A little while later, I rolled up to the office of Brown County Adventure Park, Bobcat’s company. The man didn’t care for me. That was okay. I’d do what I did to him all over again.
In a heartbeat.
Those past encounters were another matter, though. Today, I only needed a few minutes of his time. And since his truck was parked in a corner of the parking lot, I wasn’t going to leave without getting it.
The man himself was seated at the reception desk. Given the way he was smiling at me, it appeared Gail had already been in touch with him.
“Allie Cobb.” He spread his arms wide as he raised his chin in greeting. “Come to threaten and bully me again?”
He could bait me all he wanted, I would not play his little games. Getting into an argument wouldn’t serve any purpose.
“Came here hoping to help your girlfriend.” I dropped into the visitor chair across from him. “As soon as you can confirm her alibi for the night Ollie Watson was murdered, she can be cleared of any suspicion.”
“Suspicion of what? Come on, Allie. What I did in the past was unforgiveable. I’ve admitted that to you. You don’t need to hold my past over Gail’s head, though.”
“You know I spoke with her earlier today, right?” At his nod, I pressed on. “Then you know why I’m here. There’s no need to make this difficult, so I’ll get to the point. Did you and Gail spend last Sunday evening together at your place?”
“Yeah, we did.” He held his phone out to me. A selfie of the two of them holding sparklers was on the screen. “I posted this that night. Is that enough proof for you?”
It wasn’t. I was pretty sure Bobcat knew that, too. Without access to the metadata on his phone, there was no way to verify the date and time it had been taken. Still, it tracked with what Gail had said.
“So, you were together the whole night. Nobody left the house at all?”
“That’s right. Well, okay, I made a quick run to pick up an order at Marinara’s and get some beer. The delivery wait was over an hour. I wasn’t gone long, though. There’s no way Gail could have done anything in that time frame. Besides, if she had, the cops would have nailed her.”
“I appreciate your candor. How long would you say you were gone?” The conversation had taken an intriguing turn.
“A half hour, forty minutes tops. There was a line at the liquor store.”
“And you know for a fact Gail didn’t go anywhere while you were gone.”
“Well, I wasn’t watching her on a baby cam or anything like that, if that’s what you’re saying. The bracelet keeps tabs on her, though. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together, Allie.”
“You’re right. Makes perfect sense.” There was no need to chance pouring gasoline on a fire, so I thanked Cecil for his time and forthrightness and got out of there.
On the ride home, I pondered the current million-dollar question. Why had Gail lied to me earlier? I’d given her more than one opportunity to confirm her and Cecil’s whereabouts that night with specificity. Yet, she’d failed to mention his beer run.
Maybe it was an innocent oversight. He wasn’t gone long, after all. My gut told me there was something else, a piece of the puzzle that was missing. Tommy Abbott was the person who held the piece.
He was at the police station, reviewing witness statements, when I arrived.
“Don’t tell me there’s been another murder,” Tommy said as he greeted me.
His grin confirmed the comment had been made in jest. Like a lot of first responders I knew, he had a dark sense of humor. It seemed to be a common coping method for folks who dealt with awful things on a regular basis. If my reputation could lighten his mood, even if for only a moment, I’d take the ribbing.
“Okay, I won’t.” I paused for a second or two. “At least not here in beautiful Rushing Creek.”
“I’ll take it. What’s up?”
“Gail Hamilton. I’m following up on a long-shot idea and was wondering if I could talk to you about it.”
He guided me to his desk. “From what I’ve heard from her probation officer, she’s toeing the line. Going to work, staying off the drugs.”
He didn’t want to say anything too specific about her. It was understandable. The woman had a right to privacy as much as Tommy or I did. Still, a little information from him would let us remove her as a suspect.
“She told me she was at home the night Ollie was murdered. That she didn’t go anywhere. Is that true?”
“Some people never learn how easy it is to confirm a statement.” He shook his head in a world-weary way. “No, it isn’t true. Her monitor went off and when I tracked her down, she was across the street from the park, checking out the festivities. She wasn’t impaired or causing any trouble, so I followed her home. Told her since it was her first offense, in the spirit of the holiday, I’d let her slide. But only that one time.”
So, Gail had lied to me. And to Bobcat as well, by all accounts. When would people learn that during a murder investigation, their lies always caught up to them?
“Where’d you find her?”
“The corner of Adams and Third Street. Not far from where you found the bullet casing, as a matter of fact.”
“Do you remember what time it was when you took her home?”
“Nine-ish. I can check if you need something more specific.”
“No need. I’ve heard a comment or two that made me wonder whether Gail might have been the shooter. Since you’d already sent her home before Ollie was shot, it couldn’t be her.”
I left out my suspicion that Brent might have been the intended target. Matt wanted his team to keep their focus on Ollie as the victim. I’d honor that. For now, at least.
“Agreed. It was a good thought, though. If she’d been out and about when everything went down, she’d be in a world of trouble.” He entered a few notes into a pad on his desk. “Any other ideas you want to run by me?”
“Don’t think so. I knew this was a stretch, but I wanted to follow the thread to the end. Thanks for helping me do that.”
We said our goodbyes. I plastered on a smile as I made my exit. I didn’t want him to suspect that our conversation hadn’t truly brought the issue to a close.
Because now I had to pay Gail another visit and find out why she lied to me.
Ten minutes later, I was back at the Inn and Suites. Rather than checking with Sarah first, I searched the property until I found Gail. This was between the two of us. Sarah didn’t need to be a part of this discussion. I wasn’t interested in getting the woman in trouble, after all.
She was inside one of the guest rooms, her legs sticking out from under the restroom sink. I nudged one of her boots.
She looked at me and frowned. “I’m busy fixing this drain. Why are you bothering me again?”
“Because you lied to me. You weren’t home the whole night that Ollie Watson was murdered. The police busted you at the park. What are you hiding?”
“Nothing.” She tossed a pipe wrench into her toolbox. “Well, nothing that matters.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that.” I crossed my arms and positioned myself between Gail and the door. I couldn’t intimidate her physically. I could get in her way if she tried to leave without giving me answers.
“That’s a laugh. Who died and made you queen of the world?”
“Police Officer Oliver Watson died, that’s who. And I’m helping the police find the person who shot him. Whether you like it or not. Look, your boyfriend told me he made a pizza run that night so he couldn’t say for sure that you stayed home while he was gone. He wasn’t there, after all.”
“Doesn’t matter, thanks to this.” With a growl, Gail pulled up a pants leg high enough to reveal the monitoring bracelet. “I didn’t go anywhere.”
I shook my finger at her. “That’s the problem with telling lies without coordinating and rehearsing your stories. Since Bobcat’s story didn’t quite line up with yours, I got even more curious than before. And when I’m like that, I’m like a bloodhound that’s caught the scent.”
She got to her feet, removed her work gloves, and crossed her arms. Then she stared at me. There was enough fire in her gaze to liquefy steel.
“I’ve had enough from you. If you have a point, get to it.”
“After talking with Cecil, I went to see Officer Abbott. He told me he busted you hanging out by the park that night.”
As the color drained from her face, I allowed myself a small smile. Gloating wasn’t my style. Still, it was gratifying to see yet another person underestimate me.
And be proven massively wrong.
She dropped onto the toilet seat with a thud. All the bravado, the swagger, the self-assurance that she was tougher than me had dissipated like a wisp of smoke. Her foot began tapping on the floor while her gaze darted from spot to spot throughout the tiny room.
Gail was scared.
I took a seat on the edge of the tub. Since I’d won the battle, power games weren’t necessary. Making her look upward to make eye contact would be counterproductive.
“What do you want to know?” She stared at her hands, her voice little more than a whisper.
“Officer Abbott told me where he found you. What did you see while you were there? Was anything out of the ordinary? Anyone who seemed nervous or out of sorts? Or who was walking around with a long gun?”
She shrugged. “There were a lot of people. I was just soaking in the surroundings, not really paying attention to anything in particular.”
It took all the self-control I could muster to refrain from wringing her neck. She wasn’t even trying. Berating her wouldn’t help, though. Encouragement was the way to go.
“You were near the spot where the shooter had set up. Close your eyes. Let your mind go back to that night and that place. Take deep, cleansing breaths and tell me what you see.”
She did, her eyebrows knitted in concentration. After a moment, they relaxed. “I’m at the corner of Third and Adams, leaning against a light pole. People are milling around. Some with little kids are leaving. There’s a group of older people in someone’s front yard down the street partying it up. I can hear someone’s voice on a PA system, but I’m so far away it’s faint and I can’t make out what’s being said.”
This was promising. I had to keep my fingers crossed that Gail’s powers of observation were as sharp as her shooting used to be. She talked nonstop for a good five minutes, describing the sights, sounds, and even smells of the festive scene. Her recall ability was impressive.
“You’re doing great. Do you see anyone or anything that looks, I don’t know, off?”
“Sorry.” She shook her head. “No, wait. The party down the street. There’s a guy with a rifle standing between the party house and the one next door. He’s got longish hair and is wearing a baseball cap, maybe blue. He’s got a basketball jersey on. There’s a big tattoo on his upper arm.”
“Can you tell what it is?”
“No.” She tilted her head back and opened her eyes. “That’s all I got.”
“That was a lot. Great job.” She’d given me something to go on.
I thanked her and made a hasty exit with a promise to keep her story to myself. Something told me Tommy hadn’t reported her indiscretion to her probation officer.
All of the running around in the summer heat had left my throat as dry as burnt toast. The moment I entered my apartment, I headed for the fridge and slammed a bottle of water down in three gulps. The cold liquid also helped relieve a knot of tension at the base of my neck that had been building through the day.
Progress had been made. Not a lot, perhaps. Still, now I had a new trail to follow. And there was no time like the present to get moving.
“Got some new clues to study, girl.” While I filled Ursi’s food bowl, I reviewed what Gail told me. The description of the gathering had to be the Martins’ party.
I went through my notes and suspect list again, focusing on the people I hadn’t been able to rule out. There were no mentions of anyone wearing a baseball cap. Nothing about anyone with a tattoo, either.
Since that night, I’d spoken to Willie. He’d kept his head shaved for as long as I could remember. On top of that, he didn’t sport any ink. I crossed his name off the list.
I was pretty sure Jax didn’t have any tattoos, either. I left his name alone until I could confirm that.
The net was closing in. The problem was that I still didn’t know the identity of who it was closing in on.
I was beginning to form an idea, though.