Kelland furrowed his brow as his thumb flew across the screen. “Not at all. This phone has been wiped clean. There are no apps, contacts, call history, or email accounts. It looks like a total factory reset.” He looked up at Katy. “Did you know he’d done that?”
“No. He must have done it before he got back here this morning. He said he’d call me with his new number.”
Kelland pulled a plastic evidence bag from his jacket’s breast pocket. “Do I have your permission to take this?”
“I thought you said the phone had been erased.”
“It has. But there’s erased and there’s erased. It could still be helpful to us. May I take it?”
Katy wrestled with this before finally nodding. “Okay.”
Kelland bagged the phone. “Please do not dispose of or otherwise remove anything from the premises. Do you understand me?”
Katy seemed disturbed by this. “That’s what they say on all the cop TV shows. Is Adrian in trouble?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out. It may be nothing. A big part of our job is to clear potential suspects.”
“Look, Adrian adores Delilah. He told me once that she took less on her last contract so that they’d up the money to the musicians and crew. You can’t think he had anything to do with what happened to her.”
“The sooner we talk to him, the sooner we can clear all this up. Can we count on your help?”
She responded with a weak nod.
Kelland handed her his card. “Call when you hear from him. Try and get him to come back. I guarantee it would be for his own good.”
Katy looked shell-shocked, Kendra thought. Her face was red, and she was on the verge of tears. No lost kitten, but she was scared, and Kendra had helped to make her that way. She put a hand on Katy’s arm as she passed her. “Do as he says,” she said quietly. “You’ll be okay. One more thing. Have you left the house at all today?”
Katy shook her head no.
“We’ll be in touch.” Kendra followed Kelland and Jessie down the short driveway and stood on the sidewalk near their cars.
Kelland turned toward Kendra and spoke in a low voice. “How in the hell did you know that stuff about Adrian coming back here and leaving with the suitcase? That was too much detail for a bluff.”
“I don’t bluff,” Kendra said.
“Too bad,” Kelland said. “It can be a useful investigative tool.”
“Not my style.” She motioned down the street. “There’s a lot of ragweed in this neighborhood. That’s the cause of the fine dusting of pollen on this sidewalk and the driveway. Look for yourself. You can make out a tire tread that almost has to be an RV or large truck.”
Kelland and Jessie turned to look at the driveway.
Kendra walked over, crouched, and pointed to two thin parallel lines. “A two-wheel rollaway suitcase. A man’s footsteps, and what I believe to be a woman’s. A barefoot woman, probably Katy.”
“How did you know it was Adrian who came here, and not somebody else?” Jessie asked.
Kendra stood. “The interview video that Kelland was looking at on his phone. Adrian was wearing a gold chain and an earring. The same gold chain and earring that were in the blue bowl in the foyer. It’s possible that he had exact duplicates, but it’s more likely that he took them off after he came home and left them there.”
“Shit,” Kelland said. “I walked right past that bowl.”
Jessie shook her head. “We all did.” She turned to Kelland. “So do you think your techs can get anything off that phone?”
“Hard to say. Sometimes it’s easier to get data off a supposedly wiped phone than off one that’s still password-protected. We’ll see.”
“Again, thanks for including us,” Kendra said. “I feel as if we made a little progress.”
“Thank you.” Kelland smiled. “You’re living up to the San Diego office’s hype. Listen, I’m going to drop off this phone at the office and take care of a few other things, but if you ladies would like to join me later for dinner in Westwood…”
“I’m exhausted,” Kendra said. “Jessie probably is, too. I think we’re going to head back to Jessie’s place and crash.”
Kelland looked mildly disappointed. “No prob. But if you’re ever in the mood for an FBI-expensed meal, I’m your guy.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Kendra said. “Thanks, Kelland. Keep us in the loop, okay?”
“Will do.” Kelland climbed into his car and drove away.
Jessie smiled. “Hey, you’ve made a fan.”
“At least he thinks we’re