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THIRTY
Josie, Noah, and Chief Chitwood all crammed into Cyrus Grey’s office. There were two chairs in front of his desk. Josie sat in one. Noah stood next to her, his palm warm on her shoulder. The Chief paced the small space behind them. Lucky for her, Noah had arrived at the hospital bearing a change of clothes and shoes. The numbing medication was starting to wear off, leaving a deep throb that seemed to encase her entire forehead. She’d chanced a glance at the wound in the hospital bathroom and was relieved to see that the cut was so close to her hairline that even if it did scar, it would likely not be noticeable. Now that she was out of the hospital and safe beside Noah, her adrenaline had started to recede. In its wake, every bump and bruise from the crash vied for her attention. Exhaustion weighed heavy on her limbs. Trinity had already given her statement and left after Drake came to pick her up. Josie had watched them go with a mixture of relief and envy knowing that lots of rest was in her sister’s future. Trinity would be relaxing on Josie’s couch before Josie could.
She reached up and squeezed Noah’s hand. “Did you find the missing child?”
“I didn’t, but our new rock star K-9, Blue, did. The kid had gotten pretty far so it took him about a half hour, but he went right to him.”
“Happy ending,” the Chief said. “That new K-9 unit has come in damn handy, if I do say so myself.”
It was true. The team had balked at first because the new “K-9 unit” consisted of Josie’s ex-fiancé, Luke, and his bloodhound, Blue. Their history was rocky. Initially it had been awkward, but after Luke and Blue helped crack a high-profile case the month before—and saved Josie’s life—there were no more complaints. When the city council had denied the Chief’s request for a dedicated K-9 unit, he turned to a nonprofit devoted to providing search and rescue dogs to police departments that otherwise could not afford to have full-time K-9 units.
“If only we could use him to find Carolina Eddy,” Josie muttered. “Or better yet, Mathias Tobin.”
“What did Hallie Kent have to say about Mathias Tobin?” asked the Chief. “I got your text, but give me the long version.”
She filled them in on the conversation that she and Trinity had had with Hallie Kent.
Noah said, “Why would Vance Hadlee exonerate this guy?”
“I know. It’s weird, right?” Josie said. She told him her theory that Dermot had forbidden Vance to give Mathias an alibi for reasons they did not know.
“We can sit around all night and try to figure out why Dermot Hadlee does anything,” said the Chief. “But we really need to maintain focus on our murder victims. We should be thinking about all of this with them in mind. The connection between Vance Hadlee and Keri Cryer is that Keri worked for the law firm that took Vance’s statement, which ultimately freed Mathias Tobin. But what’s the connection between Vance Hadlee and Sharon Eddy? Aside from the brand?”
Josie sighed. “I don’t know. Everything seems to be six degrees of separation from Jana Melburn, though. Sharon Eddy’s mother was one of the last people to see her alive. Dr. Feist did Jana’s autopsy. She wanted to rule it a homicide or at least undetermined but her boss, Garrick Wolfe, pressured her into ruling it accidental.”
“Why?” asked the Chief. “What was in it for him?”
Josie recapped the conversation she’d had with Anya about the autopsy and Garrick’s implied offer to keep Vance from stalking her if she did what he asked.
“I strongly doubt this Garrick guy was worried about the community,” said the Chief. “He’s friends with Vance’s dad. We’re back to Vance, who doesn’t have an airtight alibi for the day that Sharon Eddy was killed, and probably doesn’t for when Keri Cryer was killed, either.”
Noah added, “And if Hummel finds any traces of Keri Cryer in the white sedan we impounded from the Hadlee farm, Vance will be in even more trouble.”
“But killing Sharon Eddy and Keri Cryer only served to draw attention to the Jana Melburn case. Why would Vance do that?” asked Josie. “He had no connection to her at all. Even if there was a connection that we’re not aware of—hell, even if he killed Jana Melburn—why would he want to draw attention to it? The Keri Cryer murder has more to do with Mathias Tobin than with Jana Melburn.”
“Then we look at Tobin,” said the Chief.
“Right,” said Josie. “But Vance is the reason that Mathias Tobin is a free man. Why would Vance kill his girlfriend?”
“We’re missing something,” said the Chief. “Or someone.”
“Are we overlooking Garrick Wolfe?” Noah suggested. “I tracked him down but we haven’t spoken with him yet.”
Josie said, “Him pressuring Anya to rule Jana’s death accidental only benefited Mathias in the long run. He wanted that case brushed under the carpet, so why would he want a microscope on it ten years later? Also, he helped Anya. Why would he be killing people to send her a message now?”
“We don’t know,” said Noah. “We have no idea what Garrick Wolfe knows. You said it yourself—he wanted the case brushed under the carpet. Why?”
“Find out,” the Chief agreed. “Just like every other damn person whose name comes up in Sharon Eddy’s murder investigation, he’s got a connection to the Jana Melburn case.”
“But he’s got no connection to Keri Cryer,” Josie said. “And no connection to Mathias Tobin that I can see—unless we just haven’t found it yet. He did know about Anya’s branding.”
“But the brand has nothing to do with Jana Melburn,” Noah pointed out. “Why is the killer even using it? What is he trying to say? These are two very different cases: Anya’s domestic violence case and Jana’s death, and yet everything comes back to Melburn except for the brand. Even Keri Cryer comes back to her in a way. Keri was in love with Mathias who was the last person to see Jana alive, not to mention her brother and father figure. The brand is the outlier. Maybe it’s meant as a distraction to keep us from putting all of this together.”
“No,” said the Chief. “The brand is just another degree of separation from Jana Melburn. The brand was inflicted on the doc by Vance Hadlee, who exonerated the guy who was widely believed to be Jana Melburn’s killer.”
“Exonerated for another crime, though,” said Noah. “Unrelated to Jana Melburn. From what this Hallie Kent has told Trinity and Josie, he’s still the prime suspect in Jana’s death.”
Josie said, “But Mathias practically raised her.” She thought about the photo album Hallie had shared. If the pictures were truly representative of the relationship between Mathias and Jana, then she could see why it was impossible for Hallie to believe that he’d harm her. He’d been fresh out of high school when he took on raising her. Taking on that responsibility was a labor of love and from all appearances, Mathias Tobin had loved Jana intensely. He’d been devoted to her. Doting.
