“She’s fine, Dad. Dr. Franklin just wants to double check her labs. They will most likely release her today. I just wanted to let you know it will probably be later this afternoon before she’s released.”
“Oh. Okay. But call me as soon as you know something.”
“I will.”
Head tilted to one side, JD inquired, “Everything all right?”
“Yeah. More tests.” He scrubbed his chin and got back on track. “Billy’s home. He works tonight so he may be in bed. Call him in now. I want you to interview him ASAP.”
The look of surprise on the deputy’s face morphed into one of pleasure as he leaned forward. “You want me to talk to him?”
“I think someone other than me needs to.” Coop rapped a pencil on the corner of his desk. “Get it on tape, but use the conference room.”
JD sat up straight, his knee no longer bouncing on the floor, dark eyes unblinking as he stared hard at Coop. “Will you sit in?”
Coop shook his head. “He might respond better if you do it alone.” He dropped the pencil and sat back. “If you need me, just call. Otherwise, I’ll look at the tape afterwards.”
Jimmy jumped to his feet. “Yes sir. I’ll get right on it.”
Coop stared at the deputy’s back as he hurried out the door. He was the most senior person on staff and eager to learn. Plus, he did believe having someone else question Billy would be more beneficial.
He will kill her.
“Had trouble with tape. I got nothing useful,” groused JD as he sat down. “Should have let you do it.”
Coop waved off the comment. “I’ve only looked at a few minutes of it so far, but you did fine. Used the right amount of pressure and didn’t get flustered when Bill got pissed at being questioned again.”
“Lawyered up when asked where he’s been. Said the last time he saw Sam was outside of Arnolds on Thursday. Ruby saw them talking by her truck. That’s all I got.”
Coop sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “I ran into him in the hall before he left. Said he’s taking some time off. I had to call Johnson in to take his place.”
Eyes bright, JD leaned forward. “You think he might lead us to Sam?”
“He’s not stupid. He knows we’ll be watching. We still don’t have anything to hold him on. Until we do, we watch and wait.”
“But it’s gotta be him, right?” JD’s left knee bounced up and down. “I mean why else would he lawyer up? Can’t we get some kind of search warrant now?”
Shoulders drooping, Coop looked away.
“I know he’s your best friend and all, but surely you can see he’s hiding something.”
“My hands are tied. I’m having him watched until something breaks.” Coop swallowed hard. “Nothing else to do at this point.”
A heavy silence lingered.
“Um, I’m gonna grab some lunch,” offered JD, “Maybe take a turn by his place, make sure he went home.”
“Rawlings is still watching him.” Coop pushed up from his desk. “I need to check on something.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“Naw. It’s probably nothing. Just something I want to check on.” Coop chewed his lower lip. “You know any houses around with basements?”
“Basements?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Coop’s phone rang, and he reached to answer it. “I’ll tell you later.”
The deputy frowned and hurried out.
A few minutes later, Coop grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down to review the tape. Crime scene photos were still up on the screen. He’d looked at them countless times, unable to shake the thought he’d missed something. A breath of cool air flipped open the folder on his desk with Sam’s photos in it.
Look again.
Out of habit, he picked up the top photo and compared it to the ones on the screen.
And then he saw it. Something he had looked at time and again and never picked up on before. A piece of paper near the bush where Joyce was found. It wasn’t there in the photo Sam took.
He placed a call to the lab to verify what he saw. Heart sinking, he reviewed the interview tape. As JD said, nothing earth shattering in it. Billy left in a huff and JD went to the camera, apparently to turn off the tape, then followed him out. The screen vibrated, then came back on. The breath lodged in his throat at what he saw next. Back rigid, a flush of adrenalin tingling through his body, he stared at the face of a cold-blooded killer.
A light pressure on his back, as though someone touched him, made Coop spin around. Nothing. He was alone. A stifling heaviness filled the air eddying around him.
