The two men looked at him in surprise, then nodded. “I guess that completely changes the paint medium.”
“She also said that most of the models with aspirations for this body modeling work, or any like it, do laser hair removal. She said, for her, if she’s doing something where the hair fits her needs, then she would use them. However, that’s a fairly rare occurrence, so generally it’s not a model that she would use.”
He sent her text now. Had Matson worked on the same installation as Elena? And do you ever use male models? It seemed like there were always questions that he never thought to ask at the time.
When he didn’t get a response right away, he figured she had probably put down her phone and wasn’t willing to talk to him right now. He motioned at the team. “Let’s get going on this one as much as we can. I can stop by her work later today and get these answers if I don’t hear back from her soon.”
Andy walked over and said in a low voice, “Just don’t get too attached.”
He looked at him in surprise, before motioning at his phone. “To her, you mean?”
“Something is very compelling about her presence. I don’t want you to get sucked into that.”
“Why would I?” Richard asked in astonishment.
“Because she’s the kind you like.”
He stared at his friend and coworker in surprise. “She’s a suspect,” he said. “I’ve never crossed that line before.”
“What about when she’s cleared from being a suspect?”
“Then what difference does it make?” he said briskly.
“I don’t want you added to the body count. People around her are dying.”
“I’m hardly involved in her artwork.”
“But we don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “That could be just where it starts.”
“Maybe. I hope not,” he snapped, more interested in Cayce than he was willing to admit. And pissed that Andy had seen signs of his interest. Because, of course, he was interested. What the hell was not to like? She was talented, beautiful, lean, and the creativity that she expounded, the things that she managed to create? Well, they were just astonishing.
“Just remember,” Andy said, as he walked away.
Richard took his place up close to the dumpster, studying the area, studying the location. The trouble was, it was just another damn alleyway and just another damn dumpster. If he had a dollar for every dead body that somebody had thought was just garbage and had thrown away, he’d have been a rich man, and he could have retired. He stared at the scene and knew that very little forensic evidence would be found to go on.
Just then the coroner arrived, bustling forward and shooing them all out of the way. Dr. Bankster was a pro. Efficient, super diligent, and somebody they could trust. He took one look at Richard. “What the hell are you doing here now? I don’t want any more bodies like this.”
“Neither do we,” Richard snapped.
“Then get the hell out of my way, and go find the asshole who did this,” he said, as if Richard wasn’t already on it.
“We’re still checking out the crime scene,” Richard said in a soothing tone, but the doctor waved his hand at him.
“Nothing here to find. If there is, we’ll find it. Just go.” And with a final dismissive look from the coroner, Andy, Richard, and Thomas turned and left.
“We still have two more names on the will list to track down,” Andy said. “The lawyer gave us the last known addresses, but they are no longer current.”
“When was this will made?” Richard asked Andy.
“Ten years ago, and she updated it a couple years back. She didn’t make any other changes. She added power of attorney for Cayce in there.”
“Always back to Cayce?” Thomas asked.
“Absolutely,” Richard said. “Apparently they were best friends when they were young, and I believe she said something about Elena helped her out, but she had helped Elena out earlier on. Then they came back together again as adults, and now they were best friends again.”
“That’s an interesting way to go through life,” Andy said. He asked Richard, “Where are you heading now?”
“To the installation where she’ll be working,” Richard said, “but first I’ll stop off at her gallery, get a list of everybody she works with there, then find out from Anita who else from Mediacorp might have worked on that installation last night and any others they are currently involved with. We need to know if there are other suspects but also other potential victims.”
“Okay,” Andy said. “I’ll head back to the station and call Mediacorp to confirm what Anita tells you hopefully, about Thorne and any others assigned from Mediacorp, and make some more calls off the attendee list from Cayce’s assistant as to Elena’s installation. Then, if there’s a moment of free time, I’ll start tracking down those other two people in the will.”
“Ten years is a long time.”
“The lawyer said Elena didn’t care about changing the other beneficiaries. She apparently knew about some of their deaths but didn’t want to wait to make the signature changes that were required to take them off, something about, if they’re dead, they’re dead. We can’t do anything about it. Cayce can have it all. So, as far as Elena was concerned, if it went to these other people, that was fine. If not, it was all okay for Cayce to have the whole shebang.”
“Apparently, Cayce didn’t even know that she was in the will in the first place, so I would assume she doesn’t know about the power of attorney either,” Richard said.
“Do we believe her?” Andy asked.
Richard turned to see Thomas already heading out to his vehicle, going off on another case. “I’m not sure,” he said, “but, at this point, I’d have to give her the benefit of the doubt.”
“Like I said, watch your step.”
“Will do,” he said. “I’ll stop at her
