CHAPTER THIRTEEN
May felt nervous as Kerry closed the back office door after Owen had left. Was her sister going to chew her out for having left the Willow police department? Or was this about something else altogether?
For a crazy moment, May wondered whether this conversation was going to be about Kerry’s upcoming wedding. Everyone had been drawn into the extensive preparations for this, whether they liked it or not. Was Kerry going to take a moment to have some wedding chat in private? With her sister, anything was possible.
"Listen, I've been meaning to tell you," Kerry said, turning back to face her.
"What?" May asked.
"That key you gave me, the one you found in Lauren’s evidence box.”
“Yes?” May said hopefully. This was about her sister. She felt vastly encouraged that there might be information at last.
“There was a delay in getting the label into the waitlist for the software analysis. I've gotten it in now and the techs will be analyzing it in the next few days."
"Oh. Oh, wow," May said. “That’s great news, Kerry. Thank you.”
With the stress of their current predicament, the thoughts of that key, which were usually simmering in May's mind, had temporarily been banished. Now they came flooding back.
Imagine if the blurred wording on that label could be read! Where might it lead them?
"Even if the software doesn't pick up anything, the photos of the key have been sent to a locksmith expert who works for the FBI. He's also been very busy, but he has some spare time coming up to try and trace it," Kerry said briskly. "So that's another avenue for us to explore. Either or both might work," she stated confidently.
May felt amazed that in Kerry's world, there was clearly no such outcome as neither one working. That possibility didn't even exist.
She felt a flash of envy for Kerry's superb self-assurance. What it must be like to be her. How much easier life would be without the constant worry of not being good enough, May thought briefly.
"Thanks so much, sis," she said.
She wondered for a moment if she should tell Kerry that someone had been watching and filming outside their house when Lauren had walked out, that she was sure Lauren had been taken by a person who had been waiting and planning for that exact moment. And that this same someone was now warning May to back off.
May felt conflicted about that, because in a way she felt Kerry should know and might even have an insight into who it could be.
But in another way, it might be the wrong thing to tell anyone until she knew more herself. Who knew who was involved, and the truth of it was that Kerry was living out of state, far away from any threats or retribution, whereas May was right there in town.
In any case, there wasn't time, because Kerry was forging briskly ahead.
"I think we're done for today. As you probably heard from the way Cody responded to my questioning and finally gave up the truth, that suspect was innocent. We checked out his alibi for two of the three previous crimes. He’s actually quite a clever young man, who told me he wants to invent a better alternative to electrical power,” Kerry said approvingly. “He just needs to learn to stop blowing things up at school, and to keep better track of which wires connect together when he experiments.”
"Yes, I also figured he was innocent of those crimes," May said.
"We've wrapped up with the forensic examination of the most recent bomb site. Some of that evidence now has to be analyzed, so the bomb experts on our team will be working overnight to see if they can pick up anything helpful. I can't say if it will bring results. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things that has to be done, but seldom leads anywhere conclusive. We’ll meet with them tomorrow morning and see what the outcome is."
"Oh," May said. She felt it was a lame response but wasn't sure what else she should say.
Should she tell Kerry about what she and Owen had just been researching? May decided not to. Kerry had a morning meeting scheduled with the bomb experts. It was better for May to investigate on the side, she resolved.
"So there's nothing more to do tonight apart from my own video update with the team back in the office, two media briefings, and a few calls to the state governor and other individuals which I’ll get to later."
May stared at her, impressed that her day would be wrapping up with these high-level briefings.
"Tomorrow we'll start fresh and explore a few more directions," Kerry concluded. "We're managing to keep the lid on the media panic for now, but of course, that panic will only be over when we have the suspect in custody. So I'll need you to stand by and be ready to help in any way you can."
"I hope we can solve this tomorrow," May said, feeling a flare of worry. She was extremely uneasy that this killer was still at large, especially since he sometimes seemed to hold his victims for hours or days before exploding them. What if he had already captured somebody else?
"I don't doubt we will make progress tomorrow," Kerry stated. "With the amount of expertise we have available, there's no chance this killer will be able to escape our net." She smiled. "So, I'm going to head over to the folks for drinks, and then take my team out for a working dinner to wrap things up before my final calls and meetings. Do you want to join me at the folks for drinks?"
May didn't. Much as she loved her parents, she knew it was going to end up being a stressful occasion. She would far rather have headed down the road to Dan's Bar, and had a beer with Owen to wind down after the stress of the day. But she could see this was not a question, but more of a command.