Chapter Ten
“I didn’t call McNash,” Cullen repeated as Leigh put her phone back in her pocket.
She nodded. “I believe you. And that means someone wanted either McNash or me to believe you’d called him.”
Yeah, and Cullen had a good idea of who’d done that. “The killer or someone the killer hired.”
Which, of course, didn’t rule out Kali. Both Austin and she had had ample opportunity to contact McNash. Rocky had, too. But that led Cullen to another question.
“How would the killer have known about Alexa’s meetings with McNash?” Cullen threw out there, but the moment the question was out of his mouth, he came up with possible answers. “Alexa told the killer. Or else McNash was the one who killed her.” He paused, huffed. “Am I going to have to convince you to take me along on this visit to McNash’s place?”
“No.” She didn’t hesitate, either. “If money’s his motive, I’m counting on him telling you exactly what Alexa and he discussed. Then, if he presses you for payment, I’ll arrest him for extortion.” Leigh took a deep breath. “For now though, I need to find out why Kali hasn’t gotten here yet.”
However, Leigh didn’t get a chance to do that because her phone dinged with a text.
“It’s from Vance,” she relayed. “The ME’s finally taken Alexa’s body to the morgue. We should have a verified time of death soon.”
Cullen figured the TOD wasn’t going to vary much from the 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. range that Jamie’s timeline had already given them. Still, it was something Leigh needed to know. It was possible she’d be able to use the timeline and the photos from the guests to determine who was in the great room and who wasn’t when Alexa had been murdered.
“You have Kali’s number?” she asked, firing off a response to Vance’s text.
Cullen took out his phone, pulled up Kali’s contact, and Leigh called the woman. She put the call on speaker just as Kali answered.
“This is Sheriff Mercer. You’re on your way to the police station.” Leigh definitely didn’t make that a question.
“No.” And Cullen heard Kali sobbing again. “I’m on my way home. I need to try to settle my nerves. I’m not running away or anything,” Kali quickly added. “I just have to get myself together before you start asking me a bunch of questions.”
Leigh huffed. “You should have come here.”
“I know.” Kali continued to sob. “But I didn’t want to risk having Austin see me like this. I don’t want him to know that he’s crushed me. I’ll be there in a couple of hours, I swear, and I’ll tell you whatever I can. Promise.”
Leigh’s scowl deepened, and she checked the time. It was almost noon. “All right. I should be back from another interview in about three hours, and you can come in then.” She paused a heartbeat. “Kali, just so you know. This interview isn’t optional. If you don’t show, I’ll have to send a couple of my deputies over to escort you here.”
“That’s not necessary. I’ll be there.”
Leigh ended the call and glanced down at the torn knee of her jeans. And at the dried blood. It was a reminder that she hadn’t gotten any medical attention. Maybe she didn’t need it, but Cullen made a mental note to give her a push in that direction the next time they visited Jamie.
“I’ll need to stop by my house and change my clothes,” she muttered, reaching for her coat. She was still putting it on when Yancy came to the door.
“There’s a problem with Austin Borden’s lawyer,” Yancy said. “The roads still aren’t clear between here and his office in Ransom Ridge, and he can’t come until later this afternoon.”
“Great,” Leigh muttered, and Cullen understood her frustration. Not only did she want answers from Austin, she probably also didn’t want Kali and Austin squaring off when they were in the building together. “You confirmed that it’s true about the roads not being clear?”
“I did,” Yancy verified. “The work crews are just now salting the roads so there’s still plenty of ice.”
Leigh nodded. “All right. Cut Austin loose for a while. Tell him to be back here by four o’clock. Since you haven’t gotten much sleep, Vance or Dawn can interview Austin and Kali. They should be back here once they’re able to get away from the Triple R.”
“I’m okay,” Yancy assured. “I can do at least one of the interviews.”
She seemed to consider that a moment and then nodded again. “All right. Make sure you do it by the book. I’m going to visit Jimbo McNash.”
“I just saw that name on a preliminary report from Cecile,” Yancy explained. “She sent it to you and all the deputies.”
“Did Cecile see Jimbo’s name in any of Alexa’s emails?” Leigh quickly asked.
“Not that she said. I don’t think she’s had time to go through them yet. This was just a quick report to say that she’d be looking for that particular connection.” Yancy paused. “You think this guy had something to do with Alexa’s murder?”
“That’s what I intend to find out. I intend to question him after I’ve made a quick stop at my house for a change of clothes.”