"I wouldn't know--"
Gabriel cut her off by pulling another page from his folder. "At the time of his death, Alan wasn't carrying his cell phone. The police asked for it, and you said if it wasn't in his pocket, then he must have put it down. According to the police, a brief search did not reveal the whereabouts of the phone, and you were too distraught to assist. You located the phone the next day and asked whether they still wanted to see it."
"Yes, they said they would send someone by for it, but they never did. Presumably, they didn't see the point. If you're implying that I would have read those messages on his phone, I don't have the passcode."
"No?"
"No."
"So if I ask to see his phone, you will produce it, and I will confirm that it has not been accessed since his death? Good. I will suggest that you present it when the state's attorney is also present, so that we might both confirm--"
"Yes."
His brows shot up. "Is that yes, you will do this? Or yes, you are admitting that you saw these texts?"
Her cheek twitched. "I did not send Alan those texts, Mr. Walsh."
"As you have said. The current question, however, regards seeing them, not sending them. The police are at your house now, where they will either find your husband's phone or wonder why they cannot. They have yours already. Even if you have erased the messages--"
"His phone was still in his hand when he...when I..." She took a deep breath. "It was in his hand. He dropped it. I grabbed it to call 911, and I saw the last text, supposedly from me. I panicked. I had no idea what was going on, but in that moment, I knew I was in trouble. So I hid his phone, and I called 911 on mine. I checked my texts, and they were there somehow. I deleted them on my phone and on Alan's, and then I hid his until I had time to confirm they were gone."
Fourteen
Olivia
"It's the perfect recipe for murder," I said as Gabriel drove back to the office.
"Is it?"
"Hell, yeah. Stage a breakin where the only thing grabbed is your purse, conveniently containing your phone. Stage two more attempted breakins. Convince hubby that you don't need him to stay home--you just need a gun. Then, text him in a panic, luring him home. Shoot him. Delete the texts, and if they're discovered, well, they obviously came from your missing phone."
"Hmm."
I glanced over at him. "You disagree."
"I take issue with the descriptor 'perfect,' which I know you meant as hyperbole, but as murders go, it's far from perfect."
I considered and then thumped back in my seat. "Agreed. There are too many ways this could have gone wrong. All it would have taken was for Alan to call the police himself. Or send someone else to check on her. It's clumsy. The type of murder that seems clever only because it worked out as planned."
"Which describes ninety-five percent of murders committed by amateurs...and far too many committed by professionals. It's only when the plot fails that we see the flaws."
"And then we say 'well, that was a stupid idea.' Okay, so if Heather did this, she's no mastermind. She's just lucky."
"Yes." Gabriel turned a corner. "However, I don't believe our prime objective is to prove she did it, not as her defense team...or Ioan's prosecution team."
"Right. We know the Cwn Annwn think Keith Johnson is responsible. That gives us a head start on an alternate suspect. Which would be a lot more useful if I could find any possible motive for him killing Alan Nansen."
"Hmm."
I glanced at him. "That noise means you're avoiding stating the obvious. That motivation isn't the starting point. Not even the ending point. I need means and opportunity. Could Johnson have done it, rather than why he would."
"Not him specifically. Step back to the general."
"Could anyone else have done it? Pulling the trigger, no. Heather admits she did that. If anyone else is responsible, it's the person who set this in motion. The one who staged the breakins. The one who presumably sent the texts."
"Yes."
"I know texts--like phone calls--can be spoofed to look like they came from another number. I don't know whether that would explain the delay in showing up on Heather's phone... Wait. We need access to all her past messages. I can analyze her texting patterns. That won't prove conclusively that she didn't send them but--"