Page 135 of Liar's Point

“Wait.” Emmet leaned forward. “Back up. What exactly is it that you think she knows?”

Owen looked at his brother, and some sort of silent communication passed between them.

Brady tossed his pencil on the table. “Do I need to remind everyone that this is a homicide investigation? What does this woman know about this case?”

“And are we talking about Aubrey Lambert’s case or Danielle Ward?” Emmet asked.

Owen glanced at his brother before looking at Emmet. “Both.”

Emmet slumped back in his chair. So Nicole was right.

“Somebody better tell me what’s going on.” Brady folded his arms over his chest.

Alex cleared his throat and scooted his chair forward. “Our intent was for Ms.Miller to give you a statement.”

“About what?”

“In her absence, I can’t get into much detail,” Alex said. “But I can tell you she believes that both crimes may somehow be connected to her estranged husband.”

“Malcom McVoy,” Emmet said.

Brady looked at him. “Who?”

“Cassandra’s husband.” Emmet shook his head. “I can’t believe it. Nicole totally called it.”

“What does Nicole have to do with this?” Owen asked. “I thought she was on leave?”

“She is.”

“Wait,” the chief said, clearly losing patience. “We’re talking about the yoga instructor, right? You’re telling me she’s married to someone named McVoy?”

“Malcom McVoy,” Emmet said, “whose company in Boulder, Colorado, makes surveillance drones for the Defense Department.”

Alex looked surprised. “You’re already investigating him?”

“Nicole is. She’s onto this whole thing.” Emmet looked at Brady. “She connected the dots between Cassandra Miller—who discovered the first victim—and Malcom McVoy. And she thinks he’s somehow connected to a guy named Krueger—also from Boulder—whose DNA was found inside Aubrey Lambert’s car.”

Brady’s brow furrowed. “When did we get that?”

“Just this morning,” Emmet said. “The DNA results came back from the rearview mirror.”

Quiet settled over the room as everyone absorbed this new info. For the first time, different puzzle pieces were starting to fit together. But the person who could probably make sense of the full picture was suddenly missing.

“So, you went by this woman’s house? Cassandra Miller?” Brady asked.

“Yes, and she’s not there,” Owen told him.

“I’ll try calling her again,” Alex said, pushing his chair back.

He stepped out of the conference room, and Brady looked at Owen.

“Excuse me,” Adam piped up. “Does it strike anyone else as weird that this witness who knows all this is suddenly MIA?”

“Yeah, I don’t like it,” Owen agreed. “Alex talked to her late last night, and she told him she’d meet at his office this morning before coming in to give us a statement.”

Brady’s gaze swung to Emmet. “Where’s Nicole?”

It took him a moment to realize the chief was asking because Emmet had obviously talked to Nicole this morning and not because he’d spent the night at her house.

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