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“And?”
“And? I told you that this would turn political if the Kingstons discovered that Emily Park was interviewed as a witness,” Hartley said in frustration. “Can you imagine their reactions when they find out that you believe a woman killed Kadel and Zimmer?”
“A womandidmurder Bella Kadel and Piper Zimmer,” Brook stated matter-of-factly. She’d never been one to play the political game, and she wasn’t about to start now. “Your point?”
“I think you’re wasting everyone’s time, Sloane.”
“If you truly believed that, Hartley, you wouldn’t be here,” Theo interrupted with an underlying warning, though he never raised his tone.
“There were no defensive wounds on the victims’ hands,” Hartley pointed out, his agitation not lessening in the least. “A woman wouldn’t have had the strength to stop Kadel and Zimmer from fighting back. Their tox screens came back clean.”
“What if the victims didn’t fight the plastic bag being sealed over their heads?”
Brook’s question had drawn the attention of both men.
“I have a phone call to make, and then I’ll meet you in the living room.”
Theo understood and accepted how Brook worked, so he had remained silent as she walked out of the kitchen and into her bedroom. Hartley, on the other hand, attempted to keep the conversation going until Theo intervened, allowing Brook to close the door without saying another word.
She set her coffee down on the dresser before picking up her phone, which she’d left on the bed. There was a text from Graham that she would reply to later this morning, but she first needed to reach out to the firm’s client.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Jameson, it’s Brooklyn Sloane.” Brook wasn’t certain what type of reaction she was going to get to her proposition, but she was prepared for any type of pushback. “I believe it’s pertinent to the case that you and your husband put in an appearance at tonight’s art exhibit.”
The silence on the other end wasn’t a bad sign, but it wasn’t a good one, either.
“I believe it would be beneficial to have you there.”
“I haven’t stepped foot inside that art gallery since my sister died, and I’m not sure that I can do so tonight.” Lorelei inhaled, and the ragged breath came across the line loud and clear. “Do you still believe that Maxwell Vanderbilt could have—”
“I think that there are a lot of leads that point to the art exhibit,” Brook corrected her, not wanting to share her theory that the unsub was a woman. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be beneficial to the case if Lorelei were to treat Maxwell any differently than she would at any other function. “Tonight is a chance for me to get to know those closest to Bella. I would like you there in case I have any questions about the artists, staff, or any of the attendees. I wouldn’t ask this of you if I didn’t think it would benefit the investigation.”
“I suppose we can make an appearance,” Lorelei replied reluctantly. “What time would you like us there?”
“Seven-thirty,” Brook replied, knowing that the start of the event was a half hour earlier. She wanted time to observe the reactions of others when the sister of Bella Kadel made an appearance. “Thank you, Mrs. Jameson. I’ll see you this evening.”
Brook kept ahold of her cell phone as she picked up her coffee. She swallowed the rest of the contents before exiting her bedroom. After a quick refill, she was armed and ready to provide a very significant detail to the team about the unsub.
“Good morning, Office Lawson.” Brook was glad to see that Blake was becoming comfortable enough with the team to take a seat in one of the overstuffed chairs. She maneuvered around the coffee table so that she was standing next to the fire. She leaned down, tapped on the display of her tablet, and quickly uploaded the information that she’d spent most of last night working on. “I’m still firm in my belief that the unsub is a woman. In response to Detective Hartley’s theory that the victims did not have any defensive wounds on their hands, it’s due to the victims intentionally not fighting back when the plastic bag was originally placed over their heads.”
Brook set her cell phone down next to her tablet, but she kept ahold of her coffee mug. She backed up until the heat radiating from the fireplace was absorbed by her sweater. Since she was staying inside the Airbnb until later this evening, she’d dressed in a pair of jeans with one of her favorite black turtlenecks. The soft cardigan sweater was for additional warmth.
Sylvie was sitting on the couch with her laptop opened, and Theo was leaning against the wall near the hallway. He would no doubt go shower directly after their meeting, and he would likely drive into town and stop in at the café. Theo didn’t give into political pressure, either. It wouldn’t surprise Brook if Theo and Sylvie both decided they were in need of a hot beverage later this morning.
As for Bit, his curious gaze kept switching between Brook and Detective Hartley.
“I understand your skepticism, but dismissing the profile would only serve to hinder the progress that we’ve made over the past week.” Brook tapped her worry ring against the mug. Once again, everyone chose to remain silent. “We are all in agreement that the art gallery is a point of interest. Most likely, Maxwell Vanderbilt or another male subject is also a focal point. I believe that the unsub is an artist, and she used her fascination with death to convince the victims to pose for her.”
Detective Hartley rubbed his eyes in frustration, maybe disbelief, at Brook’s theory. Before he could counter her profile, she nodded toward Bit.
“Boss had me look into Bella Kadel’s calendar, and there was a notation that she had a meeting at nine o’clock on the morning of her death.” Bit used his laptop to shift Brook’s profile to the side on the monitor in order to display Bella’s online calendar. “You’ll see that the initials P.A. were written in on the day in question. Looking back, I deciphered that P.A. stood for potential artist.”
“Wait,” Hartley said as he held up his hand. “What are you talking about? I looked at Kadel’s daily planner. There was nothing written in for that morning.”
“Bella originally had two online planners. I discovered one in her deleted files.” Bit then pressed a button on his keyboard. “This is the calendar that you submitted into evidence. It was the main planner that came with the software on the victim’s phone. Considering that most every appointment had been entered, you never had any reason to look for a downloaded application. Bella actually tried out four planners in the span of one month. She apparently didn’t like any of them.”
Hartley’s face flushed with irritation, but he wisely didn’t take his frustration for missing a crucial detail out on Bit. Brook already sensed Theo’s aversion to the detective.
