AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Was he really that clueless? Savannah’s gut clenched at the thought of asking her sister to let her into the school’s financial records. Jess’s job was sacrosanct to her, and she wouldn’t likely agree to let anyone have access. Not even her sister.
Hez huffed. “You don’t know my sister-in-law well, do you, Harrison? Money is power to her, and she isn’t easily cajoled into anything. We’d have better luck getting the police to ask for a search warrant. And right now the investigation centers on Abernathy’s murder. A judge won’t grant that kind of access without probable cause that it’s related.”
Beckett bristled at Hez’s tone, and Savannah suppressed a sigh. Did Hez have to remind Beckett of their former relationship every other minute? “I’ll talk to her about it and explain how important it is to figure out who is behind this. But we have to remember the embezzler has likely hidden his or her tracks.”
Hez took another sip of coffee. “True enough. We’ll likely have to take some rabbit trails to discover their identity, but I’ve handled many convoluted cases in my career.”
Enough of this kind of verbal sparring. She closed her laptop and rose with it tucked under her arm. “Let me know what you find out from Augusta, Hez. I’ll tackle Jess and see how far I get. If you hear a thud, it’s because she’s kicked me to the curb.”
Beckett chuckled, but Hez’s eyes narrowed. He’d likely charge to her defense if he deemed it necessary. The thought of having him as a protector brought more comfort than it should.
She exited the office and stepped into the sunshine. Maybe before she talked to Jess, she’d see if Hez had taken anything to Ella’s grave. It shouldn’t matter how he processed his grief, but she wanted to make sure he felt something. Right now she wasn’t so sure.
And an hour later she was even less sure. There was no sign he’d been to Ella’s grave at all.
Chapter 13
Hez’s visit with Detective Richards brought back fond memories. He hadn’t been in the Pelican Harbor police station since he was a brand-new lawyer working his first case for the DA’s office. He’d been sent down to collect some physical evidence needed for a murder case. It was a menial task, but his supervisor insisted that new hires personally learn every step of building a case—an education that proved invaluable later in his career.
The quaint redbrick building hadn’t changed, but the police chief had. The old chief, Charles Hardy, had been replaced by his daughter, Jane—who was also Hez’s landlord. Hez made a quick stop by her office to drop off his rent check and thank her for clueing him in to a local dog park where Cody had made several new friends. He said nothing about the Abernathy murder case, of course, but it never hurt to be on friendly terms with the police chief.
Chief Dixon directed him to Detective Richards’s office. She looked up from a stack of papers on her desk. “Good morning, Mr. Webster. Have a seat. Sorry for the delay. I was just showing a new hire around. You said you had some information for me?”
Hez settled into the chair in front of her desk. “Thanks for meeting with me. Yes, the university is investigating the theft of artifacts. We think there might be a connection to the Abernathy murder, particularly in light of the attack at the warehouse.”
Richards nodded. “That occurred to me too. Do you have any hard evidence?”
“Not yet, but we have started interviewing potential suspects.” He recounted Savannah’s and his conversations with the three professors. Richards took notes as he spoke, which was encouraging.
“Have you pulled surveillance videos from the professors’ visits to the warehouse?”
He nodded. “TGU only saves security video for sixty days, so we don’t have everything. I’ve asked them to load the backup tapes to see if they can find more.”
“Good thinking. Can you send me a copy of anything you find?”
“Of course. We’re also checking the university’s finances. If the murder is tied to the artifact theft, I wouldn’t be surprised to find a money trail linking Abernathy to his killer.”
She looked up from her notes, a hint of concern in her brown eyes. “Are you preserving the metadata?”
“We are—I thought of that too. We want to make sure any evidence we find is admissible.”
She relaxed. “Thanks. I’m glad TGU has a former prosecutor handling this. We’re pretty busy, and I don’t have time to get out there as often as I’d like. I appreciate your doing some of the preliminary legwork for me.”
Another encouraging sign. He decided to push his luck a little and see if she’d tell him anything about her investigation. “Of course. We’re happy to help. Is there anything you can share that might make our investigation more efficient? For example, are there any indications that this might have been a burglary that went wrong?”
She shook her head. “No signs of forced entry or a struggle, and nothing appears to have been stolen. Also, Abernathy died from a single deep stab wound in the back. So it seems he trusted his killer enough to let that person get behind him.”
“Time of death?”
“He carded into the building at five thirty that morning and the body was found shortly after seven, so presumably somewhere in that window.”
“Unless the murderer killed him somewhere else and used his card to get in and dump the body.”
She glanced at her watch. “That’s pretty unlikely given the amount of blood around the body.”
“Good point. Did anyone else card in after him?”
She shook her head again. “Not until Savannah and Beckett, so presumably Abernathy’s killer either broke in or Abernathy opened the door for his murderer.”
