at Captain Jack’s. He looked miserable. Why is that?”
“I’d say it started when Luke jumped to conclusions, and Lianne didn’t set him straight. Two months is a long time for trust issues to fester. I gotta sit down and eat. I’m about done in looking at these pictures.” After organizing the photos, he shoved them back into the box.
“Disgusting and gruesome,” Gemma acknowledged as she flipped up the Styrofoam container and picked up her burger. “I asked Paloma about Ben. She didn’t seem to know he was digging into the Copeland case, either.”
“I haven’t talked to anyone yet who did, or anyone willing to admit it anyway. I find that odd.”
“It’s just so weird that he never brought it up to you. His unwillingness to talk to you about it says he didn’t trust you, Lando. There’s no other way to look at it.”
“I know. That hurts. But knowing Ben had that box of evidence in his office all those times I looked in on him makes me angry.”
“On the drive back to City Hall, I started thinking about who could’ve killed the family. If the sister didn’t do it or hire someone to do it for her, then maybe Mr. Copeland made someone very angry at the mercantile. Maybe there’s something in his background that prompted the killings.””
“If that’s the case, then why wouldn’t the killer just murder Todd at the general store when Todd was there by himself? Why kill the entire family?”
“Okay, so that theory rules out employees or former employees. Opportunity there would favor a colleague. But you’re right. If they wanted Todd dead, they’d probably just kill him at the store. They wouldn’t need to kill everyone in the house.”
“I’ll look into employee records as soon as we’re done preserving everything inside Ben’s house. Not a small task. You should see this office. He had everything laid out like a detective.”
“Take me inside there tomorrow. Let me get a feel for what Ben was thinking.”
“I can do that. At this point, I could use all the help I can get.”
Lando’s cell phone went off just as he crammed the last French fry into his mouth. “Bonner.”
Dale was on the other line. “Hey, Chief, I was headed home to get some shuteye before taking over from Jimmy at Ben’s house. I drove past the old drive-in theater, south of town. I spotted a black pickup sitting in the parking lot. It looks to me like there’s a guy inside who’s asleep.”
“Good work, Dale. I’m on my way. Don’t approach him. Wait until I get there. And stay out of sight. But don’t let him pull away.”
Dale laughed. “No chance of that. I’m sitting at the entrance, blocking the only way in and out with the cruiser. He’d have to ram his way through.”
“You stay put. I’m leaving now.”
The old Cactus Flower Drive-in Theater had sat abandoned since the last owner died in the mid-2000s, and his kids didn’t want any part of tossing money into a failed enterprise.
The screen was still up, and the speakers still stood, spattered throughout the parking lot. But it was the concession stand that had taken the decrepit hit. The snack bar, long boarded up, was a mess of crumbling concrete, a cracked foundation, and a ceiling about to give way. The horrible condition of the place was probably why Kirk Ritter had chosen to remain in his truck where he could catch a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Thanks to the pickup’s proximity to the entrance, Lando and Dale managed to sneak up on the parolee and take him into custody without incident. Because they made an arrest, Gemma could pick up Lianne and drive her to Farley’s garage to retrieve her car.
“You’re sure it was him?” Lianne wanted to know.
“He had a driver’s license that said so.” But Gemma held up her cell phone just in case, where Lando had texted her the guy’s mugshot. “If that’s him, then he’s in jail as we speak.”
Lianne’s shoulders relaxed. “That’s Kirk all right. Thank you. I want to thank Lando, too.”
“Technically, Dale was the one who spotted him. I just want to say one thing, and then I’ll shut up about it. I saw Luke earlier, and he looks as miserable as you do.”
“How am I supposed to feel about that? Secretly, I’m glad he’s miserable. But I’m too tired right now to think straight.”
“I know. I’ll follow you home and make sure you get settled.”