Page 26 of Her Baby, Her Badge

Livvy nodded and headed back to the bullpen, no doubt to get started on Grace’s request. Grace didn’t continue her computer search, though. She just sat there a moment as if processing all of this.

“If Brian’s the killer, he’s probably removed anything we could use against him,” she said. “Well, unless he had so much faith in Felicity that he thought she’d never turn on him.”

Dutton shrugged. “He did seem shocked when you brought up her name. And he did ask her to lie for him about his alibi. Not sure if that’s faith or stupidity.”

“Yes,” Grace muttered, and she took out her phone. “I need to have another conversation with Felicity. It’s possible Brian said something else to her that would help add to the circumstantial evidence.”

However, before Grace could make that call, her phone dinged with a text. “It’s from Rory,” she said to him. “It’s the time and date Jamie gave him for the visit from the fake electrician.”

Good. That was a start. “I could call some of the hands to ask them. It’d take some of the workload off Rory and the rest of you.”

She didn’t exactly jump at the offer. Probably because he was already involved more than she wanted. But she finally nodded and said thanks under her breath. However, Dutton didn’t get a chance to get started on those calls because there was a knock at the door. Rory opened it, but he didn’t manage to say anything before their visitor stormed in.

Wilson.

Dutton wasn’t the least bit surprised to see that Wilson was already past the stage of being merely angry. There was rage in the hardened muscles on the man’s face.

“You’ve got Elaine’s fiancé in custody for her murder, and you didn’t bother to tell me?” Wilson demanded. “I always knew you were incompetent. And your word means nothing. You said you’d keep me in the loop on this investigation, and then you go behind my back.”

Dutton got to his feet and had to rein in his own temper. He wanted to dole out some venom of his own, but that would only escalate an already tense situation. Wilson had obviously comein here gunning for a fight, and that anger was going to soar once he realized what Grace was about to show him.

In contrast, Grace stayed seated, and she looked way calmer than Dutton could have ever managed to appear. He figured it was a facade, that she was fuming inside, but she was clearly holding it together.

“How did you know Brian Waterman was here?” she asked.

Wilson seemed ready to spew out his response, but he hesitated. “Cassie.”

Dutton hadn’t expected that, and obviously neither had Grace. “How did Cassie know he was here, and why did she call you about it?”

Again, he hesitated, but there was still enough anger brewing inside him that he snapped out a response. “She was at the diner when she saw a man with blood on his shirt come in here. She asked around, and someone told her it was Brian.”

Grace glanced at Rory, who was still in the doorway behind Wilson, and the look she gave him had Rory stepping away, no doubt to find out who’d given that info to Cassie. It wasn’t a secret, but no one should be blabbing about it, either.

“I don’t have Brian Waterman in custody,” she stated to Wilson, her still calm voice matching her expression. “He came in voluntarily and is waiting on his lawyer so I can continue to interview him. He lied about his alibi.”

She didn’t add the whole story about Felicity, and Dutton wondered if she would. Maybe she’d wait until she had ruled out Wilson as a suspect. If she could rule him out, that is.

“Why did he have blood on him?” Wilson snarled.

“He said he got drunk and fell.” She never took her eyes off Wilson, so she was obviously watching to see the man’s reaction. And she got a reaction alright.

“Is he lying?” Wilson demanded. “Was it Elaine’s blood?”

“I’m not sure. We’ve taken a sample, and it’s at the lab.”

Wilson huffed. “You should be pressing to get those results ASAP,” he stormed. “You should be on the phone with the lab right now, demanding—”

She stopped him by holding up the tablet. At first, Wilson just looked confused, and then he went in for a closer look. Dutton moved, too, putting himself at an angle so he could see Wilson’s face. There didn’t seem to be any shock, though the man might just be good at concealing his emotions. He was a cop, after all.

“What is that?” Wilson asked.

“A sketch of a man wearing a disguise who lied his way into the main house at the McClennan ranch,” Grace answered, and then she waited.

Wilson studied it some more. “What did he do?”

“He likely stole the knife and used it to murder Elaine,” Grace explained.

That caused Wilson to stare at the screen several moments longer. And then he cursed. When his gaze went back to Grace, there was a new wave of fury in his eyes. “You think that’s me.”

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