this. And I intend to see him pay for it. One way or another.”
Although I suspected he didn’t mean it as a threat, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “Jeff, we’ve got this. You don’t need to do anything, understand? And you need to be careful what you say.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Mullins said. “But I’m watching. I’ve got my eyes on all of you. And I’m going to make sure this is done right.” With that he turned toward the door.
I scowled at him. “Jeff, sit back down. Let’s talk this through.”
Mullins didn’t respond. Instead, he slammed my office door behind him so hard that the walls shook with his anger.
After Mullins stormed out, I sat for a few moments and collected my thoughts. I considered what he’d said, that Myles had cared for Laurel too much to murder her. But there’d been so many cases in my decade as a cop where a life was ended in violence by someone the victim loved who had loved them in return. Mullins had similar experiences, I’m sure, yet for some reason he believed that the love between his daughter and Myles Thompkins was special. I thought again about Laurel’s letters. Those, too, made their dedication to one another seem exceptional. I picked up my phone and called Max. “How’s the evidence coming?” I asked.
“It’s all on its way to the state lab. We got everything processed on our end,” he said. “I personally talked to the lab supervisor, explained that we have multiple homicides and we need the results ASAP to find the murderer. He promised to rush it but warned that it may still take a day or two. The DNA evidence longer. They’re hoping to do ballistics on the gun this morning, though. We may have those answers soon.”
“Okay. That’s good,” I said. “Thank you.”
“Clara, I got a call from Doc Wiley,” Max said. “He said you two discussed the timeline. He went through it with me, too. That’s odd about Laurel dying so much earlier, isn’t it?”
“Very strange. I’m not sure what to make of it.” I told Max about my conversation with Mullins, his certainty that despite the bloody print, Myles Thompkins wouldn’t murder his daughter and the others, and how he repeated his assertions that it had to be Carl.
“Maybe Mullins subconsciously fears that if Myles is the killer, that means Laurel is dead because she married Jacob,” Max suggested. “And if that’s true, that this tragedy happened because Mullins and his wives forced the marriage. If Myles is the killer, maybe Mullins is worried that he shares some of the blame?”
I took a minute to consider that. “I hadn’t thought of that angle,” I said. “Could be.”
“Mullins does have a point about Carl though. There’s a lot there with the stalking, the photos, and the history with the splinter group in Mexico.”
“Yes, Mullins makes good points,” I said. We could have pondered the possibilities all day, but it wasn’t getting us anywhere. “Anything from your informant inside El Pueblo de Elijah?”
“No,” he said. “I’ve given up on my contact inside the cult. About half an hour ago, I put in a call to local authorities. I hope I’ll have some info for us later today.”
“Good,” I said. “Anything from Mueller about the letters?”
“They’re still looking, but so far no luck,” Max said.
“I’ll head over to the ranch and help,” I said. “I can be another set of eyes.”
“You think there’s an answer in those letters, don’t you?” Max said.
“I think they’ll tell us a lot about Myles Thompkins,” I said. “I’m assuming we’ve had no sign of him yet?”
“No sightings,” Max said. “The BOLO is out and every cop in the state should be looking for him. We’ve notified the forest rangers, too, in case they see a campfire in the mountains and follow up on it, happen upon Myles on a hunting trip. You think we should put out a general bulletin to the public, alert the media?”
“Sure, let’s get everyone looking for him,” I said.
“Okay, I’ll get my office on it right away. We’ll describe Myles as a person of interest.”
“Yes, that sounds good,” I said.
“Okay. Well, I’m going to head over to the hospital then and check on Jacob. I’ll give you a call when I have more info on his condition,” Max said.
“Good idea.” We were both quiet for a moment. “Max, have you thought about how…” I started, but my voice trailed off.