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“The only reason that my father had me and Catherine stop by your office with stipulations was for you to leave Nolan out of the investigation,” Brett said testily, turning his back to his date. He held a drink in his hand, and his knuckles had turned white with agitation. “We told you the truth about Nolan’s previous trouble with the law. He was young and immature. Besides, it’s my understanding that the police are looking into the Cranstons. Why would you continue to look into Nolan’s past?”
“The Cranstons,” Brook repeated with a tilt of her head, purposefully ignoring his question. “Family friends, correct? I’m surprised you aren’t more concerned about them, Mr. Kolsby. Devin was one of your best friends growing up, wasn’t he?”
“Devin is the reason that my brother got into so much trouble back then. We don’t really talk anymore.”
“You must be referring to when the two of them bought drugs off a nurse who was stealing them from the hospital? The same nurse who went missing, and whose remains were among the four bodies found last week?” Brook tsked her tongue, which further irritated Brett. “Like I said, Nolan was cleared when we discovered that he was in rehab at the time of Andrea Firth’s murder. Odd, considering that he’d attended a fundraiser the day prior.”
Brook had made a conscious decision to push the boundaries that had been inadvertently set. The Kolsbys weren’t usually the family who received pushback, but she wasn’t someone who sat on the sidelines. Such isolated barriers had been slated for demolition, and she was now prepared for the fallout. S&E Investigations had taken Millie’s case pro bono a couple of weeks ago. In that time, a lot had been discovered…except for concrete answers.
It was time to change the narrative.
“What are you insinuating, Ms. Sloane?” Brett asked as his father continued to talk about his future plans. “You have your answers. The Cranstons clearly having something to do with those remains, and you just said yourself that my brother couldn’t have been involved in the murders. What is it that you’re trying to prove?”
“…like to thank my children, who have been nothing short of amazing throughout my recovery,” Dr. Kolsby said into the microphone. “Brett? Catherine? Please join me.”
Brett had been caught unaware, but Brook still had time to illicit one more reaction.
“It’s too bad that Nolan remained at the family estate this evening,” Brook murmured as Brett took a step in the direction of the stage. “I’m sure he would have wanted to be included in such recognition.”
“How the hell do you—“
“Brett?” Catherine called out, cutting off whatever Brett had been going to say. “Shall we?”
Brook could connect the dots, though.
Brett was well aware that Nolan was at the family estate, which begged the question—what exactly was Nolan doing at his father’s residence?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Brooklyn Sloane
December 2022
Tuesday — 6:17am
Brookhadknownthatcaffeine would be her closest ally today. While she usually only managed four hours of sleep on any given night, last night’s event had her staring at her laptop until after three o’clock in the morning.
She’d fallen asleep on the couch, only to wake up to a text from Graham. He was going to try and fly back into town before the storm hit on Thursday. They hadn’t really talked since their dinner last Wednesday, and she had been relieved when he hadn’t pressed the issue.
She’d already picked up her large caramel macchiato from the café, walked the remaining distance to the office building, and changed out of her winter apparel for her usual office attire. Today was going to be extremely busy as they ran the leads that they had obtained from last night’s gala.
Dr. Kolsby and the hospital board had used last night’s fundraiser as a way to appease their benefactors. They had done that in spades, using Millie’s presence to their advantage. She’d known what they had planned, and Brook understood the woman’s need for normalcy after the past few weeks.
As for Brett Kolsby, he’d pretty much ignored his date the entire evening. There was no denying that he had knowledge of Nolan’s presence at the family estate last night.
Catherine and her husband had some tension between the two of them, while Dr. Kolsby seemed to be very comfortable in his element. As a matter of fact, he’d ignored Brook and Theo the entire night. Dr. Kolsby always made sure that he was not in speaking distance of her. Truthfully, it was quite the turnaround after their previous discussions.
While Dr. Lance Heinsel and his brother warranted further investigation, Brook hadn’t seen the doctor speak with Dr. Kolsby at all. Not once. Had that been by design or did the two of them really not run in the same circles?
Gary Heinsel was another matter altogether.
The man had posed for pictures with Dr. Kolsby and engaged in conversation for a good twenty minutes before parting ways. Brook had made a note on her daily planner to reach out to the prosecuting attorney who hadn’t been able to take the man’s case to trial.
There was a possibility that she could offer her advice and cull a favor or two out of the DA. The key to the investigation was Lance Heinsel. He was the reason that Donna Laurel had been killed, and that angle needed to be pursued by the investigating officers.
Brook had been in the middle of powering up her computer when she caught movement in her peripheral vision. Kyle Paulson had been in the process of reaching for the buzzer outside the double glass doors, but he didn’t have to compete the motion. She used the notification on her tablet to access the application and unlock the entrance.
Pushing back the chair, Brook made sure to pick up her morning beverage. There were only a few sips left, but she preferred to have something to hold onto while listening to what was bothering Kyle. His movements weren’t as smooth as they usually were, and she highly doubted that his agitation had anything to do with a client. He’d left the fundraiser early, and it was evident that she was about to find out the reason why.
