cracker crumbs and washed them down with water. “Todd, go see Chloe Miller. I’m going to call in Owen Thorpe and Shannon Phelps for follow-up interviews. Owen owes us a signed statement, and we can ask him about Paul’s murder while he’s here. I also want to know what Shannon thinks about a possible affair between Holly and Paul.”
“Whoever killed Paul used the same method to break into Shannon’s house. But why did Holly’s killer leave that doll floating in the sink? Why frighten Shannon?”
Bree readjusted her sling. The pain in her arm was giving her an ache in the base of her skull. Her brain felt just as dull. “Is it possible that Shannon knows something? Even if she doesn’t realize it?”
“Like something that might help us identify the killer?” Todd asked on his way to the door.
“Maybe.” Bree honestly didn’t know. That was the piece of the puzzle that didn’t fit.
Todd reached for the doorknob. “What do you want me to do with the kid after he’s booked?”
“For now, just have him put in the holding cell here. I want him handy for questioning.” Bree also didn’t like the idea of an innocent nineteen-year-old in the county jail with real criminals. Noah was being stupid, but she understood his motive. He thought he was protecting his mom.
After Todd left, Matt asked, “What do you want me to do?”
“Go talk to your friends at Sharp Investigations. I’d come, but I promised Kayla I’d stay in the office today.” Bree wouldn’t break that promise, but she was regretting making it. “I need to write another press release. I don’t want to issue a statement to the media until you have that information from the PI. When Angela finds out we’ve arrested Noah, she’s going to stop cooperating. She could change her mind about sharing the PI’s reports with us.”
Bree fully expected Angela to go into a full panic at the thought of her son in prison. But would it be enough for her to confess?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Matt drove to Scarlet Falls and parked in front of Sharp Investigations, a converted house a few blocks off the main street. Two plaques outside the front door read SHARP INVESTIGATIONS and MORGAN DANE, ATTORNEY. The front door was unlocked. Matt went into the foyer and called out, “Hello?”
Lance Kruger appeared in a doorway holding a little girl upside down in his arms. Lance was a big guy with short blond hair. He shifted the child to his left arm and held out a hand toward Matt. “Good to see you, Matt.” He turned the child to face Matt. “This is my daughter, Sophie.”
Matt shook his hand and grinned down at the little girl. “It’s nice to meet you, Sophie.”
The child was giggling too hard to answer.
“Let me pass this little monster off to Morgan.” Lance headed down the hall. He ducked into another room and returned in a minute without the child. “Come into my office.”
In the corner of Lance’s office, a chair was covered in picture books. Lance closed the door and took his seat behind his desk.
Matt sat in a plastic chair facing him. “How is life with a family?”
A former officer with the Scarlet Falls PD, Lance had recently married defense attorney Morgan Dane. Randolph County law enforcement agencies often cooperated. When Matt had been a sheriff’s deputy, he’d worked with Lance occasionally.
“Things couldn’t be better.” Lance settled back into his chair. “If you had told me two years ago that I was going to marry a woman with three kids and turn into a happy husband and father, I’d have said you were nuts.” He spread his arms out. “But here I am.”
“I’m glad to hear things are good with you,” Matt said. “Did Angela Beckett contact you?”
“Her lawyer did.” Lance turned to his computer. “He asked me to give you the report on her husband’s infidelities.” A printer hummed on a credenza. Lance turned and snagged a few pages. He handed the report across the desk.
Matt leaned back and skimmed the pages. “Busy man.”
Lance sighed. “We followed him for three weeks. In that time period, he had encounters with seven women. Six of those, he picked up at bars.”
Matt lowered the page and pointed toward a paragraph. “Number seven was Holly Thorpe. We heard from another employee that Paul was having an affair with her.”
Lance frowned and shook his head. “I don’t think he was having sex with Holly.”
“No?”
“No.” Lance’s chair squeaked as he shifted forward and rested his