Page 29 of Deputies Under Fire
Diedre froze for a couple of moments. “Why?”
“Just answer the question,” Rory ordered.
After a long hesitation, she nodded. “I believe it was.”
“But you don’t know for sure?” Rory persisted.
She made another glance at the spot where she’d seen Carter speeding away. “Yes, I parked in my driveway in the afternoon, maybe around four o’clock or a little later. I, uh, had left for the gym for a workout, but I realized I’d forgotten my membership card so I had to go back in my house to get it.”
“And then what did you do?” Rory continued.
Diedre’s forehead creased. “What did that man tell you?”
Rory ignored that and repeated his question, causing Diedre to huff.
“I went to the gym,” she snapped. “I had a long workout.”
“What’s the name of your gym?” Eden asked.
The alarm went through Diedre’s eyes again. “I didn’t actually work out in the gym. I decided to use the outdoor track. I jogged about four miles, sat for a while and then walked some before I came home.”
It was possible Diedre was telling them she’d done that walking around to cover for time she was gone. Time when she could have been attacking Brenda.
“And you parked in your driveway again,” Rory said. It wasn’t a question.
Diedre nodded. “My garage-door app wasn’t working so, yes, I left my car in the driveway. Why?” she asked.
“Just routine questions.” Of course, that was a lie, and this entire conversation would have to be put in a report with a copy sent to SAPD. “Did you wear your workout clothes home from your walk?”
Again, Diedre took her time answering, and Rory didn’t think it was his imagination that the woman was about to lawyer up. If so, that would put a quick end to his questions. “Yes,” she finally said.
“When did you change? You said you didn’t use the gym,” he reminded her.
This time, it was more than concern in her eyes. It was anger. “I changed in my car,” she growled, “and I left on my workout clothes because I’d spilled a sports drink on my other outfit.”
“And what happened to that outfit?” Rory asked.
Diedre stepped back. “This conversation is over,” she snarled, and she turned and headed back to her house.
“I’ll make another call to SAPD,” Eden said as they watched Diedre storm off. “I’ll see if they can get a search warrant for her house.”
It was a necessary step in the investigation, but it would likely be too late. If Diedre had stabbed Brenda while wearing those clothes, then the top and pants had probably been destroyed, or trashed. Still, SAPD might get lucky and find something else they could use to build the case against Diedre.
Against Carter, too.
Because it was possible he was the killer and had given them the photos to toss the blame onto someone else.
Rory raised his window and started driving back toward Renegade Canyon while Eden dealt with getting that search warrant. As expected, it wasn’t a fast process, and they were nearly halfway home before she finished.
“Detective Vernon will get right on the warrant for both Diedre’s house and Jeep,” Eden informed him. “And he’ll make sure Carter comes in. I’ll go ahead and forward Vernon a copy of the photos just in case Carter decides to delay that visit.”
“Good idea.” Because Carter was spooked. Or else just guilty. Rory didn’t know which.
He heard the swooshing sound of her phone to let him know the photos had gone out. “I went ahead and sent them to the lab, too,” she added, and she began to study the pictures.
Rory glanced at her and saw she had enlarged the area around the Jeep windows, no doubt trying to see if anyone was inside. Judging from her sigh, she couldn’t manage that.
“I’m not seeing any blood or tears on either set of clothes,” Eden muttered. “Nothing to indicate she’d had these on during the attack.” She stopped. “But if she managed to drug Brenda, maybe there was no actual struggle.”
