by Dawn Eastman
Matt wandered into the kitchen, and Katie heard him rummaging in the cupboard. He came back with his usual shot of whisky.
“You said you had news about Heather’s murder?”
Katie nodded and pulled out her notebook so she could write down her thoughts as she told the story again. The story about Russell dating Heather and how she had been killed not far from his apartment after calling him and asking to meet. Katie told them that according to Hope, it had been a volatile relationship. And Abby had said she thought Russell made a habit of dating students. Had there been a relationship with Taylor?
When she was finished, Caleb and Matt just stared at her.
Caleb spoke first. “Gabrielle is dating a killer?”
Katie shrugged. “I’m not sure, but it sounds suspicious. At the very least, she’s dating someone who doesn’t balk at dating a student. I don’t know how much she knows about this guy.”
“I don’t understand why he would assign this project if he was the killer,” Matt said. “Why would he take the risk?”
“Maybe he didn’t think there was a risk. He got away with it,” Katie said. “Plus, remember when he said he thought the students would pick a bigger case? One that had a lot of media coverage? Maybe it never occurred to him that anyone would even remember Eugene Lowe or Heather Stone.”
“But wouldn’t he have put a stop to it once he realized?” Caleb asked.
“Maybe he thought that would look suspicious,” Katie said. “He could have just been hoping that Taylor wouldn’t uncover anything new.”
“I don’t know, Katie,” Matt said. “Are you sure about this?”
Katie shook her head. “No, of course I’m not sure. I’m not even sure if I should tell Gabrielle or wait until I know more. But what if he is the killer, and what if he also killed Taylor?”
“We need to find out what he was doing the other night. If he has an alibi, at least we’ll know he didn’t kill Taylor,” Matt said.
“Right, and then we can continue to look into the old case and see what we find.” Katie made some more notes in her book. “How did it go with Brad Humphreys?”
Matt sipped his drink and set it down. “It was a bust. Nothing like what Hope told you. I got the impression there was some tension in the apartment between Brad and Heather.”
“What kind of tension?” Caleb asked.
“I remember from the brief time I dated Heather …”
“Wait, you dated Heather?” Caleb said.
“Yes, just a couple of times, and it was over way before she died,” Matt said. “Anyway, I just remember this general animosity from Brad when I was at the apartment. Sort of like a big brother or an ex-boyfriend. But I’m pretty sure they never dated.”
“According to Hope, she broke his heart,” Katie said.
“That explains it, then.”
“What did he tell you?”
“Not much. He said that he came back that night and passed out in bed. He wasn’t even sure what time he got back. Hope woke him up in the morning to say that Heather had never returned from the party. They were getting ready to go look for her when the police arrived.”
Caleb flipped his computer open. Katie frowned. He had his “aha” face on.
“What is it, Caleb?”
“I wanted to check the statement from Brad. I thought I remembered him saying he saw Alicia and Nathan that evening when they came back from the party.” Caleb scrolled his mouse. “Here it is. Brad said they got back around midnight.”
Matt shook his head. “Today he said he got back at ten and passed out.”
“Hmm,” Katie said. “Hope told me that none of them really paid attention to when they got home. They just agreed on a story.”
“So he lied,” Caleb said. “Either today or back then.”
Katie tried to fit this new piece of information into her developing timeline. She wasn’t sure it would make a difference, but it was interesting.
She realized she was only putting off the one thing she had to do. No matter how much or how little she knew about Russell, she had to at least warn Gabrielle. She’d never forgive herself if something happened to her. She pulled out her phone and called Gabrielle.
After the initial small talk was over and before any gushing about Russell could ensue, Katie said, “Gabrielle, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Gabrielle lowered her voice. “Please tell me you and Matt are still together. You didn’t break up?”
Katie sat back in surprise. “No. It’s not about me.”
“Okay, good. Shoot,” Gabrielle said.
“It’s about Russell …” Katie began.
“Isn’t he awesome?”
“He seemed … very nice,” Katie said. “Remember how Matt said he’d seen Russell at the party on the night Heather died?”
“He explained that. He crashed the party with some of his grad school buddies. They didn’t stay long after they realized it was all a bunch of undergrads getting drunk.”
Katie hesitated. “I talked to Heather’s roommate today, and she said that Heather had been having a pretty intense affair with Russell just before she died.”
“But …” Gabrielle hesitated. “That doesn’t make sense. He said she was just a student.”
“I think it was more than that,” Katie said. “Russell may not have realized how extensive Taylor’s research had been. She had transcripts of the police interviews. Russell admitted that Heather called him that night and wanted to meet him at his apartment. He said she never showed. But she was found not far from where he lived at the time.”
Gabrielle’s voice sounded sharp. “Are you accusing him of something?”
“I think it’s worth being careful. I’m convinced that Taylor died because she was getting too close to the real killer.”
“You know you’re a doctor, not a police officer or private detective, right?” Gabrielle’s voice shook.
Katie blurted, “What was Russell doing Monday night?”
Gabrielle sounded confused. “Monday?”
There was no coming back from it now. “The night Taylor’s body was dumped in the woods.”
“He was supposed to meet me after work,” Gabrielle said. Her voice became very quiet. “He called to cancel. Some sort of work emergency.”
“What kind of emergency does a sociology professor have?” Katie asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t even ask,” Gabrielle said. “I guess I’m so used to work emergencies, it didn’t occur to me to ask.”
“You didn’t see him the whole night?”
“No, but that’s not unusual. We don’t live together.”
Katie heard Gabrielle’s doorbell ring.
“I’d better go,” Gabrielle said. “Russell’s here.”
Before Katie could stop her, she had hung up the phone.
Katie pushed redial on her phone, but it went right to voicemail. What was Gabrielle up to? And was she safe with Russell? Katie worried that she had put Gabrielle in danger by making her suspicious of Russell.
She texted: Just let me know everything is ok.
Five long minutes later, Gabrielle texted back: I’m fine, don’t be so dramatic.
37
Carlson put his cruiser in gear and pulled slowly into the street. His passenger was quiet. He didn’t blame him. Eugene Lowe was being released from jail into what could be a dangerous life outside prison. Carlson knew that there were people in town who were convinced Eugene had killed Taylor Knox. Carlson was not one of those people.
Eugene had cooperated completely with the police, and nothing he said indicated he had harmed Taylor. Carlson wished he had a better alibi than his mother, Gretchen, but still. She said he had been home all night.
Carlson now knew that Taylor had been strangled a week ago, around the time she disappeared. The fact that she had not been found in all that time indicated her body had been hidden elsewhere. The pathologist said that insect activity was minimal, so it had to hav
e been kept somewhere inside.
“I’ll have an officer watching your house around the clock, Eugene,” Carlson said.
“Thank you,” was Eugene’s mumbled reply.
“I don’t know what else to do,” Carlson said. He flicked his blinker and turned onto Eugene’s street. “Call me if anything seems suspicious or if you feel threatened.” Carlson handed a card to Eugene, who slipped it into his shirt pocket without looking at it.
Carlson pulled into the driveway, and Eugene barely waited for him to stop before he opened the door and climbed out. He held up a hand in a half-hearted wave and went in through the front door.
Carlson debated with himself over whether to get out of the car and talk to Gretchen. He decided to leave it alone for now. Eugene was a grown man; he could tell his mother what the plan was. But there was something about Eugene that felt young. Carlson understood why Gretchen was so protective. It was like he hadn’t yet grown a tough enough skin to survive on his own. Carlson had no idea how this kid had survived prison.
Debate over. He reversed out of the driveway and headed home, not seeing the figure slip out the back door and disappear into the trees.
38
Thursday morning, Katie pulled open the door to stop the frantic knocking. She had staggered to the front door, pulling on a long cardigan over her sleep shirt.
Gretchen Lowe stood on her front porch looking like she had just escaped from a wolf pack. Her hair stood on end, her shirt was on inside out, and her shoes didn’t match. But the wild look in her eyes was the most worrying.
“Mrs. Lowe, what’s happened?” Katie opened the door wider and gestured her inside.
“I’m sorry to barge in on you like this, but Eugene is gone again!”
“Okay, come sit down and tell me what happened.” Katie sighed inwardly. She wished Eugene would at least let her know when he was going to take off like this.
“I got up this morning and went to feed the cat. He’s usually very pushy about getting his breakfast. Well, any of his meals, really …” Gretchen seemed to catch herself. She continued, “Anyway, I couldn’t find the cat, and so I went up to Eugene’s room. I thought maybe Eugene had closed the door with the cat inside. But when I went up there, he was gone. Eugene, not the cat. The cat had gotten trapped in his room, but Eugene was nowhere to be found. Most of his things are still there, but he did take his duffel and his bathroom stuff.” Gretchen reached for a tissue from the box on the table. She scrubbed at her eyes.
“There was no note? He didn’t tell you anything last night?”
Gretchen shook her head. “No, he seemed happy to be home after his stay at the jail. I’ll have something to say to John Carlson next time I see him. Arresting Eugene for no good reason!”
Katie put her hand on Gretchen’s arm. “Don’t be too hard on him. I asked him to take Eugene into custody to keep him safe. I was very worried about how people would react when they heard about Taylor Knox’s death.”
Gretchen’s tears started up again. “Oh, that poor young woman. She was so lovely. I could tell that Eugene liked her, too. I heard them laughing together when she came to the house. I hadn’t heard him laugh in years.” She gave Katie a watery smile. “It was good to hear. I’ll never believe he had anything to do with her death.”
“I understand, but there are people in town who aren’t as convinced of Eugene’s innocence as you are.”
Gretchen sniffled. “I know. Eugene has always been just different enough to draw attention, and usually the wrong kind of attention.”
“Mrs. Lowe, Gretchen, you have to go to the police with your concerns. I’m only Eugene’s doctor. If I hear from him, I’ll do my best to convince him to contact you, but that’s really all I can do.”
“Okay, I just thought he might have said something to you about where he might have gone, or why.”
Katie shook her head, but she did try to run the conversation through her mind. Had Eugene told her anything that day that would help her find him? She couldn’t remember. She had been so surprised that he had come to her house, she wasn’t sure she had paid much attention to where he’d said he had been. He’d likely just gone back to whatever place he thought was safe. Katie could hardly blame him for wanting to get out of town. She suspected that he had gotten as far from Baxter as he could. Katie wondered if that meant he would be in trouble with the police. If Carlson had told him to be available for questions and now he’d disappeared, did that mean he was guilty? Would it make it look like he was guilty? Why did he have to leave now? Katie was more irritated with Eugene than worried about him.
“Did he say anything to you last night? Did anything happen? Any more threats or vandalism?”
“No, nothing happened last night. I was kind of surprised, to be honest. They’ve been coming a few times a week since he got home. I don’t know why it was so quiet last night.”
Gretchen seemed more in control now.
“Why don’t you go home, have some tea, and get cleaned up. Then, go to the police station to report that he’s missing. He’ll likely turn up again, just like last time.”
Gretchen nodded. “Okay. You’re right. I have to trust the police to do their jobs. I have to trust that Eugene is making the right choices.” She smiled ruefully at Katie. “Both of those things are hard to do.”
Katie walked her to the door and waved as Gretchen drove off down the street. She closed the door and pulled out her phone.
39
Nathan Nielsen paced again in John Carlson’s office. He had been pacing for the past fifteen minutes, and nothing Carlson said could get him to sit.
“Okay, let’s go over this again, Mr. Nielsen.”
Nathan stopped walking and turned toward Carlson.
“What else do you need to know? My wife is missing. My daughter is missing. You let a killer back onto the streets yesterday.” Nathan threw his hands up. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. But just in case you need some help, I’ll spell it out for you. That little freak has my wife and child. If anything happens to them, I’m going to make it my mission to make your life miserable. You should have kept him locked up. You should have given my wife protection instead of protecting that murderer!”
Carlson clenched his jaw and took deep breaths. Linda had told him to focus on his breathing when he felt stressed. It only made him dizzy. Or maybe it was his soaring blood pressure that made him dizzy.
“Mr. Nielsen, I will file a missing persons report. But I don’t expect that nearby police departments will give it much credence until she’s been gone for at least twenty-four hours. And there’s no proof she’s with Eugene Lowe. As far as I know, he’s still at home with his mother.”
“My daughter is missing, too. Don’t you start searching immediately for children?”
“Yes, but she’s presumably with her mother. Her mother is an adult and is allowed to roam freely. How do you know she didn’t just go to her parents’ house for the day? Maybe she’s out with a friend.”
“She’s not answering her phone, and Olivia’s things are gone. She took her travel bed and a suitcase full of—” Nathan stopped abruptly.
“So, it looks as if she planned to be away?”
“No.” Carlson could see Nathan backtracking. “I can’t be sure.”
“If she packed her things and went away, I can’t even call her a missing person. There is no sign of foul play. Have you two been having trouble lately?”
Nathan wheeled on Carlson. “Don’t start your counseling crap on me. She’s gone and I need you to find her.” Nathan sank into the visitor chair and put his head in his hands. “I just want my family back.”
At least we’re finally getting somewhere, Carlson thought. It would have been helpful if he’d mentioned the suitcase up front.
“I’ll put out a notice to local law enforcement to be on the lookout,” Carlson said. “In the meantime, go home and call anyone you can think of to see if she’s just gone to visit someone.”
“Yup, okay,” Nathan stood. “I’ll just go home and wait. That sounds like a great idea.”
He stormed out of the office for the second time that week.
40
Katie stepped quickly out of the way as Nathan Nielsen stomped out of the police station. She watched him stalk down the street and felt her stomach knot up. What was he doing here and why was he so mad?
She went inside and asked to see Carlson. The young woman gestured to the door and told her to go on back. Katie walked down the hallway to Carlson’s office and peeked around the corner.
He sat with his head resting in his hands, breathing deeply and loudly. Katie had a moment of alarm thinking that he was unwell, but he must have sensed her there in the doorway and he looked up suddenly.
“Hi, Doc,” he said with none of his usual enthusiasm. “I hope your day is going better than mine.” He waved in the direction of the chair Nathan had just vacated. “Have a seat.”
“Are you okay?” Katie said as she sat.
“Fine. Let me guess why you’re here. Eugene was beat up again.” Carlson pulled Eugene’s file toward him and flipped it open, ready to take notes. “Is he okay?”
Katie shook her head. “No. I mean, yes. Well, I don’t know.”
Carlson put down his pen and met her gaze.
“According to Gretchen, he’s missing. Again.”
“What do you mean, missing?”
“She says she went to find him this morning and he wasn’t in his room. Some of his things are gone and his truck is gone.”
“Why does she go to you with these things?” Carlson asked. “She should come to me.”
Katie shrugged. “They seem to have adopted me as their general advocate. Eugene and I have a rapport, and I guess Gretchen thinks I’m the one to go to.”
Carlson closed his eyes and rubbed them with the pads of his fingers.
“I wonder if she mentioned this to the officer sitting outside her house, theoretically guarding her son?”
Katie held her hands out, palms up. “I did tell her to come here and make a report.”