The Next Victim (31 page)

"Jesus." Robert sounded genuinely surprised. And genuinely confused. "So who do they think killed Sloane?"

"They still think it was John. They were close to arresting him when he died. They figure that's why he got loaded. Because he was worried. Or feeling guilty. Or something."

"How terrible. You have my sympathy."

The police had supposedly cleared Robert as a suspect, and there was nothing in talking to him that made Kali wary, but she was hesitant to share her suspicions about John's death with anyone who might conceivably have been part of it. "Yes," she said, "it was terrible."

"How can I help?"

She fell back on the original reason for her call. "You and Sloane kept in touch after your divorce?"

"Yeah. We got along better after than when we were married."

"Do you have any idea what might have gotten her killed? Anyone she was at odds with?"

Robert's laugh was empty of humor. "Sloane could be irritating, no doubt about it. But she never mentioned anything to me about a big blowup or anyone who had it in for her."

"Did she talk about John? About wanting him fired?"

"I tried to stay clear of the whole Logan dynasty. What went on in the company was her business, not mine."

"What about the young college student who was living with her? Did Sloane talk about her?"

"Only in passing. Sloane was in her element with that girl. She always wanted children. Maybe if we'd had them our marriage would have worked out." He sounded wistful. "This young woman was someone Sloane could
save
. A hardworking, deserving youngster who'd fought the odds to get ahead. Sloane had a soft spot for that sort of thing."

There was none of the bitterness Kali was used to hearing when people talked about an ex-spouse. "Why did the two of you divorce, if you don't mind my asking?"

Another short laugh. "Years of rubbing each other the wrong way, I guess. One day we just looked at each other and said, 'This is silly.' The spark was gone. We were moving in different directions. No kids, so there wasn't any real reason to stay married." Robert paused. "The cops cleared me of her murder, if that's what you're thinking. Besides, if I was going to get upset it would have been when I learned she was involved with some other guy, right? Not months later."

Janet Fisher had also said that Sloane had been seeing someone. Had the cops questioned him? "Do you know who it was?" Kali asked.

"A married man, which is pretty ironic since it was my fooling around on her that finally pushed us over the edge. He was local. In Tucson, I mean."

"Do you know his name?"

"Something unusual. Emory. Ennis. Erskine. Something along those lines. He had a kid. A girl about seventeen or eighteen. That bothered her. Sloane didn't talk about it much but she did slip up and tell me she felt bad about the kid."

Kali flashed on the nameplate she'd seen on Detective Shafer's desk. Her heart thudded into her throat. "Could it have been Erling?"

"Yeah, could be. You know him? Is he a suspect?"

"You said the cops cleared you," Kali noted, her pulse racing in her ears. "Who was it who questioned you?"

"A cop here in L.A. A Hispanic guy. And I talked over the phone with someone in the Tucson Sheriff's Department. A woman."

"Michelle Parker?"

"Could be. I don't remember."

Was Erling Shafer, the lead detective on the case, the man with whom Sloane had been having an affair? No wonder he'd been in such a hurry to pin the crime on John.

Monday morning Kali picked up the phone to call Michelle Parker. She punched in the first three numbers, then put the phone down again. She'd spent a good part of the night wrestling with the best way to handle her suspicions about Detective Shafer. Talk to Shafer directly? He'd most likely deny everything and that would be the end of it. Go to the top? Kali had no idea what the personalities and internal politics of the sheriff's department were. If they were so inclined, the big brass could circle the wagons so fast she'd be trampled. The press? Better as a last resort.

In the end, she picked up the phone and again punched in Michelle's number. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was the best she could come up with.

"I'd like to talk to you," Kali said when Michelle answered. "Alone."

"Is this about Hayley Hendrix?"

"I don't know. It could be." Kali hadn't yet sorted through the repercussions of what she'd learned from Sloane Winslow's ex-husband, and she wasn't ready to rule out anything.

"I can meet you here at the station any time before noon," Michelle told her.

Kali hesitated. "Is there someplace else?"

"What were you thinking?"

"Somewhere we could get a cup of coffee maybe?" Jeez, she made it sound like she was suggesting a social meeting. "It's just that I'd rather not run into Detective Shafer."

Silence. Michelle must have been weighing her response.

"I'll explain why when we get together," Kali told her.

"Okay." Michelle's tone was wary, but at least she'd agreed. "There's a Java Joe's a couple of blocks from here." She gave Kali the location. "In an hour?"

"I'll be there."

Kali arrived first. Java Joe's was a small space, sandwiched between a UPS Store and a pet supply outlet. Inside, a handful of tables and easy chairs gave the place a homey ambiance, and the air was filled with the welcoming aroma of fresh coffee. Kali was in line to place her order when her cell phone rang. She fumbled around in her purse before retrieving it and picking up. The private investigator Doug Simon was calling.

"I'm in San Diego and wanted to give you a quick status report," he said.

"You've talked to Ray Adams?"

"I have. The girl in the photo is definitely his daughter."

Kali noticed a man with a newspaper two tables away giving her the evil eye. He pointed to a sign showing a red circle with a slash superimposed on the graphic of a cell phone. She stepped outside, where the heat rising off the asphalt parking lot hit her full force. She almost turned around and went back inside. Nasty glares be damned.

"Does he know where she is?" Kali asked.

"No, and he didn't seem interested in finding out. He and his new wife haven't talked to the girl in about ten months."

Kali pressed herself into the small spot of shade under the overhang at Java Joe's. Not that it helped much. "So she's a runaway?"

"More like a mutual parting of the ways from what I gather, except, of course, the girl's a minor child. I have to be honest with you, parents like that really stick in my craw."

"Their letting her go, you mean?"

"That, and everything that led up to it," Simon said. "Best I can tell, after Ray walked out on Martha and the child, he never looked back. Maybe he sent birthday cards, though I wouldn't bet on it. He had virtually no contact with his daughter until Martha died, and then he only took her in because there wasn't anyone else. He and the second wife have two little kids of their own. Wifey wasn't at all happy about having the girl 'horn in'--that's the way she put it--on their family."

"Crystal's mother had just died, for God's sake. Does the woman have no compassion?"

"Very little, I gather. But Ray's not much better. His own daughter, and he doesn't care." Simon's disgust was evident in his tone. It was a sentiment Kali shared.

"How long did Crystal live with them?" she asked.

"Almost two years. According to them, she was difficult from the get-go. Mouthy, causing trouble. They finally got fed up and kicked her out."

Kali had been roughly the same age as Crystal when her own mother had died. She knew firsthand how teenage pain often disguised itself as anger. Especially when no one was there for you. The girl needed love and comfort, not a boot out the door.

"What kind of trouble did she get into?" Kali asked.

"Nothing so terrible. I managed to talk to one of her teachers, who said the girl wasn't a problem at school. Maybe not the most diligent student, but she attended classes, did her work, followed the rules. She did fall in with a bad crowd--parties, drugs, probably sex. But we're talking about an upper-middle-class area here, not gang-banger territory. No trouble with the law, either."

"When she left home, her parents didn't want to know where she went?"

"She was seeing some boy, which I gather was part of the problem--"

"Clayton?"

Simon sounded surprised. "How'd you know about him?"

"I don't know anything but the name. The wife mentioned it when I called there looking for Raelene."

"Well, the girl and this Clayton went off together. Supposedly to Arizona, where he had a grandmother. The Adamses more or less figured Crystal was no longer their problem."

The man who'd glared at Kali earlier exited the shop and glared at her again. She turned her back. "Do you have any information on the boy's grandmother?" Kali asked. "Name? Address?"

"I'm working on it. That is, if you want me to."

"Absolutely. Thanks."

She returned the phone to her purse and headed back inside, where she got herself a cup of coffee and a biscotti. She'd just sat down at a table near the window when she spotted Michelle Parker crossing the parking lot. The detective had a brisk, sure stride and an easy manner that Kali liked. Under different circumstances she could imagine they might have been friends. But Michelle was a cop, with all of a cop's biases, suspicions, and predispositions. This was something Kali couldn't afford to forget.

Michelle nodded a greeting as she came through the door. She went to the counter and got her own cup of coffee, then joined Kali at the table.

"No trouble finding the place, I see." Michelle shook a packet of artificial sweetener into the cup. "The place is a little funky but I prefer to patronize local establishments rather than Starbucks."

"Me too. On principle, and it's usually better coffee." Kali broke off a piece of biscotti. "Any progress on the Hendrix investigation?"

"Nothing I can talk about."

"But you're looking at connections between her murder and Olivia Perez's?"

Michelle fixed Kali with a penetrating look, then nodded.

Kali took some comfort in the fact that the detective had actually listened to her.

"We're also looking at your brother's connection to both women," Michelle added, then took a sip from her mug.

"What makes you think there is one?"

She gave Kali a look that said, "Let's not play around here." "We've established his connection to the Winslow/Perez murders," she said. "And we know he asked about Hayley Hendrix at the Crazy Coyote. I think it's pretty clear there's a link of some sort."

"And now you've found Hayley's wallet with the Logan Foods number in it."

Michelle looked up. "How'd you know that?"

"I heard it from Carmen Escobar. She's the attorney representing Olivia's parents in the civil suit against my brother." Kali chewed on her cheek for a moment. "A better question might be, how'd Escobar hear about it?"

Michelle shook her head. "It wasn't from me."

"What about Detective Shafer?"

"No way. That's not how he operates." The detective leaned forward, both forearms on the table. "It would be helpful if you'd level with us."

"I've already told you what I know," Kali said. She silently carved out an exception for the video she'd seen on John's computer and for Crystal Adams, but she wasn't ready to share that information just yet. Besides, the cops had Crystal's name too. Maybe they'd even located the girl.

Kali wrapped both hands around her mug. "When you were first working Sloane Winslow's murder, did you look into her love life?"

"You must know as well as I do that that's always an avenue of investigation."

"Did you find anything?"

Michelle gave her an amused smile. "What makes you think you're privy to any of this?"

"Just give me a general idea. I may have information for you."

A heavy sigh. "Winslow had a few dates with a man she met through a friend who lives in L.A., but it went nowhere. We did talk to him. Also to the ex-husband. We cleared both of them." Michelle ran a hand through her short, dark hair, feathering the sides away from her face. "So what was it you wanted to see me about?"

Kali leaned back. "Tell me about Detective Shafer."

"What about him?"

"Is he a good cop? Do you trust him?"

"Yes on both counts. I also admire him. He truly cares about his cases and about serving the community."

"What about his personal life?"

The detective shook her head with growing impatience. "What's this about?"

"He's married, right? Does he have a teenage daughter?"

"Yes." The response was wary, hesitant.

"Whose idea was it that you be the one to interview Sloane Winslow's ex-husband?"

Michelle eyed her quizzically. "How'd you know it was me?"

"He told me."

"You've been getting around, haven't you?" She took a sip of coffee, then shrugged. "We often divide up the interviews. I can't recall who decided I'd make the call, but as lead detective, Shafer would have the final word." She checked her watch. "Unless you've got something real to tell me, I need to get going."

Kali took a breath. "Sloane Winslow's ex-husband told me that Sloane had been romantically involved with a married man named Erling. And that the man had a daughter about seventeen or eighteen years old."

Michelle's expression grew tight. "What are you insinuating?"

"You didn't know about it, did you? At the very least, it's a conflict. He should never have been assigned to this case. It raises questions about the whole investigation."

The detective recoiled. "Why are you telling me this?"

"It was either you or the higher-ups. I'm not saying I won't go to the top at some point, but I'm not out to cause trouble. People's private lives are their own. I'm not even positive the man she was seeing was Detective Shafer, but I'm guessing it was."

"I'm not--"

"My only interest in this is my brother. There's a strong probability he was murdered"--Kali help up a hand to ward off protest--"which is something you and Shafer have refused to take seriously. I don't think he killed Sloane Winslow, either. Shafer had his own personal reasons for wanting the case wrapped up and John was a handy suspect."