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She smiled as they stepped outside and headed toward his car. The storm had passed and the sun beamed down on them.
And that made him happy, because evidence was much easier to find with a clear blue sky overhead.
His phone rang and he was surprised to see the caller.
“Samuel,” Lachlan said.
“Hi. So, I was thinking about your case, and I’ve emailed you a list of logs for a cell phone you might not know about. It’s a burner phone purchased from a company that’s been popping up on our radar recently. I don’t know if this information is helpful or not, but there are some calls to a landline number that belongs to the house next door to the address I gave you. I’ve emailed you the details.”
Lachlan grinned. “How did you get that information, Samuel?”
“It’s public knowledge, if you know where to look,” he said without a hint of sheepishness. “Good luck.”
The call ended and he opened his email on his phone. Sure enough, an email was there, but unlike other emails, the sender name stole his attention.
The Joker
Every time Lachlan had received an email from Samuel, it had a different sender name and the name was always related to a superhero or villain. He smiled, wondering if he’d ever get to meet Samuel. He doubted it.
After he pulled up in front of Louise White’s home, he quickly opened the email, scanning the calls, but as he kept scrolling he knew analyzing these calls was something he’d need to do in the office. Regardless, it was strange that calls from a burner phone were being made to Louise White’s property.
He turned off the ignition and stared at the house for a moment.
“You okay?” Bethenny asked.
“Yeah,” Lachlan responded despite the tingling up his spine. The longer he looked at the house, the more he felt like something was wrong about it.
He suppressed a shudder. “Let’s have a look around.”
BETHENNY
Bethenny knocked on the front door, inhaling deeply. She looked over her shoulder again, but there was no one there. She didn’t know why she felt like something was off, but she did.
Her gaze went to the windows, noticing the interior shutters were open. She looked into the living room, surprised at how old the interior was—it was like the outside had undergone a renovation but they’d skipped the interior. She thought Louise must still be out, but then a shadow passed the window and she held her breath again.
The door creaked open. “Detective, it’s good to see you again,” Louise said, opening the door fully.
“Hello. We were wondering if we could take a look around your backyard? We’d like to see exactly where you found the knife and do a closer inspection to see if there’s any other evidence to be found.”
A pleasant smile graced Louise’s lips. “I thought you’d come by. Glad you didn’t disappoint,” she said, looking past Bethenny to Lachlan. “I see you two are a team now.”
Bethenny looked behind her, wondering if that was a strange question or if Mrs. White was just nosy. “We’re working on this case together, yes,” Lachlan said casually. If he shared Bethenny’s concerns, he hid them from his voice.
Louise’s eyes lingered on Lachlan, but her face was impassive. She seemed to be studying him, though for what Bethenny didn’t know.
“Well, come on in,” she eventually said, opening the door fully.
Bethenny entered, her eyes sweeping over the brown-and-green-striped floral wallpaper. She was sure her grandmother had had something similar. Her eyes dropped to the dark gray carpet, which appeared to be the only thing updated inside the house.
They followed Louise through the house and Bethenny immediately noted Louise wasn’t using the walking stick, but she was definitely hobbling. Maybe she’d just used it for support when she was walking around more, shopping or other errands.
Louise led them to the backyard, which consisted of a small wooden deck and overgrown grass. Bethenny’s first thought was that she was surprised Louise had found the knife at all.
“Will you please show us where you found it?” Bethenny asked.
“Sure,” Louise said as she stepped forward, cautiously stepping off the deck and hobbling into the tall grass. She took about fifteen steps forward and then looked down. “This is it,” she said, still looking at her feet. “I remember because I was repairing this section of fencing and saw it.”
Bethenny joined her and looked at the fence. It had been patched very recently, judging by the shiny metal square nailed to its base, almost buried in the grass. It wasn’t the best patch job Bethenny had ever seen, but she supposed it sufficed.
