AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Amber felt a pangof sympathy for the man. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to loseloved ones in such a way. But what her eyes caught was something in the filethat made her jump with sudden interest. Jack Morrison worked in a garage, witha background as a mechanical engineer. More than that, he lived in Westford.
Amber read overthe file again and again, wanting to be certain.
It was entirelypossible that he had the skills to construct the winches, and he certainly hada motive to want revenge against Westford-Myer and anyone involved with the WM120 project.
“I think I havesomething,” Amber said, looking up from the list.
Francesca andSimon looked up at her, both of their expressions eager. Amber guessed thatthey’d been as frustrated as she was, working through the evidence.
“What did youfind?” Francesca asked.
“A man named JackMorrison,” Amber said. “He lost his wife and daughter in a car accident causedby the faulty brakes. He’s a mechanical engineer and works in a garage. And helives in Westford.”
Which meant thathe had both the motive and the means to commit the murders.
Simon leanedforward. “That’s a good lead, Amber. Let’s start looking into Morrison. See ifwe can find anything that ties him directly to the winches or the hangmanprogram.”
Francesca noddedin agreement. “I’ll start with his background check. See if there’s anythingsuspicious in his history.”
Amber felt a senseof anticipation building inside her. This could be the break they needed in thecase. If they could tie Morrison to the murders, they could end this once andfor all.
But she also felta sense of apprehension. If Morrison was the killer, he was clearly unstableand dangerous. Amber knew that they needed to tread carefully if they weregoing to catch him without anyone else getting hurt.
“He has a policerecord,” Francesca said. “He was arrested only a few weeks back. He punched aguy in a bar.”
Did a bar fightmean that he had aggressive tendencies, or just that he’d gotten drunk andwalked into a guy who wouldn’t let it go? Did it mean anything?
“Get this,”Francesca said. “The guy he punched worked for Westford-Myer. Jack Morrisonsaid, and I quote ‘They all have blood on their hands.’”
That statement wasenough to make Amber freeze in place. It took the arrest from some random barfight into very different territory. It sounded like the words of a man whoblamed the company, and who was more than willing to lash out at its employees.
This really couldbe their guy.
Simon agreed. “Weneed to talk to Jack Morrison, see if he can account for his movements over thelast few days. Francesca, can you get a warrant to search his house foranything that might connect to the winches?”
The detectivenodded. “I’ll arrange that. As much as I’m enjoying working together, we shouldsplit up on this one. You two take a car and head for the garage. I’ll call youand meet you at the house once I have the warrant.”
Amber and Simonquickly left the station, making their way to the garage. As they drove, Ambercouldn’t help but feel the weight of the situation. She had to remind herselfthat Morrison was still only a suspect, but he looked like a plausible one. Onewho was potentially very dangerous indeed. If Morrison was their guy, he wascapable of planning and executing horrible things. They needed to be carefulabout how they approached him.
The garage whereJack Morrison worked was just ahead. It was a run-down place, with a couple ofjunk cars outside that were either there for parts or as potential projectsthat had been left too long. It was a squat building with few windows, whilethose that were there were either broken or boarded shut. The smell of oil,paint, and exhaust fumes floated in the air.
As they pulled up,the sounds of the cars and garage personnel hummed around Amber. She heard the soundsof metal and electrical components hissing, hiccupping, and whining as theyworked.
As they walkedinto the garage, they saw a man working on a car inside. He was in histhirties, with a short dark beard and long hair. He turned to look at them asthey got out of the car and approached him.
“Can I help you?”he said, wiping his hands on a rag to remove the worst of the grease.
“We’re looking forJack Morrison,” Amber said. “Is he here?”
She didn’tidentify herself yet. Maybe they could do this quietly, without lettingMorrison’s colleagues know that the FBI was involved.
The man’s facehardened. “What do you want with him? Are you cops or something?”
It seemed that theman was more than capable of identifying Amber and Simon as law enforcement withoutthem saying it. Amber and Simon looked at one another. Simon shrugged. Itseemed that trying to be discreet with Morrison’s workmates wasn’t going towork.
“Or something,”Simon said. He took out his badge, showing it to the man. “FBI. We need to findhim. It’s important.”
Amber saw the man’seyes widen at the sight of the badge. He might have been expecting lawenforcement, but he clearly hadn’t been expecting this.
