Page 22 of Outlaw Ridge: Reed
That could end up being a crucial witness, and soon someone would be interviewing her.
In addition to Marsha’s car parked in her driveway, there was also a cruiser. He could see that Shaw and Declan were already on the scene, securing it and no doubt making the necessary calls for something like this. Reed knew they were also using some new equipment to check for explosives. Considering what’d happened at the other murder, that, too, was a necessity.
“All clear,” Shaw let them know after they’d put on the protective footwear and then stepped inside. “Clear of explosives anyway,” he tacked onto that, his gaze shifting to one of the many large windows. “But the killer might have another surprise in mind this time.”
Yeah, and that was the reason Reed had insisted they put on Kevlar vests before coming to the scene. The vests wouldn’t necessarily keep them from being killed, but it would stop them from dying or being seriously injured from a direct shot to the chest.
“Declan’s checking the yard for, well, anything,” Shaw added. “No signs of a break-in, but Declan thought he saw some trampled down plants in the back.”
Good. They might get lucky with a shoeprint or some other forensic evidence they could use.
“There’s a woman looking out her window across the street,” Reed let Shaw know.
Shaw’s immediate nod relayed that he’d noticed it as well. “I’ll head over soon to talk to her. The body’s in here,” Shaw added, leading the way.
This house wasn’t as large as Walt’s, but it had the same open floorplan so Reed had no trouble seeing the frail-looking woman with the thinning gray hair slumped in a chair in the living room. There was an amber-colored empty glass and an equally empty medicine bottle next to her on a small table.
And a note.
“Oh my God,” Hallie muttered. “It’s set up like Corman and Elenore’s mother’s murder.”
Yes, it was. He hadn’t personally seen that particular crime scene for Nancy Pierce, but Reed had studied the photos well enough so he could now recognize all the things the killer had replicated. The woman’s hairstyle. The dress. The fact that she’d lived alone. Hell, even the glass and medicine bottle were matches.
Of course, there were differences too.
This woman was more than a decade older than the original victim had been, and she had no children. Corman and Elenore’s mother hadn’t had lupus either but rather chronic fatigue syndrome. That’d been the diagnosis that had allowed Tami to waltz into her life to care for her.
And rob her.
They had done that little by little, draining one account after the other before either Tami, Kip or both had forced Nancy to drink a lethal dose of pain meds.
Kip had admitted to his part in the murder while on the stand at his trial. Obviously, that hadn’t been his lawyer’s intention since Kip had originally pleaded not guilty, but Kip’s temper had gotten the better of him when the prosecutingattorney had called the murder the act of a coward. Kip had then “boasted” that it took balls to kill the old bitch.
After that, Kip had changed his plea to guilty and had “thrown himself on the mercy of the court” by spilling a lot more about his crimes and attempting to show some remorse. While it’d been damn hard to listen to the grisly details of the murders, Reed had been thankful that Kip had at least owned up to what he’d done.
Too bad Kip hadn’t kept his mouth shut after his conviction. But no. He’d seen fit to lie about Hallie in that reply to Luther’s article.
Reed couldn’t think about that now though. He couldn’t let it eat away at him and cause him to lose focus on the here and now. And the here and now was this latest murder.
He went closer to the dead woman, already knowing what was written there on the note, and he was right. The precisely printed words practically jumped out at him.
I can’t go on. The loneliness and pain are too much to bear. Forgive me, Elenore and Corman.
Reed glanced at Hallie who was standing frozen, her attention locked on that note, for several quiet moments. He could only imagine the firestorm of emotions going through her. She’d worked hard to put her past behind her, and now some asshole was throwing that past right in her face.
“The note’s identical,” Hallie said after she cleared her throat, “and the cops didn’t release that to the public after they determined Nancy’s death to be a murder and not suicide.”
“No, they didn’t,” he agreed. “But Jay could have seen the file, and Corman would have seen the note since he was the one who discovered his mother’s body. Tami could have told Luther.”
Hallie nodded, sighed, and he saw and heard the frustration. They weren’t able to eliminate any of them as suspects, andworse, it might be none of them. It could be someone else who wasn’t on their radar.
Reed turned when he heard the sound of voices outside the house, and he went to the front window to see if the CSIs, ME or any other deputies had arrived, but there weren’t any new responders.
“You’re not going in there,” he heard Declan say, causing Reed to head straight for the door to see what was going on.
With Hallie right behind him, he barreled down the porch steps, following the sound of the voices to the side yard where he spotted Declan. He had his hand over the butt of his gun, and every part of his body language seemed primed and ready for a fight. The same could be said about the man standing across from him.
Jay.
