No more. She looked over at the handsome man beside her and vowed that she would deny herself no more.
CHAPTER 33
Jen wasn’t surprised to see the number of officers standing in the halls and loitering in the offices. It appeared almost every off-duty officer had come to the building after hearing the news. Their faces were grim, and more than one—male and female—appeared to have been crying. She recognized several who had been working the midnight relief shift the night before. It would be a good idea to talk to them. Maybe they had noticed something while patrolling. Police officers were notoriously nosy about what their fellow officers were doing; maybe that curiosity would pay off with a lead.
Jamie stopped her in the detective section. Her face was pale, and her eyes red.
“Oh, Jen.” Her voice broke. “I feel so responsible. If I had gone with you last night, none of this would have happened.”
“You don’t know that.” Jen hugged her friend. “It’s likely that Trish was marked by him long before last night. Otherwise, how would he know she lived alone?”
“Do you really think so?”
“Yes, I do,” Jen said, meaning it. “There was evidence that he was hiding in the bushes when she got home, and he attacked her in the foyer. He may have followed us last night, but if he did, I think it was because he was already following Trish. If she hadn’t been with me, he would probably have broken in on her during the night like he did the others.”
Behind them, Jamie’s phone began to ring. She wiped her eyes and smiled halfheartedly at Jen.
“Maybe we can talk later?”
Jen nodded and turned away. Will led her to the detectives’ conference room. He poured them each a cup of coffee and flopped into a chair.
“Any ideas?” he said.
“Maybe. Can you get the Bureau to do extensive background checks on some of the guys we’ve come across? I don’t mean just the usual paper trail. I mean the kind of face-to-face that they did at Arthur Kelty’s last known address.”
“You mean send agents out to talk to people who knew them?”
“Exactly. With pictures.”
“I think I can arrange that, although it won’t give us any quick answers. That kind of investigation takes time since so many different offices are involved. Do you have somebody in particular in mind?”
“There are a couple men involved in these cases that fit Kelty’s general description, and the only thing we know about their pasts is what they’ve told us or others. How do we know they’re who they say they are? Kelty could have created the identity or even taken over one belonging to someone else.”
“If it’s Kelty.”
“True. But maybe doing background checks will help us eliminate that possibility.”
“Who’d you have in mind?” Will pulled his pocket secretary and pen from his suit jacket.
“My number one favorite, of course—Steve Cochran. I can probably get a picture of him from his personnel folder. The wife of one of our officers works in Personnel and can be trusted to be discreet.” She thought for a moment. “Although Larry Adams is a county employee, she might be able to get a picture of him.”
“Adams?” Will frowned, knowing the name was familiar but unable to place it.
“One of the coroner’s assistants. Trish dated him briefly. She told me last night she stopped because he was ‘weird’ and gave her the creeps.”
“Interesting,” Will said. “I don’t suppose she was the type to get the willies over what he did for a living.”
“Not that girl. There’s something else, too. He was at The Factory last night.”
Will straightened in his chair.
“He asked Trish to dance, and she refused him. It didn’t look to me like he liked that much.”
Jen fidgeted for a moment, wondering how much to say, then decided to hold nothing back.
“I caught a look this morning at the scene,” she continued. “Adams looked like he thought she’d gotten what she deserved.”
Will jotted the name down and looked at her, waiting for more. She thought hard, but couldn’t come up with any more names.
“According to the report,” Will said, “the same mailman who found the last victim was also a witness to the hit-skip.”
“Carter Holiday? Yeah, he was, poor guy. He’s starting to show the strain.”
“I think we should add him to our list.”
“Holiday?” Jen frowned. “He hadn’t occurred to me. Do you think it’s too coincidental that he’s showed up twice?”
“Not necessarily, but it won’t hurt to check.”
Jen nodded her agreement. “You know, The Factory’s beginning to look like a better connection between the victims than the spa. Trish told me last night that she’d been thinking about trying BodyFit but hadn’t been there yet.”
“And we at least have the possibility that Edwards had been to The Factory,” Will said, “even though it hasn’t been confirmed.”
“Exactly.”
“Unless there’s another connection entirely.”
Lonnie stood in the doorway. He, Al, and Don entered the room, all of them looking tired and old. Jen poured them each a cup of coffee.
“Did you find anything?”
“The usual,” Lonnie said. “There was a wet towel, just like before. There were signs someone had been in the bushes at the corner of her house, and you saw the foyer. We think he must have jumped her at the door. The candlestick was heavy, and we think she might have tried to fight him with it.”
“Trish was a big girl,” Al said. “I’ve seen her in tight spots, and she was a good fighter. I don’t see any other way he could have gotten control of her so easily except by surprise.”
“How did Jack find her?” Jen had a pretty good idea, but she asked the question anyway.
Lonnie confirmed her suspicions. Jack and Trish had been lovers since shortly after her separation from Les, and he had a key to her house.
“He’s across the hall in the old man’s office right now,” Lonnie said. “I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes for
