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“What?” Arnett asked.
“I’m not sure. The twenty-two. It feels… off for someone executing an ADA. Like they’d use something with more heft.”
Arnett shrugged. “Criminals use whatever illegal guns they can get their hands on. Plenty of twenty-twos circulating out there.”
“No, right.” Jo shook her head and tapped at the phone. “I’m sending Hayes an update. Then should we compare notes?”
“I’ll call Lopez.”
As soon as they had her on the line, Jo started. “I’ve managed to eliminate quite a few suspects, but I have a list of about ten possibles I can’t track down by phone.”
“I’ve got about seven myself,” Arnett said.
Jo rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. “Well, that’ll take, what, two to three weeks to sort through? How about you, Christine, anything more concrete to help us save time?”
“I got a whole lot of nothing on my end. Nothing in her emails, phone records, or calendar that’s even the least bit suspicious. No threats, not even angry contacts. I found a smattering of emails between her and her divorce attorney, and all indications are it was a fairly smooth divorce. Bruce may not have wanted to divorce her, but he isn’t one of those assholes who fight over every asset just to make their soon-to-be-ex’s life miserable.”
“No surprise. He was still trying to get her back, up to and including the day he signed the papers,” Arnett said.
“Yeah, well. We do have a case of the dog that didn’t bark in the night,” Lopez said.
“What’s that?”
“You asked me to see if I could figure out who she was dating. I couldn’t find anything even remotely romantic. No texts, no phone calls I couldn’t account for, no emails.”
Jo shot Arnett a questioning look over the phone. “Does she have another phone?”
“Not that I can find. And why would she bother?” Lopez asked.
Jo tapped a nail on her thigh. “Maybe she was lying to Bruce about dating someone to get him off her back?”
“Been there.” Lopez yawned. “Anyway, guys, I’m wrecked. I think that’s all I’m going to be able to do until the morning.”
“You? Too tired to work?” Arnett asked, feigning surprise.
Lopez sighed. “Turns out I’m getting too old for all-nighters around board games followed by four-hour drives and a full day of staring at tiny print on monitors and documents. Catch you guys bright and early in the a.m.” She hung up.
“Dammit.” Jo shoved her notepad. “How can there be nothing helpful in Sandra’s accounts? We need something to narrow this down, now, before Hayes pops a gasket. Should we check out the names on each other’s lists, see if we can pick up on something the other missed that might help?”
“I’m right there with Lopez.” Arnett checked his watch. “It’s almost eleven. I say we send her the list of names we have and let her do what she wants with it, then get some sleep so we can think clearly and take a fresh look in the morning.”
Jo winced, and dropped her head into her hands. “How did it get that late? I never texted Matt.”
“Oh, that’s right, isn’t this your first night living under the same roof?” Arnett asked.
Jo rubbed her lips together. “Technically, yes. But we’ve slept under the same roof many nights.”
“You know what I mean.” His voice took on a teasing sing-song. “Not a great way to start things out…”
Jo felt herself tighten in a way she didn’t like, and forced herself not to react. He was teasing, something he wouldn’t do if he thought there was any truth to what he was saying—if he thought she was screwing up, he’d tell her straight out.
She stood, and grabbed her coat and her car keys. “Now, now, let’s not create problems where there aren’t any.”
* * *
Despite her best efforts to ignore it, the nerve Arnett had scratched was still humming when she pulled up to the house. She slipped in as quietly as she could, thinking Matt was most likely in bed. But he was up, sitting on her couch—their couch—one leg crossed over the other knee and supporting a book thicker than the Bible, one hand gently flipping pages while the other rested on a glass of red wine.
He smiled and closed the book when he saw her. “Hey there. Long day?”
