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“The thing about this week is that there are a lot of ducks, and they do not need to be in a row.” Olivia sat quietly at the table.
Nutsbe thought she was pale.
“The bikes out of Canada, who saw that coming?” Olivia asked.
Nutsbe wheeled to the other side of the room, grabbed some waters and distributed them around, then moved a basket of coffee pastries onto the table within easy reach of Olivia.
The door opened, and Gage—a fellow Panther—escorted Finley into the war room.
Nutsbe lifted a hand. “There he is, the man we’ve been waiting for. Finley, I hope you have answers for us. Olivia, this is Special Agent Finley, FBI, Terror. Finley, Olivia Gladstone.” Nutsbe wasn’t sure that they’d been introduced, only that Finley knew of Olivia and her reputation.
Finley settled onto a seat right across from Olivia. “Seems like you had the golden key, Olivia,” he said. “The police got Mickey’s passwords from you?”
“They did.” She put her hand on Beowolf’s head.
“The passwords still worked. Very helpful. The investigators got into Pauley’s computer and searched his history.”
“And?” Nutsbe moved his chair to sit near Olivia. Beowolf shifted to lay between them and put a paw on Olivia’s foot.
“They found a spreadsheet with his notes on sports games, bets, wins, and losses. His losses were up there in the sixty-thousand range. They also found a life insurance policy on his bedside table. Olivia, were you covered for a million dollars? And only you?”
Olivia’s brows went to her hairline. “We took that out when we got married. If I were to die, we needed to replace my future income to pay for our marital home. He couldn’t keep up the mortgage payment on a police officer’s salary. And he got his insurance through work.”
“Seeing the insurance papers, the detectives did a file search using the word ‘Insurance,’ which they located. MP3 and MP4 files contained video and audio recordings that would identify the people he was interacting with over the gambling debt. We have a trail to figure out who killed Pauley and who put him in your trunk. It’s very good evidence. A lot of people are going to get rolled up in this case.”
Nutsbe was tapping his fingers on his thigh.
“I’m going to cut to the chase here,” Finley said. “Nutsbe’s impatient.” He focused on Nutsbe. “I don’t know if you have a way to get this information, but Judge Greenway is stable. It looks like he’ll keep his leg. I don’t have details beyond that.”
Nutsbe pursed his lips and nodded his acknowledgment. Stable. That was a load off his mind.
“All arrows are pointing to Mickey being the sniper at the courthouse.”
Olivia crossed her arms over her chest and leaned forward. “The motive was paying off some people who were threatening him?”
“The FBI is working on it. What are your thoughts, Olivia?”
“Unpaid gambling debt makes sense. Gambling debts and a high-dollar life insurance plan—someone was threatening Mickey; I wasn’t helpful to him anymore except as a means for getting his hand on some cash. Yeah. I guess I could see that. Mickey wanted to talk to me the day before the sniper. And I told him I wouldn’t do that. I could see him taking Henrietta, my dog, to force communication. He tried to break into my house, and he fought Nutsbe.” She frowned. “Maybe it came down to him or me, and he decided he was going to prevail. I can see that, too.” She was rocking back and forth as she spoke. “But, Finley, how did they land on Mickey being the sniper? What evidence do you have?”
“On camera, the only car that left the parking garage at the time when the sirens blared belonged to a guy. In his interview, he said that he hadn’t driven the car all week. He said during the incident, he was down the street at work. And he had numerous witnesses backing him up. He walks to work. When asked who had access to his keys, he said no one. Next question, Did you ever lend your car to anyone? Answer? ‘My friend Mickey Pauley.’ But he said that was over a month ago. The FBI has camera footage of Pauley’s car driving to the block behind the friend’s house in the correct time window.”
“Circumstantial,” Olivia said.
“Pauley’s weapon was recently fired.”
“Damning, perhaps, but still circumstantial,” Olivia said.
“Spoken like a federal prosecutor.” Finley stood. “The case is still under investigation. We’ll keep you up to date.”
“Thank you,” Titus said as Finley left.
Olivia looked at the clock. She needed to call the office and let them know she wouldn’t be in today. Though, the police had already gone over to check on Steph and make sure she was safe. So Olivia wouldn’t need to explain why she was taking a personal day. “The detectives wondered If I knew Mickey’s passwords. I remembered them. He wasn’t great with cyber security, so it’s possible he didn’t think to change everything from two years ago. That’s the last I know. Other than that, I’m exhausted, and I need to get some sleep.”
“Do you have friends or family you could stay with for a while?” Titus asked.
“No, of course not.” Olivia scowled. “I wouldn’t put a target on them; that’s absurd.”
“Stay at my place,” Nutsbe said.
