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She sighed and closed her laptop. Klaus probably wouldn’t answer her question, but she had to try.
She headed to the interrogation room and found Michael smiling and sharing a story with Klaus. Klaus regarded Michael with mild contempt, evidently unaffected by Michael’s attempt to connect with him.
“Who’s Martin Holland?” she said, hoping to startle a reaction out of him.
The only reaction she got was confusion. “Who?”
“Martin Holland. His name is attached to the photographs you took of our crime scenes.”
His eyes widened in recognition. “Oh! Martin Holland, the architect.”
“The architect?”
“Yes. When I use another artist’s work, I credit them. I intend to make money off of Mr. Holland’s architecture, so it’s only right that I credit him for it.”
“Where is Mr. Holland now?”
Klaus looked surprised. “I believe he’s dead. Those buildings were constructed over fifty years ago. If he’s not dead, he would beveryelderly.” He caught himself and clammed up. “Lawyer,” he said, somewhat chagrined.
“Thank you,” Faith replied.
Michael cast a questioning look at her, and she motioned for him to stay where he was. He rolled his eyes and turned back to Klaus with a smile. “You hungry, Klaus? I’m gonna order in. Any requests?”
“Lawyer.”
“Can’t eat those, I’m afraid,” he said. “Unless you ask really—”
The door closed before Faith could hear the rest of Michael’s punchline. She rushed back to the conference room and opened her laptop again.
Martin Holland, architect finally yielded the answers she needed. Holland Construction was a local construction firm that specialized in commercial and private heavy-duty construction. They were known for their sturdy storm shelters, garages, hangars and grain silos. The company was headed by Martin Holland, a Korean War veteran who found success later in life when he founded the business and married a much younger woman.
He had died nearly twenty years ago, but he was survived by a son, Frank Holland, and a grandson, William Holland. Frank was an expat who currently lived in Singapore.
William lived in Sioux City.
Heartbeat quickening, Faith looked up William Holland. The smiling image of a man in his thirties with a baby face and a soft, almost effeminate build popped up. The bio listed him as the current CEO and Chairman of Holland Materials. Faith navigated to the company’s website and learned that under William, the company had moved away from construction and into raw materials. They owned several rock quarries and mines throughout the Midwest, including one an hour north of Sioux City.
The bio also mentioned that Mr. Holland was born in Plato and went to school at Oak Ridge High School in Plato from twenty-three to nineteen years ago. Faith leaned forward in anticipation as she opened a new tab and searched for Patrick Jeter.
A quick perusal of Patrick’s biography revealed that Jeter had taught at Oak Ridge High School throughout William’s tenure. He was the senior history teacher and would have had Holland in his final year of school.
She looked up Gemma Montgomery, but several minutes of searching bore no fruit. She moved on to Kevin Malloy. She could come back to Gemma.
Kevin had never worked for Holland Materials, and he had grown up in Cedar Springs, near where Shirley Brooks lived now. There was no sign that Kevin and Shirley knew each other, but she had worked for Holland Materials up until a year and a half ago. Faith thought a moment, then looked up an address for Holland. Current records showed an address in a wealthy neighborhood of Sioux City. She looked up Kevin Malloy again. His address was on the other side of town in an equally nice but otherwise unrelated neighborhood.
But his address immediately prior to his current one was next door to Holland’s.
So that was three of their four victims, but how did Gemma Montgomery connect?
If I were you, I would start looking at her patients.
She called Isabel Montgomery and when Izzie answered, she said, “Izzie, I think I have a lead on the person who killed your wife.”
“You do?” Izzie said, voice perking up. “Who? What is it?”
“I can’t share exactly what right now,” Faith said, “but I need to get to that list of patients. Do you have access to it at all?”
Izzie paused. “I’m not sure. Have you tried her office?”
