Paige rummaged through Ella’s mound of paperwork. She threw the pieces she didn’t need to one side. “Where is it? Have you got it? Don’t tell me I’ve lost it.”
Ella didn’t know what she was looking for, but the fact the name rang a bell doubled her exhilaration. “Got what?”
“That list of….” Paige found the sheet she needed and ran back over to her partner. “This! The list of employees who worked for Larry Bilston. You remember the landlord?”
Ella had forgotten all about that. It felt like years ago they were investigating him. “What about him? I don’t remember Zack Harris’s name on…”
“Because we split the list. He was on my section. Look here.” Paige hammered her finger over the last name on the list. Ella grabbed it.
“Zack Harris. Goddamn. He works for Larry. That explains why he was so familiar with Cassie and Teri’s apartments.”
“Hell, he probably had keys to their homes,” Paige said.
“Remember what you said about the killer just walking in and out of Cassie’s place? Looks like you hit the nail on the head.”
“No criminal record either, so we’d never have suspected him.”
Ella crumpled the piece of paper. “Dammit. We had this son of a bitch’s name from the word go.”
Paige took the paper from her. “He’s got two addresses listed. Why?”
“I don’t know.” Ella pulled out her phone and dialed the number for Larry Bilston. “Come on, answer you cowboy bastard.”
“Hello?” came the voice after five rings. “Who’s this?”
“Larry, it’s Agent Dark from yesterday.”
“Hi, Miss D-,”
Tell me about Zack Harris,” she interrupted. “He works for you. Or did once.”
“Harris? God. I remember the name, but I can’t really-,”
“Then think harder,” Ella said. “Zack Harris. Says here he did maintenance work. He might have been early twenties, black hair. Ring any bells?”
“Ah yeah, Harris. Did some basic stuff for me but I fired him months ago. Weird kid, if I remember rightly.”
“What was weird about him?”
“Moody, bleak, you know the type. Some of the guys used to make fun of him because his mom was a hooker.”
Ella moved the phone away from her ear and breathed heavily. Another link. Another tick in the box.
“Do you remember why he’s got two houses to his name?”
“One was his mom’s. Old piece of junk out in the middle of nowhere. I tried to buy it off him but no dice. I told him no one is going to-,”
“Which address does he live at?” Ella interrupted.
“You’re asking me. I’m not sure. He always stayed at his mom’s house when he worked for me.”
“Thanks Larry,” Ella said. Before she hung up, she needed to satisfy her curiosity. “Last question. Why did you fire him?” Ella heard Larry smoking down the phone. A deep drag then a loud exhale.
“Oh yeah, about that. I don’t take kindly to thieves. That’s my limit.”
“Thieves? He was stealing from you.”
“Well, just the one thing, but I couldn’t let it slide.”
“What did he take?” asked Ella.
“Scumbag stole my best chainsaw.”