Page 61 of Unmasked

Somehow, Everleigh doubted that very much.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-NINE

Knox waved to the patrolman on duty as he stepped into the Blackwater Key Police Department. The building was small but well taken care of, resembling a high-end business more than a police station. Not really surprising, considering the money saturating Blackwater Key. God forbid anything should look utilitarian or less than perfect.

Ensconced behind a wall of reinforced glass, the man nodded back to Knox. “Castillo.”

“Hey, Nico.” Knox tipped his head at him. “How’s it going?”

“Same thing, different day. Business good?”

“Can’t complain.” Knox shrugged. “Hey, is Sullivan available?”

“Sure is. He's waiting for you.” A buzzer sounded to Knox’s left, and he pulled open the heavy door.

“Thank you,” he said as he stepped inside and passed over his sidearm.

Nico did a quick but thorough pat down and locked up the firearm while Knox was inside. “Second door on the right.” He gestured with his chin. “Go on back.”

“Appreciate it.” Knox followed his directions and rapped his knuckles on the doorjamb before crossing the threshold. Cade was on the phone, but he met Knox’s gaze and waved him in, gesturing for him to close the door. Knox did so, then took a seat in the chair across from him.

As Cade wrapped up the call, he sifted through the folders on his desk and passed one to Knox. Knox took it, skimming the contents as Cade signed off with the person on the other end. Once he'd hung up, he leaned back in his chair and ran one hand through his hair. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem.” Knox waved the folder Cade had handed him. “Is this what you've gathered so far?”

Cade nodded as he dropped his feet to the floor and leaned forward. “As you can see, we've interviewed the employees from the country club. Two remember seeing a new employee working the night Beaumont was poisoned, but neither could give a definitive description aside from brown hair and eyes. No distinguishing characteristics—no tattoos that anyone noticed, no birthmarks.”

“Well that narrows it down,” Knox replied sarcastically.

“Right.” Cade offered a wry smile.

Knox sighed. “What do we know about this new guy?”

Cade shook his head. “According to the manager, they haven’t hired anyone new for more than a month.”

A cold chill ran down Knox’s spine. “So he snuck in?”

“Possibly. We're in the process of obtaining the footage, so we'll review that and see if it yields any results. We’re currently looking into the photographer you told us about.”

“And?” Knox had relayed the information to Cade the other morning before Everleigh had joined them, but unsurprisingly it hadn't helped. So far there were no strong leads, no suspects aside from the new guy working at the country club.

Cade spread his hands wide. “Nothing yet. We’ve tried contacting him at the address you gave us but haven’t been able to reach him yet. However,” he continued when Knox let out an exasperated sound, “we did pass the photo around the staff at the country club. They’ve ruled him out as the suspect.”

“Not yet.” Cade shook his head. “Hopefully there’ll be something on the cameras that we can use.”

“Keep me posted,” Knox said. “I'm staying at the Beaumonts’ house, so if you need access to anything just let me know.”

“Will do. Right now we don't have a warrant, and it's not looking like we'll get one anytime soon.”

Knox pursed his lips. “I can look around, see if I find anything...”

“If you do, you're more than welcome to bring it to my attention,” Cade said. “I want to make sure this case is done by the book so this guy doesn't get away. If we can find him,” Cade groused.

Knox knew exactly how he felt. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Literally sixty percent of the male population had dark hair and eyes.

“I've got a tech going through his phone at the moment, so if there's a connection there we’ll hopefully find it.”