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“But itwasn’t,” she wailed. “And I’ve been saying this for the last two years to anyone who would listen.” Her eyes glistened.
Dan removed a dark blue folded handkerchief from his waistcoat pocket and pressed it into her hand. “Hey,” he said softly. “We’regoing to listen to you, okay?” He covered her hand with his own, then froze.
Gary knew what that meant. And he had to know more.
“Mrs. Sebring, can I get you some coffee? Tea?”
She eased her hand from Dan’s grasp and wiped her eyes. “Tea would be good. And please, call me Linda.”
“I’m sure I can find some.” He gave Dan a meaningful stare, then inclined his head toward the door. “We’ll be right back.”
Dan took the hint and rose to follow Gary from the room. Outside the door, Gary gave him an inquiring glance.
“What did you pick up on?”
Dan’s brow furrowed. “I… I’m not sure. She’s desperate, I know that much.”
“Yeah, well, that hadn’t escaped me either.”
Dan shook his head. “It’s more than that. She’s utterly convinced she’s telling us the truth. So I guess my question is… would Travers agree to us looking into it?”
Gary laid his hand on Dan’s arm. “Can I point out a couple of things here? One, it’s not a cold case—it’s adone-and-dustedcase, with nothing indicating any outcome other than the official one. Two, I’m pretty certain Travers would think this would be a total waste of our time.”
Dan stared into his eyes. “But what if she’s right?”
“When all the evidence points to it being an accident? I checked. There wasn’toneeyewitness account of someone throwing him off those rafters. As far as I can make out, he wasaloneup there.” One glance at Dan’s solemn expression stopped him in his tracks. “Did you sense something else?”
Dan glanced at the door. “I can’t explain why, but she… she really shook me. I think we need to look into this.”
“You trust your senses that much?” Then he reasoned that was a dumb question.
Dan’s senses hadn’t steered them wrong yet.
A slow nod. “They don’t lie, Gary. Okay, they might lead me off in weird directions sometimes, but at the heart of everything, I’m… shown there’s an inescapable truth.” He stared once more at the door to the interview room. “And I need to know what her truth is.”
Gary gazed at him in silence, then pulled his phone from his pocket and called Travers. “Sir? Something’s come up.” He relayed what they had so far.
“This doesn’t sound as if it would be a good use of your valuable time,” Travers commented dryly. “In fact, it sounds a lot like a wild goose chase.”
Dan grabbed his arm and locked gazes with him.Please, he mouthed.
“One moment, sir.” Gary pressed his phone to his chest. “You said it yourself. You don’t have anything to go on.”
“You think I don’tknowthat? This is what’s bugging me about the situation.Everythingin me is screaming not to let this go.”
If it was a choice between provoking Travers’s ire and following his own instincts….
Gary held his phone to his ear. “Sir, Dan feels there’s something that needs to be investigated. And if you want my opinion? I think we should see where this leads us.”
Travers fell silent, and Gary’s heart sank.He’s not going to go for it.
At last he spoke. “You have until Friday. After that, I expect you both to be hard at work solving a cold case. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And keep me informed if you find anything.” He hung up.
Dan gazed at him expectantly. “Well?”
