“Yes. He tried to run. It was totally surprising how fast he tried to avoid us. I mean, as soon as he heard we were police, he made a serious effort to get away. I wouldn’t have thought that camera footage was so incriminating, but he clearly felt differently and knows more.”
“Yes, he felt differently, but not only because of the camera footage,” Kerry said, sounding smug.
“What do you mean?” May asked.
“Adams and I checked everything. Every last little detail. We are a very detail-oriented team, and we didn’t want to overlook anything and have it come back to bite us. And one of the things Adams did, if you recall, was to get the bank statements from Mr. McGee, to check that his story about paying Shawna off was correct.”
“And was it?” May asked.
She wondered where this was going. Had Kerry found something in those bank statements? She must have, to be looking so smug.
“Yes. Mr. McGee paid fifty thousand dollars into Shawna’s bank account about twelve weeks ago.”
“Fifty thousand dollars?” That was a sizeable payoff, May knew. She was surprised by the amount.
“But here’s the thing. Two days before that payment was made, fifty thousand dollars was paidintoMr. McGee’s account.”
Kerry raised her eyebrows, looking mysterious.
“So you mean, someone loaned him or gave him the money?”
“Correct,” Kerry said.
May put two and two together.
Glancing back at the interview room in shock, she spoke. “It wasn’t—it couldn’t have been—him?”
Kerry nodded. “Jessop loaned the McGees the money to pay Shawna off. It looks like he paid fifty thousand dollars from his bank account into Mr. McGee’s bank account, shortly after she dropped the charges. She wanted compensation and she got it. From him.”
“So Jessop has a very clear link to both women?” May said. “Emily climbed into his car on the day she disappeared, and three months earlier, he was responsible for Shawna’s enormous payoff? No wonder he ran, if he figured we’d found that out.”
“Yes. He paid money to silence one, and he rode away with the other in his car. I think his actions must be linked to his players and their reputations. But I’m sure he’ll tell us more.”
She tapped her fingers on the desk thoughtfully, glancing between her screens.
“There’s a lot of money in the sport. Maybe having the threat of that lawsuit might compromise the sponsorships,” May suggested.
“And maybe something similar played out with Emily. She was also Callum’s ex. My feeling is he’s trying to protect his team, and he realized both women were going to be a threat to its good name. So he set up the crime scene in a way that wouldn’t make it seem it was him at all.”
“Having interaction with both of the missing women is a very clear link,” May said. She felt hugely impressed that Kerry had found this out.
“I think we’ve found our killer,” Kerry said. “Let’s go ask him and see if he can explain it away. We need to look for any evidence of a raft being made, and we need to lean on him heavily to tell us where Shawna is.”
But as they stood up, May’s phone rang.
“I’d better take it,” she said. “It’s Sheriff Jack.”
As soon as she picked up, she heard how stressed her boss sounded.
“May, I have hard news. Shawna’s body has been found.”
“No!” May felt herself go sheet-white with shock. Kerry glanced at her in concern.
“It’s been displayed the same way, on a homemade raft, and it’s near the Chestnut Hill lumber yard.”
“I’ll get there right away.”
May disconnected, feeling numb.