Page 100 of Vanish From Sight
“You say he was outside of his vehicle?”
“Yeah. The garage was closed. That side door we just came through from the house was closed.”
“Locked?”
“No. Only the garage door.”
“Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
“What, because he wasn’t found in the vehicle with a tube tucked inside? No. It doesn’t take much for carbon monoxide to poison you. I’m thinking either he was already outside of the vehicle or he second-guessed his decision when he heard us arrive, and got out and only made it over to those steps before he collapsed. The only thing that was strange is that the vehicle wouldn’t shut off. One of our guys turned the key and the engine was still going. Luckily one of the forensic guys knew a thing or two about engines and popped open the fuse box and took out the relay and then the engine shut off. I figure he screwed with the car, just in case he had second thoughts. He didn’t want a plan B.”
“Or someone screwed with it and he got out with the intention to figure it out. Was the hood already popped?”
“Don’t know. I wasn’t in here.” McKenzie turned. “Bailey!”
One of the forensic team appeared in the doorway, outfitted in a full-body protective suit made of the lightweight, breathable material known as Tyvek.
“Was the hood already popped when you went to take out the relay?” Noah asked.
Bailey shrugged. “Not sure.”
“Well, you would have felt the tension,” Noah said.
“I can’t recall. I just wanted to get in and out fast.”
“Useless bugger,” McKenzie said, turning back to the vehicle. “Anyway, doc says Nicholas might not pull through but he will keep us updated. I’m praying he does because I can’t wait to see his face when we charge him for a double homicide.”
“On what evidence?” Noah’s voice was tinged with impatience.
McKenzie grinned, a glint in his eye as he beckoned Noah and Callie back into the house to a nearby table. Bagged up, ready to be logged, were multiple items.
“That unique colored rope tied off around Katherine and also used to hang Laura. We found it in his yard shed hanging up. It’s cut at the end. I figure that will be a match.” He reached for the next item which was a Glock 22. “You said he didn’t have a license. Seems that didn’t stop him from obtaining a gun on the black market. Serial number has been scratched off. Of course, we’ll need to get ballistics involved to match the casing you found to this, but I figure it will be a match for the one used to kill Katherine.”
“And what’s this?” Noah asked, lifting a bag with a set of keys inside.
“Take a look.”
Gloving up, he reached in and took them out to see the emblem for a Kia Sportage on the key fob.
“The damn thing was hanging up on the key rack. Imagine that.”
“Yeah. Imagine that,” Noah said, glancing over his shoulder toward the rack near the front entrance.
“My theory is Nicholas found out that Katherine was pregnant. They had a big fight. Probably wanted to know who the father was, or maybe she just told him outright. Then two days before she was pulled from the lake, she left and went and stayed at Nate Sawyer’s place. We know it’s his baby. So, husband loses it, kills Katherine and then follows up by stealing Sawyer’s vehicle and killing Laura with the hope of pinning it on Sawyer.”
Noah set the keys down, shaking his head. “No. It doesn’t add up.”
“Of course it does. Sutherland, the evidence is staring you in the face.”
“That’s what concerns me. How long has Nicholas had since the murders to get rid of these? You’re telling me he kept the rope, and the keys to Sawyer’s burnt-out SUV on his hook? And what about the gun? Where was that found?”
McKenzie stared back. He hesitated a moment before he replied. “In his closet.”
Noah raised an eyebrow at him. Callie shook her head.
“Come on, McKenzie. You’ve been a detective long enough. How many cases have you worked where you’ve seen this amount of evidence all in one place? People throw guns, melt them down, dispose of them, they don’t keep them in their closet. They sure as hell don’t hang up the key to a stolen vehicle on the hook. No, he had plenty of time to dispose of these. He had to know he’d be the first person to be served with a search warrant. And then we have Sawyer saying he never saw Katherine in those days between the day she left and the night she was pulled from the lake — and by the look on his facewhen we told him Katherine was pregnant, he didn’t know. She never went to his house.”
“So, Katherine never told Sawyer and Nicholas killed her before she could,” McKenzie replied. “It doesn’t change anything.”
