about that.” Daltrey kept it vague, but a slight smile told Harper there was more she wasn’t saying.
The other reporters were pouring from the room now, and Harper lowered her voice. “What do you think? I don’t think Cara’s capable of it. She doesn’t seem the type.”
Daltrey and Luke exchanged a look. Neither of them replied.
“What?” Harper looked back and forth between them. “What am I missing?”
“The clue’s in the bullets,” Daltrey explained. “A twenty-two’s a woman’s gun. Small and light. Easy to shoot.”
That’s the thing about detectives. They don’t care what you do for a living or how pretty you are. They care which gun fits in your hand.
“Doesn’t mean she did it,” Luke cautioned. “Just means it could have been her. Could have been anyone. A child can hold a twenty-two.”
“Yeah but, is Cara your main suspect?” Harper pressed. “And if not, who else are you looking at?”
“Now see, this is why I’m always saying you should become a cop,” Daltrey told her, amiably. “Because then we could tell you these things. But for now, no comment.”
With that, she turned to walk away. Luke followed her a few steps and said something Harper couldn’t hear. Daltrey kept going as he turned back.
When he reached Harper, he spoke quietly. “I was going to text you but I thought it would be better to tell you in person.”
His expression was serious.
“I made some calls this morning. Martin Dowell got out of prison three weeks ago.”
16
Luke’s words sent ice through Harper’s veins.
“Where is he?” she asked, trying not to panic. “Is he in Atlanta? On parole?”
“I don’t know,” Luke said. “All they would tell me was he’s out. Everyone’s tight-lipped about where he’s gone.” His face was dark. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t make sense?”
“I don’t like how secretive everyone’s being about this one,” he said. “Cops share this stuff with other cops. Always. But nobody will tell me a thing.”
Someone called his name from the end of the hall. He lifted his hand in acknowledgment.
Turning back to Harper, he said, “Look, I’ve got to get going. Hang tight. Let me see if I can find out more. And don’t worry too much. The state police will be keeping him close. They know what he’s capable of. He’ll be monitored.”
She mumbled her thanks.
After he’d gone, though, she stood lost in thought. Dowell was out. No one knew where he was. And he wanted to kill her.
Someone jostled her, and she turned to see Josh Leonard from Channel 5 pushing past, a microphone cable draped over his arm.
He shot her a quizzical look. “You just staying here, McClain? Must be nice to have leisurely newspaper deadlines.” When she didn’t reply, he frowned. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she told him, curtly, and turned away.
It was nearly six. She didn’t have time for any of this. She had work to do.
* * *
It took everything Harper had to put her conversation with Luke out of her mind and write the piece on the Xavier Rayne case.
Still, the distraction of knowing Dowell was out there somewhere, of trying to work through everything she didn’t know, slowed her down. Baxter grumbled about deadlines and getting her head in the game.
Finally, though, she pulled herself together, and wrote a story that hung Cara Brand out to dry.
Police Investigation Looks at Those Close to Dead Musician
By Harper McClain
Police investigating the murder of Savannah singer-songwriter Xavier Rayne are narrowing their search, focusing on those closest to him, and on his last days alive.
Everyone who lived with Rayne—singer Allegra Hanson, keyboardist Hunter Carlson, and actress Cara Brand—has been questioned.
The large mansion where Rayne lived on Tybee Island was searched by a team of forensics experts late into Friday night. Police declined to state on the record if any evidence was found.
Much attention was clearly focused on Brand, Rayne’s girlfriend. Witnesses claimed to hear the two fighting regularly. One described a loud argument on the night Rayne was killed—a fight so loud it woke up neighbors on the quiet lane.
When questioned, Brand admitted the two broke up hours before Rayne’s death.
“I was sad to lose him, but it was over,” she said. “I was going to leave the next morning but then he disappeared.”
Brand swore she never hurt Rayne.
“I would never harm him,” she said. “I loved him.”
Police confirmed they were aware of these reports, but declined to comment further on the ongoing investigation.
Also Saturday, the coroner issued her autopsy report, which found that Rayne was killed by two gunshots, and was