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Nothing she’d removed from the scene would have any sentimental value as far as she could tell, but who knew? One person’s trash was another person’s treasure.
“What is it?”
“An engraved desktop Waterford clock. It was a retirement gift from the St. Louis County PD. He’d always wanted a piece of Waterford, so the clock was an ideal present.”
Waterford clock.
Fine crystal.
Bri’s antennas went up, and a warning began flashing in her mind.
Could the shard Marc spotted have been from that clock?
And if it was, why had it been outside?
Deferring this call suddenly wasn’t an option.
“Can you hold, Ms. Morris?”
“Yes.”
Bri rose. “I have to find a more private spot. Give me a few minutes?”
“Of course.” Alison picked a few grains of salt off the rim of her drink and grinned. “I can always order another one of these if I get bored.”
Pressing the cell back to her ear, Bri wove through the tables and tucked herself into a secluded, vine-bedecked alcove by the door that led to the inside dining room.
“Sorry, Ms. Morris. I wanted to step away so we could talk without distraction. Tell me about the clock.”
Bri listened as Sandra described the memento that was cut in the intricate Lismore pattern. The lab hadn’t yet weighed in on the fragment from outside Les’s house, but they ought to be able to tell what Waterford pattern it was. It was possible she might be able to tell herself, if she compared the photos she’d taken to the piece Les’s daughter had described. And someone at County should know what clock had been ordered.
“Detective Tucker?”
The woman’s prompt pulled her back to the conversation. “Yes, I’m here. I didn’t see anything like the clock youdescribed in your father’s study. As you said, it may have been destroyed in the fire.” It was too soon to mention the broken piece of crystal they’d found outside. Until she was certain it was from the clock, why jump to conclusions or raise questions in this distraught woman’s mind?
“That’s what I was afraid of. I guess it was foolish to hope it had survived, but it meant the world to him. He put it on his desk after the retirement party and told me that’s where it would stay until the day he died. He loved his job, Detective.” Her voice broke.
Bri’s throat tightened at the woman’s palpable grief. “I know. I joined the unit a month before he retired, and I had the privilege to work with him briefly. I also heard from multiple sources how dedicated he was.”
“That was Dad to a T.” A sniffle came over the line. “I also wanted to let you know I found your phone number in Dad’s wallet, on a small slip of paper with a few other notations. They make no sense to me, but I thought they might mean something to you.”
Alison passed by en route to the door that led inside, mouthing “ladies room.”
Giving her friend a thumbs-up, Bri pivoted away from the dining room, pulse spiking. Could this be a clue about the purpose of the meeting Les had requested? “What’s on the paper besides my phone number?”
“Nothing but dates and letters. I’d be happy to snap a photo and text it to you.”
“I’d appreciate that, but I’d like the original too. If you’ll tell me where you’re staying, I could swing by in the next day or two and pick it up.”
“I’m actually flying home this afternoon, but I could leave it for you at the front desk.”
“That works.” Bri jotted down the name of the hotel as Sandra recited it. Then she took a deep breath. May as welltackle the hard issues while she had the woman on the line. “Ms. Morris, I got the toxicology report back from the medical examiner’s office this morning. It raised a few questions.”
“Like what?”
“There were elevated levels of oxycodone in your father’s blood. Do you know if he was taking a strong painkiller?”
“He told me his doctor prescribed Percocet after he broke his ankle, but he only took two pills the first couple of days. He hated medicine. How much was in his system?”
