demise. But then the high-beam lights picked up a mark on the northern slope down by the shore.”
“A ‘mark’?”
“That’s as close as I can come to describing it. It looks like a large, heavy object was dragged on the slope down by the shore. We haven’t been able to determine whether it was up or down or even the exact shape. I sent a photographer to climb the thirty feet down there but he came up with zilch.”
“Large, heavy object,” Kendra repeated thoughtfully. “A safe…?”
“No way I can tell. I’ll let you know if I do. But don’t get your hopes up.” He paused. “Depressed? Hey, we’re doing all we can. I’m even going to bring dogs up here tomorrow to see if they can find any drug stash.”
“Lynch exaggerates. Since I’m not dragging a safe up a cliff in the middle of the night, I guess I’m not doing too bad.”
“And I might not be, either. Just tell Lynch after I get that photographer back on firm ground I’m going home to bed and he’s not to call me.” He hung up.
“You heard him,” Kendra said to Lynch. “Let the man go home to sleep.”
“I didn’t even mention Dietrich’s call,” he said virtuously. “I’ll leave a message on his voicemail tomorrow.” He shrugged. “But why should he sleep when I don’t think you will. I can see the wheels turning in your head.”
“That doesn’t mean it’ll do any good,” she said in frustration. “There are too many things that have to be put together and we don’t know enough. For instance, he said Hayes and Cardona had served their purpose for him and were still doing it. What was that supposed to mean? All I can do is go over what we do know.”
“But that doesn’t mean the wheels will stop,” he said as he got to his feet. “So I’ll leave you to it and go about my business.”
“What business?”
“Locating Dietrich so that you can suitably punish him and keep me from doing it. That appears to be the name of the game. Metcalf is covering the cliff, so I thought I’d go talk to Jessie and see what she’s dug up at the hotel.”
“She’s probably tucked in bed in Olivia’s condo downstairs at this time of night.”
He shook his head. “She’s a night person and so are most of her contacts and clients. I’ll bet she’s still on the job.” He headed toward the door. “So I’ll wander down to that hotel with coffee and doughnuts in hand and we’ll see if I’m right.”
“Lynch.” She’d just had a sudden thought.
He glanced over his shoulder.
“While you’re plying her with doughnuts, ask her if she found out how long Dietrich has been hanging out in that hotel. It might be important.”
“Because?”
“It would be a secure place for him to stay while he was ‘researching’ whatever he was up to at Woodward Academy. He was familiar enough with the grounds to find a way to follow me up to the cliff path without me knowing it.” She was working her way through the thought process. “Though there are a few ways he could have done that. I came over the campus route, but I think the cliff path can also be reached from the chapel garden and the south gates. If he’d been here for a substantial length of time, that might mean he had time to learn everything about the place and the people who inhabited it. It would have been easy for him to stage the killing of Cardona and get away. He even felt comfortable staying on the property when any other killer would have run.” She added, “Providing he had a reason to stay that was still there and couldn’t be easily removed…”
“Go on.” Lynch was smiling. “I’m enjoying this.”
“I’m not,” she said soberly. “Because if he was that confident, then he must have cause. And we need to know what he knows to keep him from doing any more harm. There are still teachers and students at the school, and if he can move that freely, then they aren’t safe.” Her lips twisted bitterly. “Elaine and Mr. Kim weren’t.” She got to her feet and went to get her computer from the sideboard. “So ask that question first, Lynch. I have to know if I’m right.” She sat back down and flipped open the lid of the computer. “And in the meantime, I’ll get to work, too.”