Caldwell Avenue, 8:30 p.m.
Lori rapped on the town house door again.
Even at this hour Jess felt as if she were melting, especially in this borrowed black dress. She’d ignored four calls from Burnett. He hadn’t left any voice mails, which meant nothing was wrong. He just wanted to know where the hell she was and what she was doing. Oh yes, and when she would be home.
Apparently her assigned tail had lost them. It wasn’t on purpose. But there was no time to waste.
Speaking of wasting time, Jess did the knocking this time. “Maybe they went to a wake or something for family and close friends that we weren’t invited to.”
“Or dinner,” Lori suggested.
“What’s that?” Jess teased.
“Something we’ve both missed this evening.”
Jess tried to recall if she’d had lunch.
The door to the left of their position on the sidewalk opened.
Jess prepared to apologize for all the loud banging when the old man derailed her by blatantly sizing her up in her too tight, too short black sheath. She’d had to borrow this dress from Lori. That had become a habit lately.
“I’m Deputy Chief Jess Harris,” she announced, drawing the man’s attention from her legs to her face, “and this is Detective Lori Wells. We’re here to speak with Sarah Riley.”
“Garland Haines. Lived here for fifteen years. Been neighbors with the Rileys for five of those years. They’re not home,” he groused. “If they were, you’d hear ’em yelling at each other,” he rambled on. “Trust me, they’re not home.”
“Thank you.” Jess gave him a smile. “We’ll just be on our way then.”
“Another thing,” he added, “if they were home all that banging would’ve had both their brats screaming at the tops of their lungs.”
What a friendly neighbor. “I guess it’s a good thing they’re not home then.”
“Most of the time I don’t care. I’m watching TV or whatever and I can’t hear ’em. But what gets me riled up is when the bawling starts in the middle of the night. And she don’t do nothing about it. What kind of mother does that?”
The last nabbed her attention. “Does that happen often?”
“If it happens once it’s too often,” he griped. “Like this weekend. That youngest one of hers started bellowing around ten and by ten thirty the other one was squalling, too. I banged on her door like you did just now but she didn’t answer. I checked the street and her car was gone. She’d done gone off and left those two babies in the house alone. She’s done it before. I told her if it happened again I was calling the police. So I called her husband. He’s a cop after all and they’re his brats. He guaranteed it wouldn’t happen again and it ain’t happened since.”
“Mr. Haines, can you recall what night that was?” The adrenaline was already charging through Jess’s veins.
“It was Sunday night. I know ’cause I went to a church supper with my sister. I was watching the ten o’clock news when the squalling started. Is that certain enough for you? I missed nearly all of it banging on that damned door and calling her husband.”
“Thank you, Mr. Haines. We’re sorry to have bothered you.”
“When you’re an old man who lives alone,” he called out as they walked away, “you get used to being bothered. Every damned thing bothers you.”
When they were loaded in the Mustang, Jess said, “I need to go back to the church.”
First United Methodist Church, 9:49 p.m.
While they waited for the minister to arrive and unlock the door, Jess paced in front of the main entrance. She had spoken to Burnett and given their location. He was not happy that she’d avoided his first four calls.
Lori had checked with Harper. He hadn’t located Sarah Riley, but her husband was on duty with the GTF.
“It’s official, by the way,” Lori said, drawing Jess from her musings.
“It’s official,” she repeated. “I’m moving into Harper’s place this weekend. Even if his son hates me.”
Jess winced. “I take it last night didn’t go so well.” The last she heard Lori and Harper were picking up his son after work.
“He wouldn’t talk to me or even look at me.” She groaned. “All he wanted to do was stay in his dad’s arms. It was just awful.”
“Give him time. When he warms up to you he’ll want to be in your arms all the time. Then you’ll have something to groan about.”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Maybe.” She leaned against the wall next to the front entrance of the church. “I realized watching those boys this afternoon that having boys in the house is way different from having girls.”
Jess laughed. “My sister says boys and girls are as different as daylight and dark. Be patient. It’ll work out if you give it time. Time is the key.” To most things, Jess reminded herself.
“At least there’s only one kid I have to make like me,” Lori interjected.
“Until you decide to have one or two of your own,” Jess pointed out.
A car rolled into the parking lot.
“Saved by the minister,” Lori said with a laugh.
“Notice I’m not laughing,” Jess said.
“Not to worry, Chief,” Lori promised, “I have no plans like that for a long, long time.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Not more than two weeks ago Jess had heard something similar about moving in with Harper.
The minister hustled up the steps to the front entrance of the church, keys in hand. “I apologize for keeping you ladies waiting. I was all the way across town.”
“Not a problem, sir. We appreciate you coming on short notice.”
He pushed the door inward and motioned for them to go inside. “Might I ask why you needed to come back?” He turned on the overhead lights as they entered. “Did you leave something at the service?”
“I just need to see about something…” Jess hurried along the aisle until she reached the spot where she had stood during the service.
“Here we go.” She moved into the row where the Graysons and the Rileys had sat during the service.
On the pew right where Sarah had left it was the hymnal she had used.
Jess retrieved the largest evidence bag she carried. With a gloved hand she placed the song book in the bag, careful to touch only the very edges of the cover.
“You won’t mind if I borrow this, will you?” she asked the minister.
He looked confused but then shook his head. “Of course. Keep it as long as necessary.” He chuckled nervously. “Just remember where it came from.”
“Oh I will, sir. You can rest assured.”
Jess thanked him again and then hurried to Lori’s Mustang.
“The lab?” she asked.
“The lab,” Jess confirmed.
If Sarah Riley had been in the Grayson home the night Gabrielle was murdered there was only one possibility that they had discovered so far for placing any person, besides Gabrielle and Devon, there. The unidentified set of prints on the bottle. Those same unknown prints had been found on the handle of the milk jug in the fridge.
And if they could prove Sarah was in the house that night, was her husband helping to cover for her as she had covered for him when she lost her job over the OxyContin?
Jess thought about the seemingly loving couple she had watched in the church today. With two kids, it couldn’t be easy surviving on one income. And with a drug problem to boot, how were they managing to hold it together? Their neighbor had mentioned the two yelling at each other. He insinuated it was a routine business.
But did a volatile relationship or a drug addiction lead to murder?
Could Sarah Riley be Devon Chambers’s angel? Or was she just doing what she always did and protecting the devil himself?