“Yet he rented other vehicles on both those days,” Drew said as if thinking aloud.
“I guess he didn’t want his own car spotted on a traffic cam,” Toni said.
Andrew nodded. “We need to find this guy and bring him in for questioning.”
“I checked Nettles’s computer,” Valerie continued. “There were no hidden sites, and nothing has been added since we checked it last. However, one thing that is concerning is that his video security app was connected to ten video cameras in his home. We only confiscated nine the day of the search warrant.”
“Then, one is missing,” Toni said, thoughtfully. “I recall him bragging that he had a hidden camera in every room in the house.”
“I’ll send the search team back out to recheck,” Drew said.
“And to make things easier, I’ll make sure they take my security cam-finder with them. If there’s a hidden camera in an inconspicuous spot, it will locate it.”
“Good. Toni and I are on our way to that rental car agency.”
• • •
Toni and Andrew returned to police headquarters three hours later. Based on the damage, including the paint stains still on the rental vehicle, they felt they had enough evidence to talk to Ervin Headley. The paint would be analyzed to confirm it matched that of Nettles’s vehicle. Headley had purchased rental insurance, and the rental agency was about to send the car out for repairs tomorrow, but would hold back for now.
“The suspect is in Interrogation Room Five,” one of the arresting officers told them when they stepped off the elevator.
“Thanks.” They had gotten word from Valerie that she had sent them additional information to review, including the footage they’d discovered on the tenth formerly hidden camera.
“Let’s see what we have,” Andrew said, sliding into the chair at his desk to boot up his computer. Toni was peering over his shoulder and he thought she smelled good.
“Now isn’t that interesting,” Toni said when the information that Valerie forwarded appeared on their screen. “She was able to connect Maria Tindal and Ervin Headley to a meeting at the gun range two weeks before she died.”
They read Headley’s bio. Toni, who had finally gotten tired of standing, pulled up a chair. Andrew sucked in a deep breath when their legs brushed. “And look at this,” she said.
“What?” he asked, forcing his attention back on the screen.
She pointed to the screen. “Look where he attended college.”
Andrew nodded. “Think there’s a connection?”
“Might be just a hunch, but I think it’s worth checking out, Drew.”
Then, they examined the footage from the additional security camera the search team had found at Nettles’s place. According to Valerie, it had been located in the kitchen. Andrew recalled the house was not exactly an open-room concept. The kitchen was an L-shape off the living room.
They watched the video for the longest time and saw nothing. Suddenly, a male figure entered the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, glanced around at the contents inside before taking out a soda can. Then, he was gone. Although, only the area below the neck could be seen, the tattoo on the man’s upper arm—that of a rooster—was clearly visible.
The date and time on the camera footage revealed it was the same day Nettles was killed, less than thirty minutes after he was seen passing through that intersection after leaving the scene of the crime. Evidently, he’d figured it would take authorities a while to pull Nettles out of the wreckage and identify him. He could have used that time to plant Maria’s bracelet in one of the drawers in Nettles’s bedroom.
“If that’s our guy, I’d like to know his connection to Maria Tindal,” Andrew said. “How did he get her bracelet?”
“I guess it’s time we ask him.”
• • •
Two hours later, Andrew and Toni entered the interrogation room where Ervin Headley was being held. They had gotten a call verifying the paint on Nettles’s wrecked car matched that of the rental vehicle that Headley had been driving that day.
They had also been told that a second set of fingerprints had been found in the rental car, including fibers of clothing. That confirmed Toni’s suspicion that there had been a second person in the car with Headley. She’d placed a call to Valerie for her to gather all the information she could on a certain person of interest.
They had watched Headley through the one-way glass for about twenty minutes before going in. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and there it was—the tattoo of