Dead End

“Wow.”

“That was pretty much my reaction. Lot of money just sitting there, can’t help but wonder where it came from. And this is after some substantial outlays of cash. Seems Ms. Lowery paid cash for that spread she was living on, only eleven acres, not much out here, but still…” He cleared his throat. “Paid cash for that new SUV, cash for a bunch of new furniture. Any idea how she could have done all that?”

“No. None.” A

“Her father was a bus driver and her mother retired with a twenty-five-year pin from the local school district. They have no idea where the money came from.”

“I’m sorry, Sheriff, I just can’t help you.”

“You wouldn’t have any thoughts on who this gentleman friend might have been?”

“No, sorry. Did you ask her parents if they knew who she was involved with?”

“They said they thought she had someone special in her life, but she didn’t talk about it. You think that’s strange, not to talk to your mother about your boyfriend?”

“Since my mother died before I was old enough to have boyfriends, I wouldn’t know.”

“Sorry about that, Dr. McCall.”

“And a lot of women just don’t discuss their personal lives, especially if it’s not a serious relationship, you know?”

“Maybe.” He sighed heavily. A

“Oh, one more thing,” he said. “I spoke with the locksmith in town. He said Mariana Gray had come in one day about seven months ago and asked for all new locks, doors and windows. He thought it was unusual at the time-nobody out here locks up like that, there just has never been a cause for it in the past. That could change, in light of this murder. Anyway, the locksmith said he went out to her house, and she had him double-dead-bolt all the doors and put locks on every one of the windows. Said he never saw anyone so worried about her house being broken into.”

“Well, she did live around D.C. for several years. We have our share of crime out east, you know. Maybe her place here was broken into, maybe she’d been the victim of a crime in the past and it made her skittish.”

“Or maybe she was afraid of someone.” He cleared his throat again. “Guess she was right about that, eh?”

“It does look that way, doesn’t it?” she replied, momentarily distracted by the call-waiting signal. She walked to the phone base to check the caller ID. It was an overseas number she didn’t recognize. Co

“Well, I guess I’ll give your agent Mancini a call, see if he’ll throw me a bone or two and give me a few leads.”

“If he has any, I’m sure he’ll be more than happy-”

“Please, Dr. McCall. I’ve been down this road with the FBI before. We both know that you know what’s at the bottom of this. I just hope that if you find Melissa Lowery’s killer, you’ll at the very least let me know so that we can stop wasting our time looking for him-or her-out here.”

“Sheriff Brody, you have my word. If we find the killer, you will be the first to know.”

“ ’Preciate that, Dr. McCall. Hope it’s soon. We’ve got some nervous people out here.” He hung up without waiting for any further comment.

A

A

“Hey, A

A

There was a report. The Bureau had a report. Names, places… contacts. Maybe they’d even be able to locate the families of the girls who’d been killed. She practically danced into her room to finish getting dressed. She couldn’t wait to tell Evan, couldn’t wait to see the report.

She put in another call to John, but there was no answer. She pulled on a pair of linen pants and slipped her feet into flat shoes, searched her dresser for earrings, a bracelet, all the while thinking of how wonderful it would be if she could find the evidence that could lead to the resolution of these killings.

She went back into her office, picked up the autopsy report on Melissa Lowery, and tucked it into her briefcase. She tried both John and Evan one more time, but wasn’t able to reach either one of them. No matter, she told herself. She’ll get through to both of them before the day was over.

Buoyed by the turn of events, she turned off the light and headed off to work.

20

“She was my brother’s wife, Luther.”

“She was a loose end. Another of your loose ends,” Luther said calmly.

“She wouldn’t have gone back on the deal.”

“You don’t know that. And with A

“Melissa didn’t even know I was involved. I was really careful. She had no clue as to which name on her report was the one that wasn’t supposed to be there.”

“All she had to do was give A

“There were a lot of agents there that night.”

“Only one of whom wasn’t assigned to the op.” Luther spoke as if explaining something tedious to a child. “And let’s not even bother to talk about the fact that you were family, Shields, and never mentioned to anyone in your family that you were there that night? You think that wouldn’t seem odd to anyone?”

His comment was met with silence.

“I saw the report, Shields,” Luther continued. “She saw you with the rifle case.”

“About fifteen people were carrying rifle cases, Luther.”

“Only one of them was noted coming out of the building. A building that no one had been assigned to enter.”

“I explained that to her. I told her I’d gone upstairs after hearing the shots fired. I told her I was looking for the shooter. She believed me.”

“She might have, but someone less trusting, someone trying to put the pieces together-someone like A

“Melissa wouldn’t have told A