said. “If there’s anything left on it, Antoine will find it. What about his cell phone?”
Gabe shook his head. “They didn’t find his phone.” He had to draw a deep breath because his chest seized up just thinking about his father’s last text. “He texted me at a quarter to midnight the night he was killed. Said he loved me.” He swallowed hard. “So I know he had his phone then.”
Molly sighed, a soul-weary sound. “So, your dad was afraid, and whatever he was checking on his electronics is now gone. At least to us mere non-hacker mortals. I wonder why his killer took his phone and left his laptop? Honestly, I’m shocked that the cops didn’t take his laptop into evidence.”
“I’m not,” Burke said grimly.
Nor was Gabe. Rage began to bubble anew in his belly. “The cops didn’t do a lot of things.”
“Which is why you believe they’re involved,” she said, her tone matter-of-fact. “What did the medical examiner say?”
The bubbling rage became a geyser, because the damn electronics were the least of the reasons that he knew the cops were involved. “Not much. He didn’t do an autopsy. Or at least not a thorough one.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why not?”
“Because someone told the ME not to look too closely,” Gabe said bitterly. “This was according to the ME’s assistant, who seems like a good man. I went there to check on the progress because the cops were giving me the brush-off.”
She pulled her phone from her jacket pocket and opened a note-taking app. “Name of the assistant?”
“Harry Peterson.” Gabe watched her type the name into the app. “He wouldn’t tell me which cop, but he said that he couldn’t look himself in the mirror without letting me know that something was dirty. I’m worried about him, to be honest. He was young and he looked terrified.” But resolute, and Gabe both respected and appreciated that more than he could express. “The autopsy report still hasn’t been released. Every time I call the coroner’s office to ask if it’s been finished, they cite ‘overwhelming caseloads’ and say that they’re behind and will get to me as soon as they can.”
She glanced at Burke. “Can we keep eyes on Peterson, just in case? DeShawn’s working in the coroner’s office now, isn’t he?”
Burke nodded. “That’s who I thought of, too. I’ll check into it.”
Gabe looked from Molly to Burke and back. “Who’s DeShawn?”
“DeShawn Holmes,” Burke answered. “His brother, Antoine, is our IT specialist. D’s just started his residency in the coroner’s office. He’s trustworthy and well trained, so if something goes down, he’ll be able to help.”
Gabe frowned. “Well trained how, exactly?”
“He served,” Molly said, then smiled. “Army, but we don’t hold that against him.”
“His other brother is a cop,” Burke added, “but one of the ones I trust.”
