***
When David put his police radio down and explained the new development, it became clear that my sandwich craving would have to wait. The protein bar that I kept in my purse would have to tide me over for now. Especially since there was finally a break in the case.
This new development came courtesy of Deputy Rick Peterson. Rick had been assigned to keep tabs on Melanie Abbott.
Despite the fact that David has specifically ordered Melanie not to leave town under any circumstances, Mrs. Abbott had checked out of her motel room and headed for the highway. She didn’t get far, however. Just as she reached Treasure Cove city limits, Deputy Peterson pulled her over.
Peterson was currently detaining Mrs. Abbott until David and I could arrive at their location. It took a little less than seven minutes for my husband and I to reach Peterson’s squad car. After a brief discussion with the deputy, David and I approached Melanie, who was being detained in the backseat of Peterson’s car.
Not surprisingly, Mrs. Abbott was livid.
“What’s the meaning of this?” she snapped.
David kept a cool head as he replied, “Mrs. Abbott, please calm down.”
“How am I supposed to do that? You’re holding me against my will,” Melanie snapped.
“That’s your fault, not mine,” David said.
Melanie scoffed. “Excuse me? Where do you get off saying something so ridiculous?”
“I was very clear with my directions earlier. Under no circumstances were you permitted to leave town. Yet, here you are, at the edge of town, disobeying my orders.”
“I can explain—”
“What’s there to explain? You were obviously trying to make a break for it.”
“Are you going to hear me out or not?”
“Fine. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I wasn’t making a break for it.”
“Where were you going then?”
“Home.”
“Mrs. Abbott, do you think you’re above the law?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what gave you the idea that it was okay to ignore my command?”
“Detective, I have a life to get back to. How long did you expect me to wait around for you to solve this case?”
“As long as it takes.”
“What if your investigation goes on for weeks? Or months?”
“If that happens, perhaps I will revise my orders,” David said. “In the meantime, my directions remain very clear.”
Melanie let out a groan. “This isn’t fair.”
“Of course, it isn’t. A man is dead. And his killer remains at-large. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing fair about this entire situation.”
“I was talking about you holding me against my will,” Melanie said. “It’s not right.”
“Mrs. Abbott, you are a suspect in a murder investigation. I have every right to detain you,” David said.
She shook her head. “Not indefinitely. When are you going to let me go?”
David held his hand up. “Let me tell you something. There are far bigger things that you should be worrying about right now.”
She shrugged. “Like what?”
“Do you have any idea how guilty you look?”
“Let me tell you something. Looks can be very deceiving.”
“Sometimes,” David said. “Other times, things are exactly as they appear to be.”
“I’m an innocent woman,” Melanie said.
“That’s what you keep saying. Unfortunately, there is no way to prove that you are telling the truth.”
“On the flip side, you don’t have any evidence that I’m guilty either.”
“Not at the moment. But there’s no telling what might happen in the future.”
“What about the present? For example, when are you going to let me go?”
David’s forehead wrinkled as he weighed his options. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“Your ability to follow orders.”
“You want me to stay in town? Fine. I can do that. Just let me out of here.”
David stared her down. “Before I set you free, I want to make one thing very clear. Deputy Peterson is going to follow you back to the motor lodge. He is then going to keep tabs on every movement that you make. If you come anywhere near the city limits again, you will be hauled into the police station. Got it?”
Chapter Twenty
Melanie agreed to David’s terms. My husband then opened up the door of the squad car and set the suspect free. From there, Deputy Peterson followed Melanie back to the motor lodge.
David and I then began to contemplate our next step. The path forward was uncertain. Going into our interview with Mrs. Abbott, it really seemed like we had caught a big break. Suddenly, we weren’t so sure.
One thing was clear. If Melanie was guilty of murder, she had definitely covered her tracks well.
Of course, Mrs. Abbott wasn’t the only person that we were keeping tabs on. We had our suspicions about a number of people. What we lacked was a lead that could blow this case wide open.
As the day dragged on, that game-changing piece of information remained elusive.
By the time nightfall rolled in, a break was in order. David and I drove over to my parents’ house on Sycamore Grove Trail to pick up my daughter.
When we arrived, my stepfather, Luke, immediately spotted the desperation in my eyes.
“This case is really stretching you to your limits, isn’t it?” Luke asked.
“It certainly isn’t taking it easy on me,” I replied.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“That’s just the way it goes sometimes. Especially with an investigation that is as emotionally charged as this one.”
He put his hand on my shoulder. “Well, hang in there.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
Luke took a deep breath before replying, “You know, it’s a real shame that I could never get you interested in fishing.”
I squinted. “Where did that statement come from?”
“Do you know the one trait you need to have in order to be a successful fisherman?”
“Patience,” I said.
His eyes lit up. “Precisely.”
“Which is exactly why I have no interest in fishing,” I said. “You know I’m an incredibly impatient woman.”
“That’s all the more reason to take up fishing.”
I shrugged. “Why? That sounds like a recipe for frustration.”
“Hear me out. More than any other hobby I can think of, fishing has a way of teaching you to be patient.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Why do I get the sense that you’re about to make some kind of metaphor about patience being the key to reeling in Walter’s killer?”
“Because that’s exactly where I was going with this conversation.”
“Look. I’m doing my best to keep from freaking out, but it isn’t easy.”
“I understand that. But I just want to say one thing.”
“Which is?”
“That you and David have set yourself up for success. You’ve put out some really good bait. You’ve cast your line out. As far as I’m concerned, it’s only a matter of time before you get a bite. In fact, I believe that with a little patience, you’ll end up reeling in the killer pretty soon.”
I exhaled. “I sure hope you’re right.”
Chapter Twenty-One
My stepfather’s fishing metaphor made a lot of sense. Even so, it didn’t mean that patience was easy to come by. If anything, with each passing moment, I found it more difficult to refrain from getting too worked up.
That evening, sleep remained a scarce commodity. I ended up tossing and turning in bed for quite a while before finally crashing out.
In the morning, I was desperate for caffeine.
After making quick work of a latte, I had enough energy to tackle the case again.
At first, the investig
ation didn’t seem to be in any hurry to do me favors. I felt like I was staring down the same brick wall that stood between myself and the truth.
Then, shortly after ten o’clock, a call came over David’s police radio. When my husband finished his radio conversation, I only had to take one look at his face to know that a break had just fallen into his lap.
The radio call had come from Deputy Timothy Jenkins. Timothy was the officer who had been assigned to keep watch over Nicole Potter’s house. According to the deputy, Nicole’s ex-boyfriend, Scott Hatcher, had just shown up at Ms. Potter’s place.
Judging by Nicole’s reaction, she wasn’t happy to see her ex. Despite the poor reception that he received, Scott didn’t just turn around and walk away, however. Instead, he had a heated exchange with her.
At that point, Deputy Jenkins refused to remain on the sidelines any longer. He got out of his car and separated the two suspects. He then radioed David.
Once David caught me up on the news, we made quick tracks over to Nicole’s place. We both had a number of questions for Nicole and Scott.
When we arrived on the scene, I figured that David would immediately go to work. He surprised me, however. It turned out he had a plan.
You see, typically David elected to interview people at the scene. The process of hauling suspects back to the police department for questioning was much more time intensive. It was also quite a hassle.
Yet, right then, that was exactly what David wanted to do. Not only to switch things up, but also to strike fear into both of the suspects. Police headquarters was an intimidating place. That was doubly true of the interrogation room. If I was a murder suspect, that was one of the last places I would want to be dragged to.
Whether hauling the suspects back to the police station would be enough to break either of them was yet to be determined. But it was certainly worth a try.
***
When we all arrived at the police department, David escorted Nicole to one of the interrogation rooms. Meanwhile, Deputy Jenkins led Scott into a separate room.
As for me, I headed over to David’s desk and sat down in front of his computer. Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, I was able to watch a live feed of the security camera footage that was being recorded inside the interrogation rooms.
On the computer screen, I saw David making a decision to interview Nicole first. Ms. Potter fidgeted in her seat. By the looks of it, the stress of her surroundings was really getting to her.
“You seem pretty squirmy—” David started to say.
“I don’t understand why I’m here,” Nicole snapped.
“Do I really need to explain it to you?” David asked.
“You need to let me go,” she said. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“If that’s true then this might be a really quick interview.”
“That works for me. How can we make this as short as possible?”
He scratched his chin. “You sure seem to be in a hurry to get this over with.”
“Why wouldn’t I be? Would anyone want to draw something like this out?”
“You’d be surprised.”
“I don’t know who those people are, but they are crazy.”
“Forget about other people. Let’s focus on you.”
“Okay. Although, I don’t know what you want from me.”
“That part is simple. I just want the truth.”
“About what?”
“What just happened back at your house?”
“Scott showed up on my doorstep at random.”
“What did he want from you?” David asked.
“The same thing he always wants,” Nicole said. “To get back together with me.”
“Are you going to take him back?” David said.
She shook her head.
“Why not?” David asked.
“Because I have no interest in ever dating him again,” Nicole said.
“Did you tell him that?”
“I sure did.”
“And how did he respond?”
“Poorly.”
“Is that why things had gotten heated between you?”
“Uh-huh,” she said. “Unfortunately, the man has trouble taking no for an answer.”
“From what I can tell, he has trouble doing a number of things. Like keeping a lid on his temper,” David said.
She took a deep breath before responding, “Tell me about it. Honestly, I’m at the point where I don’t ever want to talk to him again.”
“I doubt that he’ll respond well to that.”
“I don’t care. I just want him out of my life. Just like I want this conversation to be over.”
“I’m afraid this discussion is far from complete.”
“Why? What else do you want from me?”
David put his hand up. “I just have a few more questions for you. That’s all.”
“Like what?”
“Did you and Scott talk about anything else this morning?”
She shook her head.
“Walter Cobb’s name didn’t come up then?”
“No,” she said. “Why would it?”
“You’re both suspects in Walter’s murder.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve already told you, I had nothing to do with Walter’s death.”
“Last time I checked, you still don’t have an alibi for the time of the murder.”
“And you still don’t have evidence that I’ve done anything wrong. Now, I’ve answered all of your questions. Can I go?”
David shook his head. “Not yet.”
Nicole let out a groan. “What more could you possibly want from me?”
“I want to tell you something,” David said. “For your sake, you’d better hope that you aren’t lying to me.”
Nicole stared right back at David. “I’m telling you the truth.”
David bit the corner of his lip. “We’ll see about that.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
After finishing up his interview, David let Nicole go. He then walked over to a second interrogation room where Scott Hatcher was being held.
Before David even had a chance to get a word out, Scott aired his frustrations.
“You have a lot of nerve,” Scott snapped.
David didn’t back down in the least. He stood his ground and fired back at Scott.
“Those are strong words coming from someone who spent his morning stirring up trouble,” David said.
“Who says I was stirring up trouble?”
“Mr. Hatcher, you aren’t fooling anyone.”
“I just went over to Nicole’s house to have a conversation.”
“One that got very heated.”
“I wouldn’t describe it that way.”
David smirked. “Nicole disagrees with you. Then again, from what I hear, there are a number of things that you don’t agree about.”
A look of curiosity came to Scott’s face. “What did she tell you exactly?”
“Everything I wanted to know. Which is precisely what I expect from you.”
“How can you be sure that she was telling you the truth?”
“She sounded awfully convincing.”
“Let me tell you something. You can’t believe everything that you hear.”
“From her? Or you?”
“That depends,” Scott replied. “What did she say about me?”
“You seem really concerned about whether she bad mouthed you,” David said. “Or is your biggest worry that she told the truth?”
“I don’t know why you can’t just be straight with me. I don’t want a bunch of lies floating around about me.”
“Do you believe that Nicole was dishonest with me?”
“How can I know for sure until you tell me what she said to you?”
“I have a better idea. Why don’t you share your accounting of the facts?”
“Fine. What do you want to know?”
“Why did you go over to Nicole’s house t
his morning?”
“There was something I needed to discuss with her.”
“You mean, the fact that you wanted her to take you back?”
Scott nodded.
“And what did she say?”
“That she still needed time to process what happened to Walter.”
David stared deep into Scott’s eyes. “Mr. Hatcher, you realize that it’s a crime to lie to a police detective, don’t you?”
“Who says I’m lying?” Scott asked.
“Scott, your story doesn’t match with Nicole’s.”
“In what way?” Scott asked.
“According to her, she was pretty clear about the fact that she has no interest in getting back together with you. In fact, she doesn’t ever want to speak with you again,” David said.
Scott’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute. Did she really say that?”
“Absolutely.”
“That’s all news to me.”
David folded his arms. “Are you serious?”
“Why don’t you bring her in here?”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
Scott squinted. “Why not? Just have a deputy walk her over here. I want to hear those words come out of her mouth.”
“I already told you, that isn’t going to happen.”
“How come? Are you afraid that she’ll say something different?”
“No. The reason I’m not going to bring Nicole in here is because I already set her free.”
Scott’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
“You heard me. She left the station a few minutes ago. As a matter of fact, she’s probably headed back to her house right now.”
“If you let her go, then you should set me free as well.”
David held up his hand. “Not so fast.”
“It’s not fair that you’re holding me here like this.”
“Sure it is. You’re a suspect in a murder investigation. I have every right to ask you questions.”
“Detective, my conversation with Nicole has nothing to do with your investigation.”
“That’s what you say.”
“It’s the truth. And honestly, my romantic life is none of your business.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. As long as you remain on my suspect list, your entire life is my business.”
Ice Cream with a Side of Danger Page 6