Page 33 of K-9 in Pursuit

“I thought maybe you could chat him up at the ski resort. Admire his skiing prowess. Maybe ask if he’s ever thought about becoming a ski patroller one day. Say you heard he knew Sharee Anderson, what a shame about her death, etcetera. See what he has to say.”

“Sounds like you’ve scripted this whole conversation,” he said.

She flushed. “I ran through a few possible scenarios. But you can handle it however you want. The main thing is to find out what Darrell was doing the night of Sharee’s murder. Then we check to see if his alibi holds up.”

“Or we could give Darrell’s name and our suspicions to the sheriff’s department and let them question him.”

“I’d do that if I thought they would follow up,” she said. “But how much effort do you think they’ll make when their focus is on building the case against you?”

The knot in his chest that never went away these days tightened. “All right. I’ll talk to Darrell. See what I can find out.”

BUT BEFORE BRIAN could talk to Darrell, he was summoned once again to the sheriff’s department. “My client has nothing to add to his previous statement.” Pamela Barnes, attorney at law, addressed the sheriff’s investigator and deputy who faced her and Brian across a table in a small gray room at the sheriff’s department Friday morning. When the detective had contacted Brian the previous day and requested he come to the station to answer more questions, he had immediately contacted her and she had arranged this meeting. So far, Ms. Barnes, a slender fortysomething woman with long dark hair, dressed in a purple wool dress, had done all the talking. “It is no surprise that you would find his DNA on the glove in evidence,” she continued. “He has never denied it is his glove, which he misplaced on Friday.” She fixed the lawmen with a stern gaze. “Is Ms. Anderson’s DNA on the glove?”

“We’re awaiting more test results,” Detective Renfro, a man with an equally stern expression and bags under his eyes, said.

“You won’t find her DNA on that glove,” Ms. Barnes asserted.

“Then what was the glove doing near her body?” Renfro asked.

“I don’t know,” Ms. Barnes said. “But it doesn’t make sense that the killer strangled her while wearing ski gloves.”

“Your client dropped it while fleeing the scene.”

“You think he dropped a glove we’ve already established he didn’t have the previous day?”

“He could have found it again. Or he made up the story about having lost the gloves.”

“Because he knew he was going to drop it at a murder scene the next day?” She pursed her lips and shook her head. “We also have the evidence from Mr. Weeks’s computer that he was playing Fortnite at the time Ms. Anderson was killed.”

“We find that evidence suspect.”

“Why? My client is not a computer expert.”

Brian could remain silent no longer. “Have you found anyone who had a reason to want to kill Sharee?” he asked.

Ms. Barnes frowned at him, but said nothing.

“We’re still talking to everyone who knew Ms. Anderson,” Renfro said.

“Her friends told me she liked to flirt with older men. Tourists. She might have arranged to meet one of them the night she was killed.”

“What are you doing talking to Ms. Anderson’s friends?” the detective asked.

“They were at the ski resort. They were petting my dog and recognized me. I wanted to know if they knew of any enemies she might have had.”

“Or maybe you were trying to influence what they told us,” Renfro said.

“No!”

Ms. Barnes put a hand on his wrist. “Are you looking at other suspects?” she asked.

“We haven’t identified any other suspects at this time.”

“What about Darrell Cooperman?” Brian asked.

Everyone, including his attorney, stared at him. “I heard Sharee and Cooperman went out a couple of times but it didn’t end well,” he said. “And Sharee beat him in a race in front of all their friends and he was upset about that.”

Renfro made a note, then said, “Tell us about your friendship with Chloe Anderson, the victim’s sister.”