Olivia cleared her throat. “This is Mrs. Tomlinson. This is Detective Webster and Sergeants Barlow and Ridgewell.”
The three of them abruptly lifted their eyes, then Noah stood. “Mrs. Tomlinson, please sit down. We’re all very sorry for your loss.”
Louise took the chair he held out for her. “Thank you. I had a visitor at my house this morning. He said he was a reporter, asked me a lot of questions about my husband, his finances. He started asking very personal questions about the nature of my divorce and I asked him to leave. Thankfully my son was with me. The young man was large and intimidating. The visit upset me and my son insisted I take one of the sleeping pills my doctor prescribed. When I woke up hours later, I watched the news and saw the young man who’d come to my house.”
“What did he look like?” Olivia asked, trying to keep her excitement contained.
“Like this.” Louise drew a folded paper from her purse. “I got it from the Internet. I had to look it up to be sure it was the same man.”
Olivia unfolded it and swallowed her sigh. “Albert.”
Louise nodded. “I didn’t know he was dead until an hour ago. I didn’t know Detective Kane was dead either. My son’s been trying to keep me from becoming too upset. When I realized what had happened, I knew I needed to talk to you. From the questions he asked, I think this Albert person knew my husband had been blackmailed.”
She said it as though the blackmail came as no surprise to her. The sex pictures, Olivia thought. Tomlinson’s blackmail. “How did you know your husband was having an affair, ma’am?”
“He was getting undressed one night and his underwear were on inside out. I’ve folded and put them in his drawer for thirty years. I knew they were right when he put them on. I kept watching, found more signs. Finally I had lunch with a friend and got the name of her PI. A week later the PI brought me pictures. The next day, I got another envelope of pictures in the mail. I was in shock, seeing Barney with that whore…” She swallowed hard. “The pictures that came in the mail weren’t labeled. I guess I assumed they’d come from the PI, too. Now, after that young man visited… I’m not sure.”
“They were taken at different times,” Micki said. “The PI’s photos and the others.”
Louise frowned. “I didn’t notice. I didn’t look at them too closely. I couldn’t.”
“You combined all the pictures and gave them to your attorney?” Olivia asked.
“Yes. If I’d thought about it two nights ago, I would have told you.” Louise’s eyes filled. “I heard about last night’s fire, the firefighter, your partner. I’m so sorry.”
Olivia squeezed her hand. “You didn’t know. You’re here now. You told your friend and the PI about your suspicions about your husband. Did anyone else know?”
“No. I knew Barney would put up a fight if he knew I knew. Maybe even take our money. I had to think of our son, his future. I kept my mouth shut until my lawyer filed the divorce papers.”
“Where did you meet your friend?” Noah asked.
“This sandwich place near the hospital, where I volunteer. It’s called the Deli.”
Barlow’s eyes lit up and Olivia’s pulse picked up pace. “That’s the connection? The Deli?” she asked excitedly and Barlow nodded.
“It’s gotta be. I have Deli charges on both Tomlinson’s and Blunt’s credit cards.”
“And we found a cup from the Deli in the trash at Eric’s,” Micki said. “Somebody could have been sitting next to all of them and intercepted their data. Let’s get the store video, match these dates with the day Mrs. Tomlinson and her friend met and see who pops.” She started to get up, but Noah shook his head.
“The Deli only has a camera on the cash register. Remember, we asked for that seven months ago, when we were looking for Pit-Guy’s victims.”
Micki slumped back in her chair. “You’re right. Well, dammit.”
“I don’t think I noticed who was sitting around me,” Louise said. “I’m sorry. If you want to hypnotize me or something, I’d be good with that.”
Olivia frowned, a thought forming in her mind. No, it couldn’t be. But what if it was?
“Mrs. Tomlinson, thank you for coming in. I need to ask you to wait outside, please.” She motioned to Abbott’s clerk, who quickly hurried over. “Faye, can you get Mrs. Tomlinson a coffee? Thanks.”
When Louise was gone, Olivia grabbed the sketch of the man Austin had seen. It could be. She held it up. “‘Thanks for coming. Buh-bye,’” she said and Micki’s eyes widened.
“No freaking way,” Micki said. “Kirby?”
“No.” Noah shook his head. “Not possible. He helped Eve last year.” Then his eyes closed. “Because of a conversation he overheard. Hell.”
Micki sat back, stunned. “He has free Wi-Fi. I’ve even used it. Oh my God.”
“That could have been him in the brown Explorer,” Noah said. “Right body type.”
“We need units to the Deli,” Olivia said. “If he goes back, we need to be ready.”
Barlow grabbed the phone on Abbott’s desk. “I’ll do it.”
Olivia stared at the sketch. “Austin. We never announced that we picked him up.”
“He may think Austin’s still missing,” Micki said.
“And he wanted him enough to kill Kane.” Olivia closed her eyes, trying to focus but the back of her head throbbed like a bitch. “What if we sent a message from Austin’s phone, asking to meet ‘Kenny’?”
“We could be waiting, catch him,” Noah said.
“Or let him get away again,” Olivia countered evenly. “He might go to Mary.”
“He might go to France,” Micki said flatly. “I don’t want to lose him.”
“You think I do?” Olivia snapped. “He murdered Kane. I want to gut him and watch him bleed and beg for mercy. But Phoebe’s still out there. If you have a better idea, let’s have it.”
“He’s killed five people,” Noah said. “I don’t want Phoebe to be number six. Let’s run it by Abbott. He has to approve it.”
Barlow hung up Abbott’s phone. “No Kirby at the Deli and no brown Explorer. But there is a white van parked around the back.”
Micki’s smile was sharp. “I’ll get a warrant for the van and property. You set the Austin trap. We’ll find a way to track him.”
Olivia pushed herself to her feet. She could see David and Tom standing near her desk, David bandaging Tom’s hand. She could feel his fear from here. Would feel his heartache if she failed. “We can’t lose him. We have to find Mary.”
“Are you going to tell them?” Noah asked, pointing to the two men.
“About Kirby, but not about trying to lure him. I don’t want to get their hopes up.”
Noah patted the shoulder that wasn’t iced down. “I’m going to find Abbott, get this moving. Sit down and rest for a few minutes. I’ll be back.”
“No, we’ll need a positive ID from Austin to get a warrant. I’ll get a six-pack photo array together and get Kirby’s license photo to drop in. I’ll meet you back here.”
Wednesday, September 22, 6:30 p.m.
Mary pointed to a side road. “Stop the car and get out.”
Her bones creaking, Phoebe obeyed. She let out a quiet groan as she tried to straighten her back, then grimaced as she drew a breath. The air was heavy with the stale odor of burned wood. Phoebe couldn’t see the burned condo, but she knew it couldn’t be far. They’d taken so many turns, she had no idea where she was exactly. They were on a lake, but they’d passed a lot of those. Minnesota, she thought, land of ten thousand lakes. She’d thought the brochures had been exaggerating.
“Why are we here?” I’ll never find my way out of here, even if I get away.
Mary shoved the barrel of the gun into her back. “Move.”
They’d parked the car on a side road that appeared not to have been used for some time. The trees were so thick that they hadn’t walked fifty feet before the car was completely hidden. Phoebe’s feet were numb from sitting so long in the car and she had rather pressing needs elsewhere. “Is it far?”