beer, wishing it had enough punch to blot out his last conversation with Joan. Now that he’d had a couple of hours to cool off and replay the shocked look on her face, he knew he had overstepped in a major way.
“Dad?” Kyle asked.
He looked toward the doorway. Kyle was dressed in pajama pants and the T-shirt he had worn to school that day. His hair was wet and stood straight up on end. “Did you take a bath?”
“Yes. See, my hair is wet.”
He considered pointing out the day-old shirt but let it go. “Good job, pal. And homework is finished?”
“Yep.”
“Do I need to sign anything for school tomorrow?”
“Teacher said a bunch are coming this week.”
He had learned the hard way to have specific questions for the kid; otherwise his yes-no answers did not always tell the full story. “Great.”
Kyle crossed the room and hugged Gideon. He set down his beer and hugged the boy back. As much as he wanted to take back sleeping with Helen right after Joan had left, he would never do that because then Kyle would not have been in his life. “Love you, kid.”
“You too, Dad.” Kyle scratched his head.
When Kyle turned the light off in his room, Gideon glanced at his phone and noticed the missed call from the prison warden. He took another swig of beer and hit “Redial.” On the third ring, he heard a brusque “Detective Bailey.”
“Warden Martin,” he said. “Thanks for the return call. I know it’s getting late.”
“I’m still at the office. Got your voicemail and was intrigued. I pulled Elijah Weston’s file to refresh my memory.”
Gideon’s chair squeaked as he leaned back. “I’m guessing he was a model prisoner.”
“That he was. In fact, he’s one of the inmates we like to brag about. He started working in the kitchens, moved to the library, and finally was an assistant in my office. He’s already promised to come back and speak to the inmates about making life on the outside work. Please tell me he’s not already in trouble.”
Gideon rubbed his finger over his eyebrow. “No. From what I can see, he has been a model citizen.”
“Then why are you calling?”
“We had a fire in town over the weekend. It was the day he was released from prison. But Elijah does have a solid alibi.”
“I understand, given his history, why you have to look at him, but make sure you don’t get tunnel vision.”
“I understand.”
“So how can I be of assistance?”
“I had a woman die in the fire. Her name was Lana Long. Her boyfriend said she carried on a correspondence with one of your prisoners.”
Gideon could hear papers flipping in the background. “Yes, Lana Long did write to him. But he had several women who wrote to him.”
“Can you name them for me?”
“For starters, Scottie Winter, Sarah Rogers, and Jennifer Caldwell. There’re about a half dozen more. I can email you the full list.”
Joan Mason was also on that list. “Can you send me copies of the letters?” He knew the prison opened and searched inmate mail and, in some cases, kept copies on file.
“I’ll send you what I have first thing in the morning.”
“That would be great.”
“May I ask why the interest?”
“We’re fairly sure he did not set this recent fire, and we know he didn’t set a series of smaller fires across the state in the last decade. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t working with someone.”
“He wouldn’t be the first to get a woman on the outside to do his bidding. He’s charismatic as hell.”
“What else can you tell me about him?”
“Always insisted he was innocent, but that’s standard with a lot of these guys. Has one hell of a memory. The last couple of years, he worked in the main office and was always professional.”
“Did he have visitors?”
More papers rustled. “Lana Long saw him six times this year. Approved visitors are allowed once a month.”
“Was Elijah allowed conjugal visits?”
“He was not.”
“He was never alone with Lana Long? Perhaps a blind spot on the cameras?”
“We’re very careful.”
“Did he get any work release jobs because of his good behavior?” Gideon asked.
“No, all his jobs were on the prison property.”
“You said he worked for you in your office.”
“He did. He was a great help.” Warden Martin cleared his throat and lowered his tone. “Why are you pressing this?”
“I’d rather not say now. But as soon as I know more on this end, I’ll give you a full brief.”