Forty-Three
Over breakfast, Jenna perused her files. The tie in with the cheerleaders’ murders was obvious but why would teenagers, the most probable killers, turn on a woman in her forties? Where was the motive and how did they lure her into the alleyway? She glanced up when the chair scraped beside her. Without saying a word, Kane placed a pot of coffee and a cup on the table and then sat down. She closed her files and looked at him. “It’s busy in here. If you’re hungry, I suggest grabbing a slice of pie.”
“The cereal I had this morning and the weak coffee didn’t come close to eating toast and eggs with you.” Kane checked his watch. “Maggie will have just opened the office. The deputies are hard at work. Dr. Turner will be in transit on his way to work, so we’ll go see him at the school. Stan Williams is driving the school bus so we have time to spare. I ordered, pancakes, bacon, and maple syrup.” He subconsciously rubbed his stomach. “Susie said she’d have them ready in no time.” He poured coffee and added cream and sugar. “Have you put the witch back in her cage?”
Laughing, Jenna met his raised eyebrow and serious stare. “After two cups of coffee, yeah I think she’s under control.”
“Good.” Kane sighed. “I need to discuss the latest case with you.”
Jenna held up a hand. “Before you give me the rundown, I’ve been going over my notes and with everything happening so fast, we still haven’t hunted down Wyatt Cooper and spoken to him about finding his DNA on the briefs found in Laurie’s mouth.” She ran her finger through a sprinkle of sugar on the table and frowned. “He was missing after the parade too. Is this a coincidence or is he involved in both murders?”
“Hmm, I figure we need to call his father and ask him to bring him down to the office for questioning.” Kane removed his hat and placed it on the seat beside him. “As he’s underage, anything he says to us without his parents’ permission might be a stumbling block in the prosecution.”
“Okay, I’ll call Mr. Cooper when I get back to the office.” Jenna leaned back in her chair. “Now what have you got for me?”
After Kane brought her up to date, Jenna stared into space and tried to process all the information. “Wolfe will do a complete forensics sweep of the apartment but if it’s the kids again, they know too much about trace evidence to leave anything behind. I’ve been considering if Mrs. Turner’s murder is a copycat. It doesn’t feel like the same killer or killers.” She waited for Suzie to deliver Kane’s meal and more coffee. Once she had moved out of earshot, she opened her phone to scan her files again. “On the other hand, we know the killers are smart and have been trying to throw suspicion on other people by using the briefs. What if they couldn’t steal another pair of briefs?”
“They’d find something else to use to shift the blame.” Kane ate slowly.
Jenna leaned forward. “What if the kids got access to Laurie’s pickup? We know someone disabled her truck, so they have knowledge of the vehicle. By parking it and committing another murder they’re pointing the finger at Dr. Turner.” She shrugged. “Just how easy is it to hotwire one of them?”
“Very easy and I could probably start one with a screwdriver but we’d have to examine the vehicle to see if it’s been tampered with.” Kane frowned. “I doubt we’d get a search warrant on a sighting of a vehicle parked in the vicinity late at night. It’s not enough probable cause.”
“We might get permission from Dr. Turner to look at the vehicle.” Jenna sipped her coffee. “I’ll go and speak to the people Mrs. Turner worked with in the beauty parlor. They might know if she had any enemies or threats but I doubt it. Seems to me, the only problem she had was her husband. What if he’s involved?” She rubbed her temples, thinking, and looked at Kane. “Although, his hostility toward his wife, and the vehicle on scene makes his involvement too obvious, almost staged.” She sighed. “And how could he possibly know details of the cheerleader murders? We’ve played our cards close to the vest. The causes of death haven’t been divulged to anyone and we didn’t tell him the details of what happened to his daughter. It seems very strange that Mrs. Turner was strangled, naked and had a pompom with her. It does point the finger to the same people who murdered the cheerleaders.”
“Unless Dr. Turner believes we’re pushovers.” Kane nibbled on a strip of crispy bacon. “Remember he’s a shrink. If he did kill his wife, making his involvement appear obvious might be a ploy. I wouldn’t rule him out just yet.” He shrugged. “My bet would be that the red Ford pickup will be reported stolen sometime soon.”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, if he is the killer that’s the usual move but a stolen vehicle report would have had to be filed last night for me to believe it.” She snorted. “I mean the pickup is a bit hard to miss, he’d notice for sure if it went missing from his driveway.” She met his gaze. “I’d love you to interview him with Jo. Between the two of you, we might find out if he’s involved. But first we’ll inform him about his wife’s murder and arrange the ID.”
“We’ll have to try and persuade him to give us his fingerprints.” Kane finished his meal and reached for his coffee. “I’ll find a way.” He placed his cup back in the saucer and sighed. “I’m done here.” He pulled out his wallet and dropped bills on the table. “My treat.”
Jenna collected her things and stood. “Thanks.” She led the way out the door, giving Susie Hartwig a wave of thanks.
After dropping her cruiser and Duke at the office, she climbed into the Beast and they headed to the high school. After speaking to the woman on the front counter, and waiting for her to call Dr. Turner, they headed down a long passageway to his office. The door was open and Dr. Turner didn’t stand to greet them, just stared at them from across his desk. Jenna couldn’t imagine this man was capable of counseling students, his attitude was hostile and unapproachable. She removed her hat and waited a beat to compose her words. It was better to come straight to the point without offering any reason. “I’m sorry to inform you that your wife is dead.”
“Jeanette is dead?” Turner leaned back in his chair and towered his fingers as if she’d just told him it was raining outside. “Overdose?”
Jenna shook her head. “We don’t have the cause of death. Would you be willing to come by and identify her around noon today at the medical examiner’s office?”
“If I have to but you do have Laurie’s DNA to use as a comparison. You don’t really need me, do you?” Turner looked as if he’d just scored a point. “I mean you didn’t need me to identify Laurie, did you?”
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Kane took out a notebook, opened it to a new page, and handed it to Turner. “Would you mind listing Jeanette’s next-of-kin? Do you know if she had life insurance? If so, can you give me the company name as well?”
“I’m her next-of-kin and I’ll have to check my documents for the name and address of the company. I kept up the payments for Laurie’s sake.” Turner splayed his fingers on the notebook to keep the pages open and his eyes flickered with annoyance. “I’ll have the information by noon.” He closed the notebook and handed it back to Kane. “Now please leave, I have students to speak to and I don’t want them to see you. They’ll think I’m breaking our confidentiality.”
Jenna nodded. “Sure. Do you want us to call anyone to go with you to the viewing, a clergyman perhaps?”
“No!” Turner waved them away. “Now will you please leave?”
Stunned by his reaction, Jenna turned to leave but Kane blocked the door.
“Before we go…” Kane narrowed his gaze at the doctor. “Is Laurie’s red Ford pickup at home?”
“No, my red Ford pickup is parked right outside in the staff parking lot.” Turner raised both eyebrows. “Why?”
Jenna pulled out her statement book and started to write as fast as possible. She glanced up at Turner. “Do you mind if we take a look at it? There’s a loose end we’d like to tie up.”
“The ME said he’d cleared the vehicle and released it? What now?” Turner pulled a key from his pocket and tossed it across the table. “You’re not taking it again, are you?”