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“If it happens, I will have you at the top of my list,” Finley assured him.
“Thanks, Dr.Gainer,” Houser said. “Appreciate the assist.”
He gave Houser a nod.
Once they were outside, Houser glanced around the narrow parking area. Their cars sat side by side. “You think it’s the missing brother?”
“It’s looking that way,” she admitted. This had cleared Ray Johnson with the police for now, but Finley had her doubts as to the authenticity,or at the least the nature, of how this evidence came to light. She suspected Houser had the same issues, but she kept the notion to herself. For now, the only choice was to focus on other potential persons of interest. At the top of her list was the custodian. “You’re sure there was nothing in the official case file about a staff member at Lucy’s school?”
“Like I told you, they all checked out. Some of them are no longer there. Retired. Died. But all who were there at the time of the murder checked out.”
“What about a custodian named Howard Brewer? There was nothing about him?”
“There was nothing on anyone who was employed by the school. Why do you keep going back to this?”
She wanted to say because it was more comfortable than bringing up her father.
Instead, she said, “Brewer lost his wife the December before Lucy’s murder. She and some of the other students decided since he didn’t have any family left to help him out, they would take him meals. They even took him presents on Christmas. As time went on, he and Lucy remained friends. I interviewed him yesterday, and it was very obvious, he was fond of her. Maybe more so than one would expect. Then, completely by chance, I ran into him at the cemetery last night.”
But was the meeting really by chance on her part? She had known Lucy was buried there. Had she decided to visit Derrick in hopes Brewer might feel inclined to visit Lucy after their talk? Looking back, the idea seemed a stretch ... but he had made an appearance at the cemetery.
She shook off the thought. “He was putting flowers at her mausoleum. He said he felt compelled to do that since she had no one left to bring her flowers. I suppose the same way he had no one that long-ago Christmas.”
“You think he knows something?”
She grimaced, then, reluctantly, nodded. “I do. He was very protective of her. She talked to him about an older guy she was seeing. Sheeven revealed that she was torn about the relationship. He mentioned that he noticed how clean her car was all the time, which ties in to our car wash theory. By the way, Johnson says he was forced to tear down the car wash after a structural engineer said there were serious issues.”
Houser grunted. “Yeah, right. What else have you got on the custodian? I’m really curious why he didn’t tell any of this to the detectives doing the investigating thirteen years ago.”
“He insists that he didn’t believe he knew anything that mattered at the time, but who knows? He seems to be clean. No criminal record. No other family around. Excellent record at the school. I was planning to go to see him again.”
“We could go together,” Houser suggested.
“We could ride together, although that might be seen as a conflict of interest.”
He grinned. “Right. Okay, I’ll meet you at the school.”
Finley doubted his insistence on tagging along was only about talking to Brewer, but she opted not to push the issue. Like Matt and Jack, he was worried about her. She could tolerate a bodyguard for a little while. So he followed her to Harpeth Hall. They parked and walked in together.
“I made a call on the way over here,” he said as the entrance doors closed behind them. “I’ve got someone running a deep background search on Brewer.”
“Probably a waste of time,” she said as they paused at the administration office. “You know this school turned over every rock in the man’s past before hiring him.”
Houser shrugged. “Never hurts to have a second look.”
“Never hurts,” Finley agreed.
The lady at the desk was the same one who had been there yesterday. “Good morning, Ms.O’Sullivan. You’re back so soon?”
“Good morning. This is Detective Houser.” Houser gave the lady a nod. “We wanted to speak with Mr.Brewer again. He was very helpful yesterday, and anything else he can offer regarding Lucy Cagle will begreatly appreciated. I believe Detective Houser’s case will benefit from talking to him.”
Finley did not want to get the man in trouble if he was innocent, and she had a feeling he was innocent of anything related to Lucy’s murder.
“I’m sorry, he’s not in today. He wasn’t feeling well, and Lord knows the man has enough sick leave and vacation time to take the next ten years off. He never misses a day. I’m guessing he’s really under the weather if he’s staying home. He’s just so reliable.”
“Thank you,” Finley said. “We’ll catch him another time.”
He’d seemed fine to Finley last night. Maybe there was something he had to do today. Something that Finley’s questioning had prompted. Only one way to find out.
