She felt sincerely sorry for the man. Like Jenna’s parents, Steve needed an answer to be able to move on with his life. The only thing the interview had really done was confirm to her that Steve hadn’t been involved in whatever crime this was. Jenna’s disappearance had haunted him and torn up his life in ways it wouldn’t have done had he been responsible for the crime. If he were guilty, he’d simply have been relieved to have gotten away with it and have distanced himself from the event.
What happened to you, Jenna?
Her brain seemed stuck in an aimlessly spinning solve-it gear. She had facts, theories, but nothing had jelled into substance. That had to shift. She’d start looking at specific names tomorrow, Evie decided, dig out someone to focus on and see what she could find. It had to be better than these endless middle-of-the-night cogitations.
Evie pushed back the covers. She’d brought Jenna’s laptop with her to the hotel but hadn’t yet gotten to it. She would see what Jenna had been working on before she disappeared, who she’d been talking with via email, what websites she’d been visiting.
Evie turned on the table lamp, set up the laptop, powered it on. “God, at this time of night, what’s on my mind isn’t elaborate—where did this crime happen? Who was involved? What thread will lead to something useful? All those useful five W’s and an H are just hanging out there. Help me make progress on this. Thanks.” It wasn’t an elaborate prayer, but it was better than sitting here working alone in the middle of the night. God was up. She might as well talk with Him.
She yawned as she brought up Jenna’s email account. The inbox had 816 messages. Evie laughed softly. “Why don’t you read these for me, God, and tell me which handful I should care about?”
She started scanning subject lines. An hour of this should either put her to sleep or give her something useful. Right now she’d take either outcome as progress.
Nine
David had texted that he’d pick up breakfast, so Evie didn’t stop on the way into the office Friday morning.
He was taking off his coat as she entered the office suite, so she must have been following him in traffic. “Not as cold out there today,” he commented.
She laughed. The digital sign at the bank she’d passed had said twelve degrees. “I’m glad my car’s battery is hearty or I’d have been stranded many times over by now. We need March and that first thaw.” She dumped her coat and gloves onto her office chair. “Thanks for breakfast.”
“My pleasure.”
She found plates and napkins as he unpacked the sack. “How did your conversations go last night?” she asked.
“Surprisingly successful. The fourth name on my list is Grant Quince. Saul proved the man stole money from a business partnership to support a drug habit, and he ended up doing four years. He’s a bad liar, and the month before Saul disappeared, Grant got two parking tickets on the same street where Saul’s office was located. There’s also three assault charges on his record.”
Evie nodded as she bit into her breakfast sandwich. “That sounds very promising.”
“He says he doesn’t remember where he was when Saul went missing, but I could practically smell the fear on him. It could be the drugs—he’s clearly using again by the look of him—but it could be what he knows.”
David shared his hash browns with her. Evie appreciated the salt and the crunch and tried to remember they weren’t good for her even as they tasted wonderful.
“Number six on my list—Bradley Vine—was caught in an affair, lost his marriage, his reputation, and with it most of his business clients. I found out through his ex-wife that he’d hired a PI to investigate Saul, hoping to get him arrested for trespassing, picking a lock, something that would get his license pulled, cause him some grief in return.”
“Not as promising, but more creatively interesting.”
“The guy he hired is more thug than investigator, has a history of using his fists to get information.”
“Now I’m liking that lead more.”
“I’m still looking to find the guy he hired—Vincent Lane—so I can have a conversation about what he might have done. I could see a confrontation going too far, and whoops, Saul’s dead.
“Thomas Ford at number twelve was suspected of selling backroom inventory from the electronics store where he worked. Saul was hired to figure out what was going on. When Thomas realized he was being tailed, he backed up and smashed into Saul’s car with his, tried to pull Saul and his camera out of the car during the altercation that followed, ended up doing three years for possession of stolen goods found in his apartment. He got out of jail, beat up the owner who had hired Saul to follow him, did another year in jail for that. Next time he gets out of jail, Saul’s car goes up in flames one night. No arrest on that car arson, but the timeline clicks.”