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“Yeah, I heard about it. Sad case.”
Very. More so because drugs had been involved. According to what Alison said yesterday during her thank-you call for the food Sophie had accepted at the door Sunday night, her husband’s expedited tox report had indicated elevated levels of controlled substances.
Evidently the drug issue she’d hoped he’d kick had instead been a contributing factor in his death.
“I know. It has to be devastating for my friend.”
“From the scuttlebutt I heard, the guy was divorced.”
“No. Separated.”
“Goes to show you can’t trust the grapevine. No problem on the service. Take as long as you need.”
“Thanks.”
“You heading out to the fire on Sycamore?”
“That’s where I was going when you flagged me down.”
“I’ll let you get to it, then.” Lifting a hand in farewell, he took off down the hall.
Once again, Bri crossed to the elevator, reached toward the down button—and froze as the door slid open.
Jack was on the other side.
She did a double take. “What are you doing here?”
“Taking care of County business that spilled over into the city. I was going to swing by your office and see if you were in, but this works.” He took her arm and tugged her off to the side again, away from the elevator traffic.
Apparently this was the day for hallway conferences.
“What’s up?” She shifted toward him as he stopped by the wall.
“I’ve been working my airline and rental car company contacts. They all ran Holmes’s name through their databases. Nothing came up.”
“So he’s still in Idaho.”
“I didn’t say that. All I said is he’s not showing up as a customer with any of the major carriers that service St. Louis. Have there been any more incidents?”
“No. I’m beginning to think my run of bad luck last week was nothing more than a bump on the road of life.”
His dubious expression said he wasn’t buying that. “In case there’s more to it, watch your back.”
“I always do.”
“You want me to connect with the McCall cops, have them do a drive-by and see if his car’s at his apartment? That could be helpful—unless he’s got a garage.”
“He doesn’t. Or he didn’t while I was there. He used to complain about snow blowing into his covered spot. It may be worth a try. But an empty space doesn’t prove he’s out of town. Not many people want to tackle a twenty-six-hour drive.”
“I know a few guys who like cross-country trips. If the cops do spot his car there, though, we should be able to assume he likely didn’t drive here.”
“It can’t hurt to have someone take a look.”
“Done. I’ll let you know what I find out.” He folded his arms and propped a shoulder against the wall. “So how goes it with your ATF agent?”
“Nothing new to report. Now I have a question for you.” Putting her brother on the defensive should distract him. She hoped. “Why did you tell Cara about the shooting? She called yesterday and was all over me about it.”
“It came up in conversation during a phone call.”
