Page 54 of Dirty Looks

“That’s going to take some time,” Doug said. “Maybe a lot of time. It’s a sophisticated program. And it’s got all kinds of security and firewalls.”

“Like something an expert in cyber security could come up with?” I asked.

“Depends on his level of skill, but yeah, that’s a possibility.” Then Doug grinned. “But I’m better.”

“While we’re making a list of crap we don’t have the answer to,” Martinez said. “I need you to see if you can find Emma Lidle. Look for credit cards, apartments, anything that might be in her name. And if you don’t find anything in her name start looking for same listed under Robert or Kitty Lidle. They probably have so many properties and developments that no one would notice if she took up residence.”

“Wait,” Daniels said. “Who’s Emma Lidle?”

“Everett and Jenny Lidle’s oldest daughter,” Martinez said. “Jenny told us this morning that Emma had taken off as soon as she’d graduated from high school. They haven’t seen or heard from her since, but Jenny said they thought Robert had been helping Emma out financially.”

“When we questioned Astrid Nielsen, she’s the one who brought up Emma,” I said. “She was caught red-handed shooting Alan Goble, and her excuse was that he’d been responsible for Evie’s murder. Autopsy reports prove otherwise, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t the man on the inside who got her out of the house.”

I looked at Daniels for confirmation and she said, “We found no evidence of struggle or anything else, other than the drugged decanter, that Evie left the home against her will.”

“So potentially lured her from the house,” I said. “Astrid alluded that there might have been sexual abuse involving Emma as well. And when that much cash is going throughchannels…” I shrugged, letting my thoughts trail off because it was too horrific to imagine.

“You think Alan Goble was involved in a sex-trafficking operation?” Martinez asked.

“I think it’s possible,” I said. “What kind of price do you think people would pay for the granddaughter of someone like Robert and Kitty Lidle?”

“Maybe they’re looking for ransom instead,” Martinez said. “These aren’t street or foster kids. How would the trafficking come into play and then expect them to just rejoin the family as if nothing happened? Keep the silence.”

“There are lots of ways,” I said. “That’s what groomers do. They’d either shame the kid into staying silent, or maybe threaten with their life or the lives of people they love. Maybe the going rate of an heiress’s granddaughter is a hundred thousand dollars.”

“This guy has millions in transactions,” Martinez said. “Do you know what that could mean?”

“Yeah,” I said, nodding soberly. “I do.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“What about cell phones?”Jack asked.

The pizzas had been demolished and everyone was fully caffeinated. It would last for a little while. But I knew we’d all need some sleep at some point, though I hated the thought of wasting the time. The first forty-eight hours of a murder investigation were the most crucial.

“We’ve got a list of all staff and security. Let’s start looking for cell phone pings. See who left or if someone came in.”

“On it,” Derby said.

“Chen took statements from the security guards on duty,” Martinez said. “All of them are retired military or law enforcement. Excellent service records. No one even has a blip on their record.”

“People without blips can still be bought,” Jack said. “Someone has a sick wife with cancer, or is in debt up to their eyeballs. There’s all kinds of reasons.”

“Turns out it was a scheduling error,” Martinez said. “A guy named Lance Chatham said that he’d been scheduled at the guardhouse on the east side of the property where the stable entrance is located. But there was already a guard that had been assigned to that perimeter. They called the other guards to seeif everyone’s assignment had been messed up, but everyone else was exactly where they were supposed to be. It took Chatham twenty minutes to get back to the west gate where he should have been.”

“I’m guessing Alan Goble makes all the schedules?” I asked.

“You’d be correct,” Martinez said.

“Makes sense to send him to the farthest point,” Jack said. “That’s not a huge window of time though to get Evie out of the house and outside the gates.”

“Well someone got her out,” Martinez said.

“I don’t know if it was Alan Goble,” Derby piped in. “Cell towers pinged his phone leaving Bowling Green Monday morning at six thirty. He arrived at the Lidle estate at seven. Got him back in Bowling Green around six thirty in the evening. Then again in Richmond until about five the next morning.”

“Stayed the night somewhere,” Martinez said. “That’s one busy guy.”

“Went home and then showed up back at the Lidle estate at seven this morning,” Derby continued.

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