Page 92 of Shadow Sabotage
“Maybe he believed he did such a good job of covering it up that we would never find out.”
Annoyance flashed on Claire’s face. “I can see him underestimating me, but you’re DCI. You think he would be that confident about hiding it from you?”
“Maybe.” But I had another theory.
One that made a hell of a lot more sense.
“What is it?” Claire asked, sensing my shift.
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it sooner. The woman was angry, cold, and paranoid. She had means and motive. And it would explain every move Sheriff McGrath had made.
I turned to Claire. “What ifSerenakilled Katelyn?”
Her mouth fell open as the implication hit. “Oh my God.”
She put her hands up to her head and started pacing the floor, her mind working a million miles an hour as she put the pieces of the puzzle together the same way I had.
“It would explain everything,” she finally said. “Sheriff McGrath and Katelyn have an affair. Serena finds out and confronts him. Loses it and kills her. Maybe Sheriff McGrath knows or suspects, or maybe he thinks Katelyn just got tired of him and moved on.”
She stopped pacing and sank down onto the couch. “He’s relaxed and casual when he gets to the crime scene because hedoesn’t know it’s her. But then Wendy shows him the bracelet and he knows it’s Katelyn—and that Serena killed her.”
I nodded, picking up her trail. “So he calls in DCI and excuses himself from the case because he knows it’s a conflict of interest to work it. His moral code won’t allow him to cover it up completely.”
“Then he puts me on the case. I’m inexperienced. A liability for you.”
“A distraction,” I said, groaning.
“Andbecause he knows I’ve let things slide for other people. He hopes I’ll protect Serena.That’swhy he hinted about that during that weird conversation. She made a mistake, but she’s a good person, and he feels guilty because it’s partly his fault. He hurt her.” She filled up her cheeks with air. Blew it out slowly, the way she always did when she was nervous. “It all makes sense.”
“He loves his wife,” I said quietly. “So he can’t tell us about the affair.”
“Not because he’s trying to save his job,” Claire said, the realization dawning.
I nodded. “But because it would give away Serena’s motive.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Claire
“So, what do we do?”My body felt like a snake coiled, ready to strike. I wanted to rush over and arrest Serena right now.
But Vance was the voice of reason. “We make our case.” He held up fingers as he ticked off points. “One. We believe the body was dumped via snowmobile. That’s the most logical explanation for how someone got into the park that time of year. Two. We know Serena owns a snowmobile. Three. We know what her motive was. But we have to be able to prove it.”
My eyes lit up. “The video. From the bistro. It has proof that Serena knew Sheriff McGrath had cheated on her.”
“Did she say Katelyn’s name?”
My shoulders sank. “No, I don’t think so.”
“It might still be enough. We have a witness statement that they were seen cozying up at a coffee shop, plus video proof that Serena knew he recently had an affair and was upset by it. That, along with the snowmobile registration, might be enough for a warrant.”
“An arrest warrant?”
He shook his head. “A search warrant. If she used the snowmobile to dump the body, there will probably be forensic evidence on it. Blood, hair, skin cells. That would make our case. Has your contact sent the video yet?” Vance’s eyes were sharp, like a predator ready to pounce on his prey. But unlike me, he knew how to slowly stalk a victim. How to wait patiently for exactly the right moment.
I wanted desperately to know what it might feel like to have that slow intensity focused entirely on me.
“Well?”
