Chapter 39

Jamie sent Z a text message to tell him that she’d pick him up from baseball practice early. Practices were going until eight thirty these days, but that was too late if they were going back to the lab to take care of this DNA sample. And they were. They were doing that, and they were coming clean about Charlotte. She would tell him that she’d had the mitt and he would tell her where the blood came from and why it had made a print on the side of that Mercedes. The thought filled her with dread.

As soon as she hit send, a message displayed on the screen from Hailey. Brandon Shambliss dead. Home. Patrol found him. The next message was his address. Followed by one more. On my way. Meet u there? Shambliss was dead.

In the meeting with Bishop and Ikerd, she had asked point-blank if they were tracking anyone else. Of course they’d said no. But she was almost certain that was a lie. If they were tracking employees, Shambliss was an obvious choice. Had she and Vich planted the idea that one of their employees might be involved and, as a result, gotten Shambliss killed?

Jamie texted back. How long?

A line of bubbles showed on the screen as Hailey typed her response. Jamie resisted the urge to call.

Two hours.

So it could have been Bishop. She saw his three-piece suit, his gold pocket watch and tried to picture him a killer. It was a hard fit. He wasn’t the type to get his hands dirty. Didn’t mean he wasn’t involved.

Jamie called Vich to share the news. He was finishing up some profiling on another case. “I’ll check out the Shambliss scene and be in touch,” she told him. He was quiet on the phone. Maybe tired. Or maybe it was the case coming between them. That would be on her. After tonight, she’d be able to come clean. With him. With Hailey and Hal. With Tony. First, Z had to come clean with her.

By the time she arrived on the scene, Shambliss’s small apartment was crowded with police. Sydney Blanchard stood in the living room with three techs. The room might have belonged to anyone. No magazines, no pictures. A poster on one wall and the kind of bland furniture reminiscent of corporate housing. There was a single glass, half full of something that looked like soda, and some catalogues on the coffee table. A sweatshirt hung over the back of the couch, tennis shoes on the floor.

Sydney gave Jamie a short wave and pointed. “Body’s in the kitchen.” She passed two patrol officers in a narrow hall and entered the kitchen where Hailey and Hal were watching Schwartzman, crouched by the body. Shambliss had soiled himself, so the room smelled like an overflowed bathroom. The cop shows made it seem like that sort of thing happened often, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. Hal pulled out a little green bottle and sprayed it into his mouth.

“We’ve been living on this stuff,” Hal said, offering it to Hailey. She took a couple hits, too, then passed it toward Jamie.

“No thanks,” she said. She could smell the Listerine over the other smells, and she knew it would help, but she didn’t use mouthwash. Anything with alcohol was a no-no for a recovering alcoholic. Not a drink in eight years, but she’d be a recovering alcoholic forever.

“We know what happened?” she asked.

“He was strangled by some type of wire,” Schwartzman said.

“They just finished with the photographs of the body,” Hailey explained. “Schwartzman thinks she sees some sort of particulate in the wound. She’s trying to get some samples so we can get them to the lab.”

“They break in?”

“Nope. Looks like someone had a key,” Hal said.

Bishop came to mind again. Not hard to get if you work with someone. House keys would be in his jacket pocket or in a briefcase while he was at work.

Schwartzman pulled a length of packing tape off a roll and laid it against the wound on Shambliss’s neck. With gloved hands, she gently pressed the adhesive to the skin then pulled it free and laid it down onto a clear plastic sheet. That she lifted into the air above her head and stared up at the length of tape.

She pointed to several specks. “There is evidence of some plastic residue in the wound.” She motioned to his hands. “I see evidence of it under his nails, too.”

“What do you think it is?” Hailey asked.

“The wound appears to have been caused by some sort of thin wire. My guess is that the wire was coated with plastic.”

“No signs of any wire in the apartment,” Hal said.

“So not a crime of opportunity,” Jamie said.

“No. Killer came prepared.”

“Wire coated in plastic,” Jamie said. “Like the wire used to hang pictures?”

“Perhaps,” Schwartzman said.

“We have a BOLO on Heath Brody,” Hal said. “He’s not at his apartment, but we’ll pick him up when he gets home.”

“So, one of them throws Charlotte down the flight of stairs because she was going to out Brody to her dad?” Jamie said. “I might buy that, but then Shambliss comes to Brody’s rescue? Why would he do that? I hardly get the feeling he was an especially nice guy.” She shared Roger’s discovery that the two men had lived down the hall from each other. “It’s hard to picture them being close friends,” she added.

“I agree,” Hailey said.

“Maybe Shambliss wasn’t helping,” Hal suggested. “Maybe Shambliss figured out it was Brody and was threatening to give him up,” Hal suggested.

Her phone vibrated in her hand.

A text from Z. Can’t leave early. Scrimmage tonight. Done by 8, tho.

“But Shambliss was the one at the bar where Michael Delman was drugged,” Hailey countered. “Why drug Delman if you’re going to out Brody?”

“Maybe so you’ve got the corner on the information. Maybe Shambliss meant to set Brody up for the Delman murder, too.”

Jamie told them about Bishop’s tracking devices.

“Sounds like we need to talk to Mr. Bishop,” Hal said.

“I’d suggest talking to Ikerd and Bishop separately,” Jamie offered. “Maybe you can put some pressure on them that way.”

“We’ll check out Shambliss’s car and phone for tracking devices, but without something to link Bishop to the scene, we’ve got no probable cause,” Hailey said.

“We did link Shambliss to Carmen Gutierrez,” Hal said.

“Gutierrez?” Jamie repeated.

“Gutierrez was the CFO of a company that designed geo-tracking units for government use. We matched the slug in Delman to a slug in the database—the one that killed Gutierrez,” Hal explained.

“And they’re connected how?” Jamie asked.

“Gutierrez was the one who pressed charges against Shambliss as a minor,” Hailey answered.

“And we never looked at Shambliss for Gutierrez’s death?”

Hal shook his head. “Not even on the radar.”

Jamie sighed. “And where’s Tiffany Greene?”

“We haven’t been able to reach her,” Hailey said. “We spoke to her roommate. She was in Yosemite with two of her girlfriends this weekend. They’re due back tonight.”

Jamie sighed.

Schwartzman stood up. “I think I’ve got everything I need for now. I’ll do the cut first thing in the morning.”

Jamie glanced at her watch. It wasn’t even six and she couldn’t pick Z up until eight. She considered going to the school and pulling him. He’d be angry, but so what? He was in some serious shit.

“Nothing to do but go have dinner,” Hailey said.

“You hungry?” Hal asked.

“A little, but tonight’s the Rookie dinner at Tommy’s.”

“Rookie Club is tonight?” Jamie asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Hailey said.

“What’s Rookie Club?” Schwartzman asked.

“Ah, hell,” Hal said. “You guys go on. I’ll finish here.”

Jamie couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone to a dinner. No. She could. It was around the time she adopted Z. She did not want to go tonight. She wanted to pick up Z, get his DNA, go home and sort everything out. “I—” But then, she couldn’t think of anything to say. She didn’t have an excuse. She wasn’t pulling Z from the scrimmage. She couldn’t go home. The investigation was at a standstill until Shambliss was processed, Brody was brought in or they got in touch with Tiffany Greene. Nothing could be resolved right now. Plus, she had to admit she was hungry. “Okay,” she conceded.

“Come on, Schwartzman,” Hailey said. “We’ll introduce you to the Rookie Club tradition.”

Schwartzman looked a little reluctant, but Jamie gave her arm a soft squeeze.

“It’s a good thing,” Jamie promised. “It’s gotten me through some tough times.”

“Me, too,” Hailey added.

Schwartzman gave a nod, and the three of them walked out of the apartment, leaving Hal with a dead body and the terrible stench.