That’s the last she heard from him. Name’s Samuel J. Dinsmore.”
Lando’s jaw tightened in thought. “That has to be the guy left in Unit Fifteen.” He turned to Tuttle. “Start your ID process with that name. If it’s him, it’ll save you some time. What was a private detective doing—”
“The name Sam Dinsmore was in Ben Zurcher’s contact list,” Jimmy provided. “Apparently, Ben contacted him back in October. They exchanged emails. Dinsmore decided to take the case. And he must’ve turned up something important that led them to a suspect because they both end up dead as a result. Daniel Albrecht must’ve been part of whatever they discovered.”
Dale squeezed in next to Gemma. “After the divers found the gun, a semi-automatic Walther PPK pistol, I dropped it off for testing at the crime lab. The tech reminded me that type of gun is known far and wide for very low recoil. It’s deadly accurate. It might be a James Bond classic, but it’s a perfect weapon for a woman. That’s when I realized we should’ve found a casing in the basement at the mercantile that morning.”
“Why didn’t we? The killer picked it up.”
Payce scooted in next to Dale. He held up a baggie. “Spent casings. Three. Found inside the storage locker with the dead body.”
“One for Ben, one for Albrecht, one for the dead guy in the storage unit. Why do I get the feeling that no one messes with Jocelyn Williams and lives to tell about it?”
“Because she leaves a string of bodies in her wake,” Gemma provided. “I started my morning searching for that unsolved murder of a homeless man in Oakland, the one I’m sure Eric Williams killed. Sure enough, two months before the Copeland murders went down, on August 13th, 2000, Robert Makepeace was found dead in an alleyway. He was bludgeoned to death with what authorities decided was a baseball bat. Oakland PD even has grainy video of the attack captured on CCTV from a convenience store across the street. But the quality is so poor they could never identify Makepeace’s attacker.”
Lando leaned back in his chair. “It’s a shame they didn’t try harder. If they could’ve caught Williams way back when, how many lives could’ve been spared?”
“By my count, at least nine,” Gemma tallied. “Sandra. Todd. Hallie. Julie. Eric Williams. Laura Leigh Baccarat. Sam Dinsmore. Ben Zurcher. Daniel Albrecht. And that’s not even counting her parents. No way to prove she tampered with their car before they headed back up the Coast Highway to Coyote Wells.”
From the back of the room, Zeb cleared his throat. “I left one of my men watching Jocelyn’s house. Jake Culross. Cody Chato will take over this afternoon.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Lando stated. “I’ve got Hartwell working on a warrant for her arrest. Finding Dinsmore at her storage business jumpstarted a complicated case that until now had no links to Jocelyn. Now we have a dead body, shell casings we hope to match the murder weapon and a lot of conjecture. We need to put it all together. And we will.” He looked at Jimmy. “You and Payce go out to Derrick’s house and pick him up as well. We’re going to take this step by step and let the trail of evidence speak for itself.”
When Zeb’s phone dinged with a text message, he held up the device. “Jake says Jocelyn Williams is on the move. She’s loading up luggage into her champagne gold Lexus.”
“Word must’ve gotten out that the crime scene techs are all over her storage unit. Let’s go. Zeb and Dale, you’re with me. Tell Culross to stop her no matter what he has to do. Don’t let her flee.”
Tired to the bone, Gemma brushed her hair back from her face and grabbed Lando’s arm. “Be careful out there. Don’t underestimate this one. I’m convinced that woman is a certified psychopath.”
Wearing his tribal police uniform, Jacob Culross had stationed his unmarked police car at the end of Shell Bay to block in the psychopath’s fancy Lexus from getting out of the neighborhood. But waiting on backup to arrive meant that if she pulled out of the driveway, it was up to him to stop her from going anywhere.
Jake knew he had no jurisdiction off the Reservation, but orders were orders. Intent on doing his job, he watched as the woman finished tossing stuff into the trunk of her car, then slammed the lid shut. She settled behind the wheel and cranked up the engine.
A bad feeling