Even though we had a vague description of the shooter, it was as if we’d hit a brick wall. We knew he had a shotgun and that each person was killed with a blast of buckshot, but that in itself was of no help. Shotgun shells were a dime a dozen and could be purchased at any sporting goods store. We didn’t have a timeline of when the shooter bought them either. Even if we viewed camera footage from local stores and watched for a bald man purchasing that type of shell, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Hairstyles changed easily, and the man could have bought those shells a year ago for all we knew. It wouldn’t be enough. We needed a motive, and the most likely shooter, Ross Booth, didn’t fit the bill, plus Renee was his alibi. Even though she had been with David until one in the morning, she admitted she went directly home after that and crawled into bed next to Ross.
I tapped my pen against the blank sheet of paper in front of me. Our leads amounted to nothing.
“I think we need to have another talk with Zak Fortello,” Frank said. “Actually, I think we should get a warrant for Zak’s house as well as the Booth home.”
I rubbed my chin. “So now Ross is a person of interest again?”
“Everyone is until they’re cleared. Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone else on the short list.”
I had to agree. We needed to dig deeper for a person who had a motive and a grudge against David Ramsey since there was a chance his murder wasn’t work-related. If the Carters didn’t talk to David often and weren’t privy to his personal problems, maybe his family or best friends were. I again went through David’s contact list that I’d taken from his phone. Lutz had called his family in Detroit earlier, and they were scheduled to meet with us first thing tomorrow morning. Hopefully, they’d be able to shed more light on David’s personal life.
Taking David out of the equation for the moment, I focused on Kathy. “Maybe Kathy was the target.”
Frank jerked his head back. “Did you just pull that out of left field?”
“We need to expand our thinking. Renee may have hired somebody to kill Kathy. Her story of David saying he was going to divorce his wife could have been fabricated. Since she’s a woman and probably didn’t want to do the shooting herself, she could have hired someone. It went sideways when the shooter saw David in the kitchen, so he panicked and shot everyone he came across.”
Frank cocked his head. “I guess it could go that way too. So now what? We have to investigate Kathy’s life as well as David’s?”
I nodded. “It looks like it.”
“There’s still the chance that the killer was a disgruntled client of David’s,” Henry said.
I jotted down notes. “Yep, there’s still that.” A number of people might have committed the crime, but now that Kathy could have been the intended target, we’d have to expand our investigation to cover both husband and wife. “Let’s pull warrants for life insurance policies and bank records for both of them, as well as bank records for Zak and the Booths too.”
Frank grabbed the receiver off his desk phone’s base. “I’ll let Lutz know what we need.”
I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten until the night crew filed into the bullpen. Frank had just hung up from his call to Lutz and said the commander was headed our way.
Moments later, as we were updating the night detectives, Lutz walked in and took a seat on Henry’s guest chair.
“All of you day shifters need to go home. We’re getting grief from the higher-ups about too much overtime dollars.”
“So catching a killer has been reduced to the amount of money spent to keep our streets safe?”
Lutz held up his hands. “I’m just the messenger. Anyway, I can’t request those warrants until the courthouse opens in the morning.” He turned to Chuck Gaines, who was the night shift lead detective. “Start going through David Ramsey’s client list and look for everyone who has had a significant downturn in their stock portfolio. I want to see those names in the morning, and then we’ll set up interviews with them.”
“You got it, Boss.”
I added my two cents. “I still wouldn’t give Zak Fortello a pass. He’s a sketchy character with an attitude that I don’t like.”
Lutz shook his head. “He doesn’t have a police record, and we can’t turn him into a criminal just because you don’t like him.”
I swatted the air. “Yeah, yeah, I know, but I’d still consider him a person of interest. He didn’t even flinch when we told him that David Ramsey was dead.”
“And he has a full head of black hair according to your description of him.”
Henry took his turn as he packed up to go home. “But for the right price and no conscience, a lot of people can turn into murderers.”
As I drove home, I thought about Henry’s comment. On the surface, Zak, Renee, or even Ross could be behind the killings since they had the most motivation. Or the killer could be somebody we didn’t know—yet. I had my doubts that it was a random burglary since it didn’t appear that anything was stolen and the house hadn’t been tossed. I was leaning toward the killer being a hired gun, but who and why was the million-dollar question.
When I was a few miles from home, a text popped up on my infotainment system. Hanna wanted to know if I was through working for the night and if I had any interest in meeting her at Carmelo’s for an Italian dinner. I tapped the call button on my steering wheel and said her name then waited as the system made the call. She picked up within seconds.
“Hello, Detective McCord.”
I couldn’t hold back my smile. “Hello, Hanna Bradley.”
“Are you still working, or are you hungry?”
“Unfortunately, my mind is always working, but my body is driving home, and my stomach is famished. I like the sound of Carmelo’s for dinner.”
“Good. How about an hour from now?”
“Sure. I’m almost home. That’ll give me time to feed and play with Bandit for a bit, shower, and then I’ll head out. See you soon.”