“Ms. Baxter, you know that it’s a crime to lie to a police detective, don’t you?”
“I’m not lying.”
“Are you going to tell me that you weren’t at your sister’s house this morning? Because I have a witness who spotted you there.”
Erin held her pointer finger out. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
“Care to explain yourself, then?”
“Terri was already dead when I got there.”
“Then why didn’t you immediately call the police?” David asked.
“I panicked,” Erin said.
“You did more than that,” David replied. “According to the witness I talked to, you ran from the scene of the crime.”
“I can explain.”
“Please do.”
“I made a mistake. Like I just told you, I saw Terri on the ground, and I panicked. When I heard footsteps approaching, I worried about how it would look if I was spotted with the body.”
“You were right to worry,” David said. “Things look terrible for you right now.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t kill her.”
“Ms. Baxter, let me tell you something. In my experience, innocent people don’t run—”
“They do when they are scared.”
“That’s the story you’re sticking with?”
“It’s not a story. It’s the truth.”
“If you are lying to me—”
“I’m not,” Erin said.
David stared long and hard at her. “You keep proclaiming your innocence, but you haven’t told me why you went to your sister’s house this morning.”
“We were supposed to go out to breakfast. I drove over to her place to pick her up.”
“Were you and your sister having any problems?”
“No,” Erin replied.
“That’s not what I heard. I have it on good authority that you asked your sister for money just a few weeks ago.”
“Who told you that?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.”
“That isn’t all I heard. According to my source, your sister refused to give you the money,” David said. “Apparently, you and your sister haven’t gotten along since then.”
“That’s not true,” Erin replied.
“Which part of it?”
“Any of it.”
“I’m going to remind you that it is illegal to lie to a police detective.”
“All right, so I asked Terri for the money, but when she said no, it wasn’t the end of the world.”
“Are you saying that you two were still on good terms?” David asked.
Erin nodded. “Yes.”
“This breakfast you were supposedly taking your sister out for, what restaurant were you going to?”
“Patricia’s Pancake House.”
“Did you have a reservation?”
“No. You don’t need a reservation to get a table there.”
David gave her a critical stare. He took a quiet moment to himself then resumed his questioning. “So walk me through this again. When you showed up to pick your sister up for breakfast, was her back door already open?”
Erin nodded. “It was cracked open. I called for Terri, but she didn’t answer. So I went inside. That’s when I saw her on the floor.”
“That’s also when you should have called the police.”
“I don’t know why you keep making me repeat myself. I heard footsteps coming. I didn’t know who it was. For all I know, it could have been the killer.”
“Are you saying you ran because you were afraid for your life?”
“I had every reason to be afraid,” Erin said.
David scoffed. “That’s why I keep making you repeat yourself. You just changed your story on me. First you told me that you ran because you panicked. Now you’re telling me that you were afraid the killer might have been coming up the walkway. Which is it?”
Erin’s face contorted. “You’re twisting my words around.”
He shot her a glare. “Which is it?”
Erin let out a sigh. “I panicked. I was worried that whoever was coming up the walkway would jump to the wrong conclusion if they saw me beside the body.”
“I have jumped to a conclusion of my own. One of my deputies found something very interesting at the scene.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “What are you talking about?”
“We found your sister’s will. You stand to inherit half of her estate. That’s what I call motive.”
She shook her head. “I had no idea that I was in her will. Even if I did, I wouldn’t kill her over money.”
“Really? When you just asked your sister for money weeks ago? You’re practically drenched in motive.”
“For the last time, I didn’t do this, and you can’t prove that I did.”
“The question is, can you prove your innocence?”
“How do you expect me to do that?”
“Where were you last night?” David asked.
“I was meeting with a client.”
“From when until when?”
“From about eight until eleven,” Erin replied.
“That’s a pretty late meeting.”
“Real estate agents don’t have set hours, especially for listing appointments. Besides, Mr. Franklin works during the day. The only time he could meet was at night.”
“Does Mr. Franklin have a first name?”
“It’s Kenneth.”
“I’m going to need his phone number and address.”
Erin scrunched her nose. “Wait a minute. Why did you ask me where I was last night?”
“I’m the one asking the questions here,” David replied.
Erin’s eyes widened. “It’s because my sister was killed last night, isn’t it?”
“So what if it is?”
“That proves I didn’t kill her. I was with Kenneth.”
“That is yet to be corroborated.”
Erin folded her arms. “But if Terri was killed last night, why have you been making such a big deal about me coming to her house this morning? Surely if I had killed her, I wouldn’t have returned to the scene of the crime.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You’d be surprised how many killers return to the scene of the crime,” David said.
She scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. Why would they do that?”
“For some, a guilty conscience brings them back. For others, they are worried that they left crucial evidence behind.”
“If I killed someone, I would never return to the scene of the crime.”
David pulled out a pen and pad of paper from his pocket. “Ms. Baxter, back to this supposed alibi of yours. I’m going to need Kenneth Franklin’s phone number and address.”
“Right. It’s 555-4652.”
“And his address?”
“175 Daffodil Lane.”
David jotted the address down.
Frustration was in Erin’s voice. “Are we done now?”
David shook his head. “Not quite. I have a few more questions for you.”
Erin groaned. “I don’t know why you keep wasting your time with me. If you’re looking for someone who wanted Terri dead, you should be talking with Rick Lutz.”
“I already did,” David replied.
“Then you know what a sleaze ball he is.”
“Ms. Baxter, we’re talking about you right now.”
Erin folded her arms. “I’m done talking to you.”
“Ms. Baxter, you don’t get to decide when we’re through.”
“You bet I do. You can’t make me answer any more of your questions. I have an alibi, and I’m not saying another word to you.”
David stared her down, but Erin didn’t flinch.
Chapter Twenty-Three
David left the interrogation room looking extremely frustrated. He wasn’t the only one. I took my frustration outside. Not just to get some air, but also as a favor to David. My bo
yfriend had enough to deal with as it was. He didn’t need the police captain breathing down his neck over letting me linger inside the station too long. Luckily, I had built up some goodwill with the captain after solving the last murder in town, but that didn’t mean that I had free rein.
I headed across the street to Founder’s Park, where I found myself thinking about the answers that Erin had given to David. In my mind, that interview had been far from conclusive. I wondered if David felt the same way.
Twenty minutes later, I got the answer to that question. David came out of the police station and joined me in the park. We took a walk around the lush green park, which was dotted with a generous amount of trees.
“So what do you think?” I asked.
David groaned. “I think that was one of the most frustrating interviews I have ever conducted.”
“It certainly could have gone a lot better,” I replied. “Do you believe that Erin is innocent?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure what to believe. All I really know is that Erin looks highly suspicious.”
“It’s hard not to look suspicious when you change your story in the middle of an interview.”
“Or when you run away from the scene of a crime.”
“Especially when the murder occurred last night. I still question her story about picking up her sister for breakfast,” I said.
“Why do you think she was there?” David asked.
“Maybe she was worried that she had left evidence behind.”
“Initially, that’s what I thought, but the forensics team has been searching her car, and they haven’t found anything remarkable.”
“If Erin was willing to risk going back to the scene of the crime, don’t you think she would have disposed of any incriminating evidence on her way out of town?”
“You’re probably right.”
“Besides, she ran from the scene. Why else would she have done that unless she had discovered some incriminating evidence on herself and was desperate to dispose of it before anyone else found it?”
“I don’t have an answer to that one.”
“We have both said that a lot today.”
“Don’t remind me.” He took a deep breath. “I keep going back to the fact that no fingerprints were found on the bat. That means the killer either wore gloves or wiped the bat clean before they left.”
“I told you before, when I saw Erin running from the scene, she was wearing gloves.”
“That’s the strange part. The forensics team didn’t find any gloves in her car.”
“Do you think she disposed of them?”
David shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Add it to the list of things we don’t know.” I groaned. “I’ll tell you this, she’s either really sneaky or really lucky,” I said.
“Or she’s innocent. After all, she claims to have an alibi.”
“Name a suspect who doesn’t have an alibi,” I deadpanned.
“True. But she has an alibi that I can actually check up on.”
“Is that your next step?”
David nodded. “It’s time to pay Mr. Kenneth Franklin a visit.”
***
David and I drove over to Kenneth Franklin’s dark-blue split-level house at 175 Daffodil Lane. After two sets of knocks, the five-foot-eight, muscular fifty-three-year-old answered the door. Kenneth had an uncomfortable look on his angular face as David flashed his badge. I stared closely at Kenneth’s blue eyes to see if his pupils dilated when he spoke to us.
David explained the situation to him, which only made Kenneth’s muscles tense up even more. The crazy part was that David hadn’t even gotten to the hard-hitting questions yet.
“Mr. Franklin, where were you last night?” David asked.
Kenneth’s eyes widened. “Me?”
“Yes, you.”
“But I’ve never even met Terri Baxter.”
“Mr. Franklin, please answer the question.”
“I was here.”
“Alone?”
Kenneth shook his head. “No. My real estate agent was here.”
“What’s her name?” David asked.
“Erin.”
“Does Erin have a last name?”
“Baxter.”
“Terri Baxter’s sister, you mean,” David said.
“Yes. But like I said, I’ve never met Terri Baxter.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Kenneth, you sure seem awfully defensive.”
“You’d be too if the police randomly showed up at your door, asking you questions.”
“Please don’t tell me what I would or wouldn’t do,” I said.
“Right. Sorry,” he replied.
David moved on to his next question. “Mr. Franklin, what were you and Erin meeting about?”
“It was a listing appointment. I’m selling my house,” Kenneth replied.
“Where are you going?” David asked.
“Hopefully, the north side. I just want a place with a little more room,” Kenneth said.
“This meeting, when did it start, and when did it end?”
“Erin got here about eight and left around eleven.”
“Around eleven or at eleven?” David asked.
“Well, when I turned on the TV after she left, the local news was on, so I’d say at eleven,” Kenneth replied.
“That was a long meeting,” I said.
“There’s a lot to talk about when you’re getting ready to sell a house,” Kenneth replied. “Now, are we done here?”
David’s eyebrows arched. “Mr. Franklin, are you in a hurry to get rid of us?”
“No. You can ask me as many questions as you want. I just don’t think I’d be much help,” Kenneth replied.
David stared deep into his eyes. After pausing for a few moments, he replied, “All right, Mr. Franklin. Thank you for your time.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
A sense of confusion took hold of me as I sat in the passenger seat of David’s car. I was quickly learning that easy answers were becoming increasingly harder to come by.
I knew that David shared in my frustration. As I looked over at him, he had a faraway look in his eyes as he drove away from Kenneth’s house.
“Is it just me, or was he really jumpy?” I asked.
David groaned. “It’s not just you.”
“And he isn’t even on our suspect list.”
“Maybe he should be.”
“You think?”
David shrugged. “If I went by his body language, yes. When I ask myself if he had motive, means, and opportunity, the answer is no.”
“I guess the question is, do you believe his story?”
“It doesn’t matter what I believe. All that matters is what I can prove.”
“Which, in this case, is nothing,” I said.
“Exactly. Although it gets worse. With Kenneth confirming Erin’s alibi, I no longer have enough to keep Erin detained at the station,” David replied.
“So you’re just going to let her go?”
“I don’t have a choice.”
I gritted my teeth.
“Trust me, you’re not the only one who is frustrated here,” David said.
“I know. So where do we go from here?”
“Back to the drawing board, I guess. There are still plenty of suspects. If we keep the pressure on, one of them is bound to slip up eventually.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear.”
“It’s also all we have to go on right now. Investigations take time. Patience—”
“Is a virtue that I do not possess,” I said.
David chuckled. “Trust me. I know.”
“Hey, let’s focus on the case.”
“What’s the matter? Did that one cut too close to the bone?”
“Let’s just say that you’re lucky that I love you.”
“You’ll get no argument from me there,” David said. “Unfortunately, I can’t say the same thing about this case.”
�
�Hey, all you need is one lucky break.”
“Which I haven’t gotten yet.”
“You’re forgetting one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m a firm believer in making my own luck,” I said.
“Don’t get me wrong. I admire your perseverance. I’m just wondering if you have any theories on how to make your own luck with this investigation.”
I took a moment to myself before replying. “I’m going to need to sleep on that.”
“That’s probably not such a bad idea.”
“Unless you can think of something better.”
“Not at the moment,” David said. “All I know is that there’s an answer out there somewhere and I’m not going to stop until find it.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Unfortunately, while I was happy to get a full night of rest, a revelation did not come to me when I woke up in the morning. Instead, I got up, took Snickerdoodle for a walk, then headed over to Daley Buzz for a latte.
I was just finishing up my drink when I got a call from David.
“You know that lucky break I was looking for yesterday?” David asked.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Well, I think I just got it.”
I jumped in my car and headed over to the police station. When I got there, David revealed the source of his newfound optimism.
“Are you ready for this?” he asked.
“I sure am. What is it?”
David placed an evidence bag on his desk. Inside the bag was a handwritten letter and an envelope. “This came in the mail this morning.”
I picked up the evidence bag and looked at the return address. “Wait a minute. This is from—?”
“Terri Baxter,” David replied.
I looked at the postmark on the envelope. “This was mailed the day that she died.”
“It gets even eerier. Read the letter.”
I did. One part in particular stood out to me. I read that part aloud. “When I am murdered, know that Rick Lutz is the killer.”
My jaw dropped.
“Pretty crazy, huh?” David replied.
I stared at the letter again. “I was going to say curious.”
David’s forehead wrinkled. “Curious? Don’t you mean suspicious?”
“That, too,” I replied.
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