I hated to do it, but it was time to release Tammy. As suspicious as it had seemed, there was a fine line between actual stalking and what we’d witnessed as Tammy sat in front of Trey Botty’s house then followed him to the corner. Stalking would have to be conducted over time, and Tammy didn’t have that opportunity before she took possession of her car.
We returned to the interview room and sat across from her. She noted my empty hands.
“What happened to the notepad and pen you had?”
“They’re in my sport jacket pocket.”
“Humph. And what about the silly address test I had to perform for your viewing pleasure?”
She was quickly wearing on my nerves. “Do you find all of this funny, Tammy? Is it a joke to you that your own husband and several other people have been murdered?”
“Depends.”
I blew out a disgusted breath. “Depends on what?”
“On whether they deserved it or not. Not that I personally knew the others who were murdered, but in my opinion, Dwayne had it coming. You know, an eye for an eye sort of thing.” She puffed up with what I assumed was her version of intellectual superiority. “That’s in the Bible, you know.”
Frank corrected her. “I believe Jesus said to turn the other cheek, or something to that effect.”
She looked him up and down and snarled. “You don’t know shit about the Bible. I went to Sunday school when I was a kid.”
Frank rolled his eyes. “Really? How many times?”
“A few.”
I interjected to end their spat. “Not to change the subject, but we’re cutting you loose.”
Tammy jerked her head toward me. “It’s about damn time. Now, how am I supposed to get back to the shelter?”
“Stay put. We’ll have an officer come get you in a minute.” I looked at her before we left the interview room. “Stay out of trouble, or the next time, you’ll be here for an extended visit.
We returned to the bullpen, where Frank and I focused on Tammy. The rest of the team reviewed—for the second time—the 911 calls, police statements, alibis, and financial records of the families of the murder victims prior to Trevor Botty. We didn’t want to lose track of other suspects by having blinders on.
Henry, Shawn, Kip, and Tony interviewed all the neighbors again, as well as Lorilee Saunders, Brice Guthrie’s girlfriend; Moe Price, the man who loaned Dwayne money; and Duke and Nancy Bingham, the couple who appeared to be Tammy’s only friends.
As I sat at my desk and put my thoughts on paper, my phone rang. It was Lutz, and he had good news. He’d caught the judge just before he left. It was the end of the workweek, and if Lutz hadn’t gotten through to him, we’d have had to wait until Monday. With tomorrow being Saturday, finding a judge who’d conduct business and issue warrants on a weekend was nothing more than wishful thinking.
I leaned back and let out a relieved sigh as I stared at the ceiling. “Lutz got the warrant just in time. A clerk is dropping it off any minute now.”
Frank piped up. “Thank God. You want to work late and tear apart Tammy’s house or let the night shift boys take care of it?”
“I’d prefer to do it myself, but we’ll let Lutz make that call. Tomorrow, we’ll definitely hit the shelter when Tammy is least expecting it.”
“All we need to do is find that gun and it’ll be case closed,” Frank said.
I huffed in agreement. “Find the gun and we find the killer, but I believe in unicorns and leprechauns too.”
Frank laughed. “O ye of little faith.”
My eyes widened. “I’m impressed, Mills. You actually do know your Bible.”
Seconds later, Lutz walked in. “Did you release Tammy?”
Still chuckling at Frank, I responded to Lutz’s question. “Yeah, Jacobs is taking her back to the shelter. After we search the house thoroughly, I’ll have the cleaning service take care of those bloodstains, bill Tammy, and then she can move back in if she chooses to.”
“Speaking of searching the house, who’s taking on that task?”
I tipped my head toward Frank. “We will if you’re good with that.”
“It’s your case, so go ahead.”
“Good. And tomorrow, we’ll search her room at the shelter.”
“Okay, update the night shifters and then head out. Don’t forget to stop in the evidence room and grab Dwayne’s house keys.”
“Will do. Oh, and by the way, has Elizabeth taken the polygraph test yet?”
“Yep, and she passed. It wasn’t her that killed Brice Guthrie.”
I let out a sigh, although I wasn’t surprised by Lutz’s answer. “Okay, I’ll give you a call if we find anything at Tammy’s house.”
By seven o’clock, Frank and I were on the road, each in our own vehicle since we’d be heading home after that. As I drove, I made my evening call to Hanna and told her I should be home by ten. She said she’d be waiting with two cold beers and a smile.
We arrived at the South Princeton Avenue and West Swann Street address at 7:25 and parked at the curb in front of Tammy’s house. We’d started for the sidewalk when a voice broke the silence.
“Popular place tonight.”
I stopped, squinted in the fading daylight, and looked around. Mr. Baker was watching us from his porch. I tipped my head in that direction, and we crossed the small yard to his house.
“Evening, Mr. Baker.”
“Evening, Detectives. Sticky out tonight.”
“Yes, it is. What did you mean about popular?”
He swatted the air several times as if a pesky mosquito was buzzing around his head.
“Several people were here earlier. I assumed Tammy was working with a Realtor already.”
I knew that wasn’t true since I hadn’t even called the cleaning company yet. “Was one of them Tammy?”
“Couldn’t tell. I was looking out from my upstairs bedroom window, and the porch blocked most of my view. Couldn’t see their faces, anyway, from that angle.”
“Could you even tell if one was a woman?”
He shrugged. “Not with one hundred percent certainty. The front of the house was already in the shadows.”
Frank took his turn. “Do you know for a fact that they went inside?”
“Yep. Lights came on. They were there for a good half hour. Didn’t actually see them leave, but when I stepped outside fifteen minutes ago, the car was gone, and the lights were off.”
I was puzzled. “Remember anything about the car?”
“It wasn’t Dwayne’s car. I know that for sure. Had to be a dark color since it didn’t stand out against the setting sun. Sorry. Like I said, I was upstairs and wasn’t focusing on the vehicle. Only saw two figures take the sidewalk to the porch, and then the lights went on. When I went outside later, they were gone.”
“Is that the only time you’ve seen anyone here?”
“Other than Tammy, yep. Haven’t had a chance to offer my condolences, though. Only saw her here one time, and she was in and out in a few minutes.”
I assumed that was the same time we’d seen her stop in. “Okay, thanks, Mr. Baker. Frank and I will be spending an hour or so inside. Have a nice night.”
We returned to the house, unlocked the door, and entered.
“What do you make of that?” Frank asked.
“No idea, but I’m thinking Tammy had somebody bring her here to avoid being detected in her car. She probably thinks we’re constantly following her.”
“If she has nothing to hide, then who cares?”
“I don’t have those answers, partner. Let’s just see if there’s anything inside that could lead us in the right direction.”
We searched the home in a methodical, room-by-room manner. Luckily, the house was small. We saw nothing to indicate whoever had been there took anything out, but since we had no idea what we were looking for, I couldn’t say that for a fact. Something as simple as a sheet of paper could have been a clue, yet since the handwriting results were already in, anything we found that was written by Tammy wouldn’t matter.
During our two-hour search, we found nothing that would lead us to the killer. The house was filled with useless junk and looked like the home of a hoarder or someone too lazy to take out the trash. We did locate the shotgun and the .22 revolver, but since neither was used in a crime, we left them there, walked out, and locked the door behind us.
“Apparently, the bloodstain isn’t that upsetting to Tammy,” Frank said. “The towel you threw over it the other day wasn’t even there.”
I rubbed my forehead. “But then why stay at the shelter at all? She could go home and take Coby with her. As a matter of fact, I don’t even think she’s contacted the life insurance company yet. You’d think that someone who’s broke and jobless would have done that right away. Either Tammy is dumber than a box of rocks or—”
“Or she’s as sly as a fox.”
I jerked my chin toward my truck. “I need to turn off my brain. Maybe by charging it overnight, I’ll have better clarity in the morning.”
Frank chuckled. “Yeah, good luck with that. See you tomorrow, partner.”
“Yep, see you then.”
I arrived home to find a beautiful travel trailer sitting in my driveway. The thought of good times ahead made me grin from ear to ear. We had to get through our current case, then Hanna, Bandit, and I could plan some great camping trips.
After squeezing around the trailer to pull into the garage, I parked and then walked down the driveway to check out my new second set of wheels. Stepping inside and looking around, I knew Hanna would be impressed, and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.