Page 28 of K-9 in Pursuit

“They said some other things.” He worked the bristles of the broom into a corner of the room. “Not all of it flattering.”

She glided the cloth over the back of the client chair. “I’m well aware of Sharee’s faults.”

“Okay.” He resumed sweeping. “They said Sharee was a tease. She’d lead guys on, then put them down. She’d say they were boys and she wanted a man. Stuff like that.”

“Ouch. Anyone in particular?”

“They couldn’t—or wouldn’t—give me any names. And they weren’t sure if Sharee was really still in touch with the older guy in Richmond—I’m assuming that’s the schoolteacher—or if she only said that to make herself more desirable to other older men she flirted with. And again, they couldn’t name anyone in particular. They did say they thought these guys were mostly tourists. They said they rarely saw her after the lifts closed, so it’s possible she arranged to meet someone.”

“She always told me she was going out with friends in the evenings. I was so happy she had made friends I didn’t question her too much.” She stilled, sadness engulfing her once more. She wanted to know what happened to her sister—but did she want the pain that would come with that knowing? “What if she did hook up with a tourist she flirted with and he killed her?”

He leaned on the broom and regarded her with a sorrowful look. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No. This is important. Maybe the sheriff can check the hotels to see if Sharee was ever at them with an older man.”

“I learned something else.”

Something he didn’t want to tell her—she could tell by the tone of his voice. “I want to hear it all,” she said. “No matter how awful. It’s the only way we’ll figure out the truth.”

“Both Leann and Krista had heard that Sharee was strangled.”

She sighed. “Word gets around in a small town.”

“So they wondered if that was, well, sexual. You know, if she was choked while having sex and things went too far.”

“The sheriff didn’t mention anything like that. She was found in an alley next to a pizza place, fully clothed. And they said she hadn’t been sexually assaulted.”

“Okay, so probably not that,” he said. “I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“It’s okay. We have to consider everything. I already know Sharee wasn’t innocent.”

“Whatever she was up to, she didn’t deserve to die,” Brian said.

“We need to tell the sheriff these things.” Would he go with her to talk to the detective? She hated the thought of facing that alone.

“Maybe they already know, if they’ve interviewed her friends,” he said.

“I talked to a detective today who said they’re still investigating.” Chloe rubbed more vigorously at the countertop.

“What else did he say?” Brian asked.

She blew out a breath. “I found out some things about Sharee today, too,” she said. “Things I didn’t know before.” She set aside the cleaner and rag and faced him. “I searched Sharee’s room. The sheriff’s investigators had already taken her computer and some other stuff. But I found a box pushed way back on the top shelf of her closet, one of those heart-shaped Valentine’s candy boxes. Inside was an envelope full of photographs. The kind taken with an instant camera.”

“What kind of photos?” he asked.

“They were pictures of a young couple and two children. I’m pretty sure the man is Cameron Douglas. I guess the woman and kids are his wife and children. She must have taken them when she was stalking him and hidden them away all this time.”

“Do the sheriff’s investigators know about the photos?”

“They do now. I turned them in this afternoon and explained how I found them. But they don’t think the photos have anything to do with Sharee’s murder.”

“Some people would see being stalked as a motive for murder. Especially if the stalker got close enough to photograph your family. If she showed those pictures to Douglas, he might have seen them as a threat.”

“I thought that, too,” Chloe said. “But it doesn’t matter, because Cameron Douglas was in New York City with a bunch of teenagers and some of their parents when Sharee died. And his wife was at home with their two children and her sister.”

“I don’t suppose Sharee stalked anyone else?”

“Not that I know about.”