“I’ll take that resounding silence as a yes,” Heidi said. “All right, let’s look at what we have and see if we’ve got enough to make an arrest. The quicker we get this killer off the streets the better.”
That was the only reason he was sitting in this room. He really didn’t want Luke Sleigh to be the killer. If it was true, it was going to tear his family apart. Both Aggie and Nick were furious with him and refusing to speak to him. That made Clara angry too. She didn’t believe that her sister’s husband’s brother was a killer.
Family was important to him, and it was important to his wife. He wanted his son to grow up knowing his aunts and uncles and cousins. He didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.
But if there was even a chance that Luke was the man they had been looking for then he couldn’t do nothing. Even if it caused a rift in his family that could never be repaired.
“The three sets of murders were all committed by the same person,” he began. “Although the victims were of different ages, from different backgrounds, and killed in different ways, the nursery rhyme notes link them together.”
“So far we have not been able to find anything that links Luke to Adam and Macy Dove,” Allina said. “But he did arrive in town right around the time the Doves were killed.”
“He showed Zoe Kitter a house just a week before she was abducted. Luke has short, dark hair, and Kane found a short, dark hair between Zoe’s toes,” Jonathon said.
“Kane also found snakeskin on the blanket used to transport Zoe. Luke used to own snakes as pets so he’s aware of how to care for one and it’s possible he may currently own one,” Allina added.
“His DNA was found on Timmy Hunter’s baby blanket that was found at the scene of their abduction. Eyewitnesses have him standing talking to her in the street the night before the kidnapping. And he admits to having bumped into her in the street,” Jonathon said.
“Did he agree to provide a sample of his fingerprints to compare to the ones from the pacifier?” Heidi asked.
“No, he didn’t. He said there was no point because he admits to picking up the pacifier and putting it back in Timmy’s mouth,” he replied. “Kane said the jar the spider was left in had been wiped clean. The killer hasn’t left any other forensic evidence behind, so why would he leave the blanket and the pacifier knowing that we could potentially identify him through them?”
“Maybe since he left them at the abduction scene and not at a murder scene, he didn’t think of it,” Allina suggested.
“Maybe,” he acknowledged. Or maybe Luke really had just run into Megan and Timmy on the street, then left to go about his business, and he had nothing to do with the abductions or murders.
“Luke is not Timmy’s father,” Allina informed their boss. “Tracey ran the sample from the blanket with a sample from Timmy, and there was no match.”
“So, Luke doesn’t connect to the first murders, but he connects to the victims of the second two. Some forensics potentially link him to the crimes but nothing definitive. He had owned snakes in the past, but there is no proof he currently owns one. And we couldn’t get DNA from the hair found on Zoe Kitter, so the fact that Luke has dark hair and a dark hair was found really means nothing, millions of men also have short dark hair. We don’t have anything that would convince a jury even if we could get an arrest warrant.” Heidi looked frustrated.
“We might have enough for a search warrant,” he suggested. “If we can search his home, we might find something incriminating.”
“Any criminal history?” Heidi asked.
“Not exactly,” he replied.
Heidi raised an eyebrow and made a continue motion with her hand.
“The snakeskin was from a Black-headed python, which is found in Australia, and the spider was a Sydney funnel-web spider, also from Australia. We wondered whether the connection was deliberate or just a coincidence, so we looked to see if Luke had any connection to Australia,” Allina explained.
“And he does?” Heidi asked.
“Yes, he does,” Jonathon replied. “Luke studied history at college, and while he was there, he met a young Australian woman. They dated, became engaged, and when she moved back to Australia, he went with her. He was there for a little over six months then moved back here after the accident.”
“What accident?”
Used to his boss’ interruptions, he continued without pausing, “There was a car accident. His fiancée was killed instantly, Luke was left with barely a scratch. The crash occurred on a quiet country road. It was suspected that alcohol was involved. The cops believed that Luke had been driving because his blood alcohol level was through the roof, but it was the woman who was found in the driver’s seat.”
“Cops thought Luke switched places with her?”
“Yes. But they investigated and Luke was cleared. Placement of the seat and the couple’s injuries proved that the woman had been driving the car. He was never even arrested, just a suspect. Other than that, he’s never been in any trouble. A couple of speeding tickets is the extent of things.”
“What about the shooting at Summer Height’s house yesterday?” Heidi asked. “How does that fit into this if at all?”
Jonathon exchanged a glance with his partner. They'd spoken with Matthew and Rylla, who had been assigned the case. He hadn’t seen Summer yet. Aggie had told Clara to tell him to stay away from her. He got that he wasn't their favorite person right now because they were firmly in the Luke is innocent camp, and he wasn't, but he considered Summer a friend, maybe not a close one, but a friend nonetheless, and he was concerned not just about her safety but about how she was handling the shooting.
“Well?” Heidi prompted when neither of them answered.
“There is nothing to suggest that it was anything other than what Luke, Summer, and Hope said it was,” he answered. He was not going to further strain his family relationships by implying otherwise without definitive proof.