Page 81 of M for Murder

‘She wouldn’t have gone shopping. She has to be at home,’ Parker persisted.

‘Look, I’m telling you, pal, there was no answer.’

‘Then drive over there and check that she’s okay.’

Max rolled his eyes, looking a little irritated. ‘I’m sure she’s fine. There’s no need to get all jumpy just because she doesn’t answer the phone. Maybe she’s in the tub and didn’t want to get out.’

Parker’s black eyes were cold and scowling.

‘Go and check,’ he demanded.

‘Look! Listen here, pal–’

‘Hey, Max, calm down. I’ll go. It’s no big deal.’ Joel got up, shaking his head, annoyed that Max had lost his cool and let himself get drawn into a fight with Parker. ‘You stay here with our pal, Lawrie, and see what else you can squeeze out of him. I’ll go check up on Mrs Parker. Let her know what her husband’s been up to.’ He winked at Parker and received a glare back. ‘Hey, you want me to check she’s okay or not?’

Parker scowled, ignoring him. ‘You’ll need my keys to get in.’

‘Not a problem. I’ll get them from the front desk.’

‘What about the address?’

‘I already have it.’ Joel pushed back his chair and got to his feet. Patting Max on the shoulder, he grinned at Parker. ‘I’ll see you guys later.’

Lawrence Parker lived in a nice neighbourhood at the end of a quiet, tree-lined road. The houses were decent sized, though all red brick and nondescript, and all of them had large, neatly manicured lawns shrouded by trees and bushes. Not bad for a college professor and his student wife, Joel thought as he pulled the Lincoln to a halt outside Parker’s house.

He glanced at Rebecca Angell, sitting in the passenger seat beside him.

‘You ever been here before?’ he asked.

She shook her head. ‘No. I’ve only ever met Kylan Parker once and that was a couple of weeks back.’

Joel nodded and pushed open the car door. ‘Come on, then. Let’s go see if she’s home.’

It hadn’t been necessary for him to bring Angell along. She had spent the whole day at the college again, this time with Boaz, overseeing the collecting of the prints. The two of them had arrived back at the precinct just as Joel was leaving to go to Parker’s house and when she enquired where he was going, although he should have known better, he had asked her if she wanted to tag along.

He kidded himself that it would be good to have her there when they told Kylan about Lawrie’s arrest. If the two of them knew each other, Angell might be able to offer her some support. In truth, though, he knew that the reason he had brought her with him was the sole, selfish fact that he liked having her around.

Joel pushed open the front gate and together they walked up the path to the front door. The house seemed empty and there were no vehicles parked in the driveway. It might be that the Parkers only had one car between them, in which case it was probably still parked over at the college, where it had been left after Lawrie Parker’s arrest.

Joel rang the bell twice and waited for a couple of minutes. When he didn’t get an answer, he pulled Lawrie Parker’s key ring from his pocket and let them both inside. Closing the front door behind him, he called down the hallway. ‘Mrs Parker?’

There was no answer.

‘Mrs Parker, this is the FBI. Are you home?’

Still no answer.

‘I don’t think she’s here, Hickok.’

Joel pushed open the door to the left of him. It led into a spacious kitchen. Everything looked normal. All the drawers and cupboards were shut, and a pile of red and yellow dish towels had been neatly folded and left on the side. With the exception of a cup and two plates that had been washed up and left to drain, everything appeared to be in its correct place, and it looked as though nobody had been in the room for a while. He was about to pull the door shut when Angell caught hold of his arm.

‘What’s that?’ she asked, pushing her way past him. She went straight to the kitchen table on the far side of the room and pulled at the sheet of paper that had been folded once and slipped half under the fruit bowl.

Joel went after her.

‘Here, let me see that,’ he demanded, reaching for the piece of paper.

Angell gave him a smug grin and lifted the paper out of his reach. ‘Is that a good idea, Special Agent Hickok. Do you really think you should snoop?’