Josh followed Caitlyn’s instructions and pulled into the quiet neighborhood where Helen had lived, trying not to have second thoughts about their plan. His captain’s words kept repeating through his mind—his clear warnings of leaving the case alone. But there was no way he could ignore the truth now. A phone call to Helen’s son, Gavin, had confirmed that he would be working at his mother’s house this afternoon, trying to get it ready to put up for sale.
Caitlyn glanced up from her phone. “The next left is her street. House number 775.”
“You’ve been to her house?”
“A couple times, though typically, we went out somewhere together. Dinner for her birthday. A movie every once in a while.”
Josh parked around the block from Helen’s one-story home. It had neatly kept flower beds and a front porch with a couple of rocking chairs.
Caitlyn paused before opening the car door. “Do you think someone managed to follow us here?”
“No, but I’m still feeling overly cautious. My boss might have answers for what happened, but I don’t want to take any chances.”
“I agree.”
“And let’s not mention I’m a cop unless we have to.” They got out and he locked the car with the fob. “We’re just a couple of friends, sorry for the death of his mother.”
“I could talk to him by myself if you think that would be less intimidating.”
“I’ll let you do most of the talking since you knew her, but I want to be there.”
“Good.” She shot him a weak smile. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Gavin was working in the open garage as they walked up the drive toward the house. There was a row of boxes lined up against the wall, with a can of beer on top of one of them. A rush of memories flooded through Josh. Going through Olivia’s things after she died. Waking up in an empty house. Coming home to the loud silence at night.
He reined in his thoughts. He’d known that looking into this case again was going to be emotional, but the triggers were coming from places he hadn’t expected. He hadn’t been prepared for that.
“Gavin Fletcher?” Caitlyn stopped at the edge of the garage. “I’m the one who called you earlier. Caitlyn Lindsey. I worked with your mother at MedTECH Labs.”
“Caitlyn . . . My mom mentioned you quite a few times. You were at the funeral, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“She always told me how much she enjoyed working with you.”
“The feeling was mutual. I’m still struggling with the fact that she’s gone.” Caitlyn pressed her lips together for a moment. “This is a friend of mine. Josh Solomon.”
“I’m very sorry for your loss.” Josh reached out and shook the man’s hand, leaving Gavin to make his own assumption as to who he was. “I know this hasn’t been easy for you.”
“I appreciate that, because honestly, I’m still pretty numb.” He waved his hand at the garage. “I’m having someone come by later today to talk about doing an estate sale. I just need to pull any personal things I want to keep, though at this point, I have no idea what.”
“My advice would be not to rush,” Josh said. “Give yourself time to grieve, and make sure you don’t get rid of something you might later want.”
“You sound like a man speaking from experience.”
Josh nodded. “You could say that.”
“Listen . . .” He turned back to Caitlyn. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I didn’t understand from our phone conversation why you needed to talk to me.”
“Your mother and I were good friends, and to be honest, I can’t believe that she killed herself. Did that seem possible to you?” Caitlyn glanced at Josh, and she continued. “Your mother . . . she was clearly upset before she died, and she spoke to me a couple times about something she was worried about at work. Something about a project she was working on.”
“Wait a minute.” It was clear she had his attention now. “You think her job was the reason she took her life?”
“Honestly . . .” Caitlyn glanced at Josh again. “I don’t know why Helen felt she had to take her life.”
“I don’t either, though I suppose it shows you how clueless I was. If someone had told me before she died that she was considering killing herself, I would have thought they were crazy. I mean . . . she was my mom. I never would have imagined her doing something like that. Not in a million years. She was always the rock of our family, and now . . . And now she’s gone, and I’m suddenly left with nothing.”
“I really am sorry.”
“Me too, but nothing’s going to bring her back.”
“I know you’ve just started going through her things, but did your mother have any work she brought home? Anything from the lab?”
“A few things, but some men from her work came by earlier this morning. Told me it was some kind of formality. They wanted to make sure she didn’t have anything that might have been property of the lab, so I gave them the briefcase she took back and forth to work every day.”
“And have you found anything else?”
“Actually, after they left I found a couple of her lab notebooks in her bedroom. I suppose I should hand those in as well, but it’s not exactly a priority at this point.”
“Did they give you a business card or a way to contact them?” Josh asked.
“Yes . . . one of them did. It’s here.” Gavin reached into his pocket and handed Josh the card.
“Thomas Knight . . .” He turned to Caitlyn. “Did you work with anyone by that name?”
Caitlyn shook her head. “I don’t recognize the name, but that doesn’t mean they don’t work there.”
“We believe they’re looking for something,” Josh said.
“Wait a minute . . .” Gavin stepped up in front of them. “I need to know why the two of you are here and what’s really going on. Clearly you’re not here just to give your condolences.”
“I’m sorry. You’re right.” Caitlyn drew in a deep breath. “There are just things that didn’t add up for me regarding your mother’s death. Questions that I can’t find answers to.”
“You don’t think she killed herself.”
She glanced at Josh, then back at Gavin. “Honestly, no, I don’t. And I don’t think you do either.”
“I don’t, but wait a minute . . .” He dropped what he’d been holding into one of the boxes. “What’s the alternative?”
“We don’t have proof of anything. Not yet. But there are some strange things that have been happening.”
“Like?”
“Three deaths within our lab in the past few months. Then yesterday someone tried to run me off the road.”
Gavin leaned against the stack of boxes. “And you also think all three deaths are related?”
“I do.”
“And you, Mr. . . . Solomon,” Gavin said. “How do you fit into all of this?”
“Olivia was my wife. The one that was killed in a home invasion a year ago.”
Gavin took a step back. “Your wife? Wow . . . I am so sorry to hear that.”
Josh nodded.
Gavin shoved his hands into his pockets and frowned. “I’m still trying to put all this together. Ever since the night I got a call from the police, I haven’t been able to sleep. If you were to ask me then and again now, I’d still say there’s no way she would have killed herself. But what could I do when the coroner’s report came out and all the evidence pointed to her suicide? I had to believe what they said. But now . . . If you’re right . . .”
“It’s what we’re trying to find out,” Josh said. “But in the meantime, we need you to not tell anyone we were here.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m a detective. And the case is officially closed. Everything I’m doing is off the record.”
Gavin nodded. “That’s fine. I can keep this quiet.”
“What can you tell us about the night your mother died?” Caitlyn asked.
“I spoke to her briefly, I think it was around . . . five, maybe five thirty. We were going to have lunch later in the week, something we did about once a month. She always wished we’d meet more often and was looking forward to it.”
“What else did you talk about?”
“She asked about the grandkids. Wanted to know if Caleb had a game next week. She always liked to go to the kids’ activities, and they loved it too.”
“Caitlyn said she’d been upset about issues in your marriage.”
“My wife and I have been struggling for a long time, and things came to a head recently. She was threatening to leave and take the boys with her.” Gavin’s phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket, glanced at the caller ID, and silenced the call. “Sorry . . . All I know is that my failing marriage wasn’t a motive for my mother to kill herself. She loved my wife and the boys. She wouldn’t have done that to them.”
“But she did have a prescription for antidepressants,” Caitlyn said.
“She’d struggled on and off with depression since my father passed away a few years ago. It’s a common prescription. So yes, there were things she was dealing with—even I won’t deny that—but she also had things she was looking forward to. She was planning a trip to go see her sister next month. Planning lunch with me and my boys next week. Why would she do all of that when she was going to kill herself?”
“Those are questions we’d like answered.”
Gavin’s phone rang again. “I’m sorry, but this is the estate agent, so I need to take this. The lab notebooks I found are in the house. I left them on her bed. It’s the last door on the left down the hallway. They’re all work related, so take whatever you think might help.”
“Thank you.”
Gavin nodded, then took the call.
Josh followed Caitlyn inside the house, feeling as if he were intruding. The house was homey and tidy, with rows of family photos hanging in the hallway. Caitlyn stepped into Helen’s bedroom ahead of him, picked up the first notebook, flipped it open, and started glancing through it.
“What do you think?”
“I’m not sure yet. Looks like notes she was taking on something she was working on, but she’s got her own personal shorthand. I should be able to figure it out, but it’s going to take some time to go through this. It’s several months’ worth of notes.”
He heard a car engine and went to look out the window. “Caitlyn . . . we might have a problem.”
She stood up from the bed. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t see them but someone else just showed up.”
He could hear raised voices from inside the garage.
“What if he brings them back here?”
“Let’s pray he doesn’t.”
The uneasiness in his gut was back. This was no coincidence. They’d been followed.
“Hey, wait a minute!” Gavin’s voice carried from outside. “I didn’t say you could go into the house.”
Josh grabbed the notebooks, then Caitlyn’s hand, at Gavin’s clear warning and quickly ran through their options. He signaled for her to be quiet, then pulled open the closet door. He could feel her labored breathing as he pulled her inside and shut the door. Every nerve in his body screamed to walk out and confront the men, but something told him that in this situation, staying hidden was their best option. Captain Thomas wasn’t going to appreciate hearing about an altercation that included him and this case.
“Where are they?” one of the men asked.
“Who?”
“Your visitors.”
He could hear them rummaging through the house. Opening doors and slamming them in their search.
“They left,” Gavin said. “They just came by to give their condolences.”
They were in Helen’s room now and coming toward the closet. He pulled Caitlyn against him behind some long coats, as one of the men swung open the door.
“If you’re lying to us . . .”
He pressed closer to her, wondering why he suddenly felt such a strong urge to protect her.
The closet door slammed shut.
Caitlyn let out a sharp breath as the footsteps left the room.
A minute later, he heard the car drive away.
Josh stepped back out into the room, Caitlyn right behind him.
Gavin stood in the doorway.
“Are you okay?” Josh asked.
“No. You said you had questions you wanted answered. Well, so do I. Who are those men, and why did they come here asking questions about my mother and forcing their way into her house? They’re the same men who took Mom’s briefcase this morning.” He looked at Caitlyn. “They were looking for you, by the way. Wanted to know if someone with your description had stopped by asking questions.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That I’d had a lot of people stop by to offer their condolences over the past couple days. They told me if I found anything else that belonged to the lab, I needed to let them know. I told them I’d already given them everything I had, but that I would call if I found anything else. Which I definitely won’t do now.”
“Good,” Josh said. “I don’t know what they’re looking for, but they’re not up to anything good. What about a description?”
“I’d put them both in their mid-to-late forties. One had a beard, short brown hair, and was probably five ten or eleven. The other one was taller but a little heavier, with glasses and a receding hairline.”
“Thank you,” Josh said.
“Sure, but what happens now?”
“We’re going to keep searching for the truth. Don’t talk to anyone about our coming here. At this point we don’t know who’s involved, so as far as you’re concerned, your mother had been depressed and took the only way out she could.”
“Okay. As long as you can promise me one thing. Find out the truth about what happened to my mother.”