Clearly, Kerry had forgotten all about the favor she, May, had requested.
"Wait!" May yelled.
"What?"
"I need a favor from you! That’s why I called!"
"What's that?" Now Kerry sounded impatient. "You know I'm really busy. There's so much going on."
"Do you think you could look into a background check for me?"
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"You want me to do a background check on someone?" Kerry's voice was wary. "Why?"
"This is confidential." May dropped her voice. "We have a suspect. We've been searching for background on him and we just can't find anything. He arrived in Tamarack County eight years ago, and before that, it's as if he didn't exist."
"Seriously?"
"He doesn't seem to have any kind of past whatsoever."
Kerry sighed. "Have you searched properly?"
May felt a flash of irritation. But she subdued it quickly. Her sister was a perfectionist who thought she could do everything better than everyone else, and since she'd been that way all her life, there was no point in getting mad about it now.
"Yes. Both Owen and I have searched every available database. I searched his social security number and the database came up with nothing prior. I searched the national criminal database, and it came up with nothing prior. I even searched government records. No background. It's like he appeared out of nowhere."
"That is weird," Kerry acknowledged.
"I even went over to the jail database, and looked at the criminal records there. He doesn't exist there, either. And it's a murder investigation, Kerry. If this guy has any history, or there's anything irregular in his past, we really need to know."
"Well, it sure sounds like there is something very untoward here."
"I have a feeling it's something bad, and I'm afraid he might be a danger to the community."
"Okay," Kerry said, in a voice so quiet, May wasn't sure she'd even heard her. "I could do it. What's his name?"
"Coach Adamson. His first name is Graeme. Graeme Adamson. He's a PE teacher at the Sleepy Hollow school, and he currently resides at 4 Boardwalk Street in Floral Ridge."
"All right, I'll do that for you. I might have to make a few calls to get it done. But I promise I'll find out as much as I can."
"I really appreciate it," May said.
"Goodnight, sis! I'll talk to you soon!"
The line went dead.
As if she'd had a dose of caffeine or something, May felt energized by the conversation she'd had with Kerry.
Kerry was going to do her this important favor. And she’d managed to keep their relationship intact, and persuade Kerry to choose someone more suitable for the venues job in a way that hadn’t hurt her and still left the door open for May to be involved in other, more manageable, ways.
May was hugely relieved that they would soon have the background they needed on Coach Adamson, and know if he was a suspect they needed to pursue.
Instinctively, she sensed there was something highly irregular about this glaring gap in his history. She couldn't wait to hear what Kerry uncovered.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
May walked back into the police department, feeling encouraged.