Page 36 of Hunting the Crossbow Killer

Fletcher held out her hand. “Give me what you have—the prison visitor logs for O’Brien, the employee lists, all of it. I’m begging you. I’d love to speak to some adults and put the fear in them for a change. It’ll be fun.”

“Emailing it to you now.”

“Awesome. Wait, you said there was something about the Nashville police that had you concerned. Did one of them hold a grudge against O’Brien, maybe beat him up or fabricate evidence? You think a police officer could be our suspect?”

“No, no. Nothing like that. It’s more a question about the investigation that was performed after Elly O’Brien’s death. The police reports are insufficient, really thin. And they didn’t dig very deep. I’m just surprised, and disappointed, in the lack of depth of their research. Normally, they’re a top-notch agency. But in this particular case, they didn’t dig like I’d expect.”

“O’Brien confessed. They didn’t need to spend additional resources on the case. Makes sense to me.”

Grace nodded, pretending to agree with her. Fletcher’s obvious bias against O’Brien—which again she fully understood—made it difficult to expect any neutrality in looking at who might have it in for him. Rather than go into more detail about her concerns, she decided to keep those thoughts to herself.

“It’s been bothering me,” Grace said. “But I see your point. Are you sure you want to dig into that huge list I sent you?”

“Are you kidding? This is my catnip, something different to dig my teeth into. If one of these guys is our suspect, I’ll find out. However, it’s going to have to wait until after lunch. I’m meeting a friend at Stella’s restaurant.” She grinned. “It’s a guy friend or I’d invite you to come along.”

“No worries. I don’t want to be a third wheel. I’ll order something from that sandwich shop. Is it okay for me to stay here by myself or do you need to lock up and switch the phone lines like you do at night?”

Fletcher’s expression flattened with disappointment. “I didn’t even think about that. You’re becoming like one of our team. Normally, Collier or Ortiz would cover me for lunch. But I don’t know how much longer they’ll—”

The outer door opened and two men entered the police station, Collier and Aidan. A rush of pleasure shot through Grace at seeing Aidan, until she noticed the grim look in his eyes. The hunt for any personal items to have survived the fire must not have gone well.

“Looks like your lunch is salvaged,” she said. “Collier’s back.”

Fletcher turned around in her chair, then shot to her feet. “For once, I’m actually happy to see him. Later, Grace.” She rushed out of the conference room and after a brief chat with her fellow officer was out the door.

Grace locked her laptop, then left the conference room to greet Collier and Aidan. “How did it go? I’m guessing from your expressions, not very well?”

They both shook their heads. Collier said, “No evidence so far that might point to who set the fire. But it’s early yet.”

“What about you…O’Brien?” She’d just caught herself in time not to call him Aidan in front of Collier. “Any luck finding anything salvageable?”

“The fire department had to put out some hot spots that were smoking to make sure the fire didn’t reignite. Because of that, I couldn’t look for anything. I’ll go back in a few hours and see if the fire marshal allows me to search then.”

“Hopefully he will.”

“She,” Collier corrected. “Lieutenant Molly Graham. She was the marshal on call and drove in from Chattanooga. I’m thinking maybe I’ll ask her to dinner later. You know, as a local courtesy from one agency to another.”

Aidan smiled at that, apparently having heard about Collier’s reputation as a ladies’ man.

“Have you two had lunch?” Grace asked. “I’m about to head to that sandwich shop down the block. You’re welcome to join me.”

“You go ahead,” Collier said. “I’m on duty. Can’t leave the station unless another officer is here. Maybe bring O’Brien and me something back if you don’t mind, after you finish your lunch. Hot ham and cheese sounds good. Tell them to put it on the station’s tab. O’Brien, what do you want her to get for you?”

Aidan looked as disappointed as Grace felt. Perhaps he’d forgotten for a moment, like her, that the two of them going to a café together might not be the best idea.

“Ham and cheese works for me, too. Thanks, Special Agent Malone.”

She nodded and hurried to the café. Eating there wasn’t something she planned to do if Aidan wasn’t with her. Instead, she grabbed their lunch to go and headed back to the station.

“Here you go, Collier. O’Brien, I’d like to reinterview you, ask some more questions to try to figure out who has it out for you. If you don’t mind a working lunch, you and I can sit in the conference room. Sound good?”

“Sure. Happy to help.”

Collier looked like he was about to offer to join them, but Grace led the way to the conference room and shut the door behind her and Aidan. When Collier didn’t follow them inside, she figured he must have gotten the hint.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

They both took a few minutes to spread out their lunch on the table, her facing the glass wall so she could keep an eye on Collier and any eavesdropping or lipreading he might want to do, and Aidan sitting across from her.

---