AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Connor frowned. “Okay, I’m going to stab the elephant in the room.”
Howard sputtered. “You don’t stab the elephant, Connor. You just... mention him.”
Connor smirked again. “So, the elephant—Dr.Reeves. How do we know he’s legit?”
The tension crept back to her shoulders, even though she’d known the question was coming.
“We don’t,” she admitted, irritated at how hard it was to say those words. “But his boss vouches for him, and Dr.Levinson vouched for both of them. Looks like Reeves is one of the true helpers.”
Connor snorted. “I’m surprised, McKittrick. You’re usually the one who paints everyone in the worst light. What’s the deal with this guy? Are you seeing him?”
Kit bit her tongue until she could control her tone. “No, Robinson, I am not. He could be lying, but I don’t think he is. He’s given us his phone so that we can check where he was at the time of Skyler Carville’s murder.”
“Which was when?” Howard asked.
“Saturday morning between three a.m. and seven.”
“Same time frame as Colton Driscoll,” Connor observed.
“I saw that,” Kit said levelly. “Might be serendipity or it might be an important connection. If he met Skyler in a bar a little after midnight, it would have taken time to get her roofied and away from the place. Three a.m. might have been the earliest he could take her to wherever he killed her.”
“And buried her in the park,” Connor murmured. “What’s with the parks?”
“I don’t know,” Kit said with a frown because she’d forgotten something. Parks, parks, parks. “Oh! Parks. After we first ID’d Dr.Reeves as the anonymous caller, I wanted to check the park maintenance schedules. I wondered how the killer managed to bury someone in a public park without getting caught. I thought maybe he picked places where the ground was already dug up—you know, for planting or maintenance, especially with the disappearances occurring in the early fall and late winter. That’s planting season.”
“That is very possible,” Connor said, sounding a bit impressed. “Who wants the parks?”
“I’ll take it,” Kit said.
Connor nodded. “But back to your shrink. We only have his word that the Beckham kid saw a graying man with glasses in a black Mercedes.”
“I’m going to Nathan Beckham’s school this morning,” Kit said. “I’ll ask his guidance counselor to sit in.” Because the thought of Nathan harming himself had kept her awake last night. If his counselor saw what Dr.Reeves had seen, maybe Nathan could get some help. “He’s a minor and should have a parent present, but Reeves didn’t think he’d talk if his mother was around. I want to give him a chance to open up first before we bring in the mother.”
“Poor kid,” Howard murmured. “Taking care of his mom like that. What about the Epstein girl? If you’re so sure that she knows something, how do we shake it loose?”
“I don’t know. I was thinking of taking Dr.Levinson with me next time I visit her. Tonight if he’s available.”
“Or you could ask the ‘true helper’ to talk to her,” Connor said sarcastically. “Your shrink has a magic voice or something.”
Kit ignored his snark. “We won’t be doing that.” If Sam Reeves wanted to contact her witnesses, she couldn’t stop him. But she wasn’t going to solicit his assistance. She checked her list again, squinting at the note she’d scrawled on the paper’s margin, trying to read her own handwriting. “Okay, next. The kid with the metal detector. The one who found Skyler’s body.”
“Convenient,” Connor said, back to being serious. “Did you believe him?”
Kit grimaced. “I don’t know. I thought it was awfully convenient, too, but then Baz... Well, I got distracted at the end. I meant to follow up and ask him more questions, but I went to the ER once I’d notified the victim’s parents.”
“I’ll go,” Connor said, the gentleness of his tone surprising her.
“Thank you,” she murmured. “His name is Daryl Chesney.” She forwarded the boy’s address to Connor, then closed her folder. “Anything else?”
“No,” Howard said. “This is a good start, Kit. Should we meet back here this afternoon?”
“Four o’clock,” Kit agreed. “Thanks.”
She walked out with Howard, leaving Connor to trail behind them.
“Sorry about Connor,” Howard murmured.
“Not your fault,” she murmured back. And it wasn’t.
