He gave a sharp nod. Luke didn’t technically need the sheriff’s permission, but having his cooperation made things a lot easier.
Sheriff Franklin adjusted his weight in the chair and it groaned in protest. “I’m retiring at the end of this year. Dan wants to take over my position, and in order to do so, he’ll need the Dickersons’ support to win the election. Reopening Franny’s case will get some pushback, and I want all of it on me.”
It didn’t surprise Luke that the sheriff was protecting his own. Robert’s integrity was a large part of the reason he’d never questioned the events around Wade’s conviction until now.
The door opened, and Brent stuck his head in. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
“Come in.” Sheriff Franklin waved him toward an empty chair. “Lieutenant Granger is the lead investigator on the recent fires.”
Luke relaxed as his friend took a seat. Brent had taken their statements earlier this morning after the escape from June’s house.
The sheriff turned to Luke. “Lieutenant Granger also assisted Chief Deputy Carter on the Franny Dickerson murder. I’m assigning him to work with you. Any questions you have can go his way.”
Luke nodded. Having his friend coordinate these cases was better than he could’ve hoped for.
“Did you have any other suspects in Franny’s murder beside Wade?” he asked.
“One. But it won’t help you much. Skeeter McIntyre died two years ago in a hunting accident.” Brent frowned. “A year before her death, he and Franny had been dating seriously. Skeeter didn’t take their breakup well. Friends reported he hadn’t given up hope on them getting back together, but Franny wasn’t interested. Their relationship caused the rift between her and her family.”
Megan sat up straighter. “What rift?”
“It wasn’t a big one,” Brent quickly clarified. “The family disapproved of Skeeter and felt his sole interest was in Franny’s money. They pressured her to cut off the relationship, and when she refused, Heath restricted her financially. Franny moved to the lake house and started working here in the evidence room. After a few months, the relationship with Skeeter soured and she broke it off. Things with her family improved.”
“Did you rule out Skeeter because of Wade’s confession?”
“No, he had a rock solid alibi. Skeeter was working at his uncle’s property in Fort Worth that weekend. Over a dozen ranch hands confirmed it.”
Luke would double-check the alibi, just to be sure, but it seemed unlikely Skeeter was involved in Franny’s death.
“Wade mentioned Franny kept journals,” Megan asked. “Did you recover any from the lake house?”
“No, and the Dickersons don’t have them either. I’d hoped the journals would give us some insight into anyone she was having trouble with.” Brent ran a hand over his bald head. “Do you think June found them?”
“There’s no way to know for sure, but there wasn’t a trace of them inside the vehicle with her.” Luke frowned. “Is it possible the killer took them after killing Franny?”
“I suppose it is, although there was no indication the lake house was searched. We also never recovered the murder weapon. Wade claimed he threw it in the lake. We dredged it and came up empty.”
Was it possible June had found the murder weapon? Luke made a mental note to review the items recovered from her vehicle one more time.
“Who called in the murder?” he asked.
“A ninety-year-old neighbor. She was walking her dog around the lake and saw the front door hanging open. The lower level of the house was a wreck from the party. None of the neighbors heard gunshots, probably because the music was still blaring. The coroner put the time of death in the early-morning hours. Franny had alcohol in her system, but not enough to be intoxicated.”
“Do you have any idea why Franny was seeing Pastor John?”
Brent shook his head. “I was surprised by that. Wade’s interview was the first I’ve heard of it. None of her friends mentioned it.”
Interesting. Why had Franny kept it a secret? And why had she told Wade? Right now, they had a lot more questions than answers. Luke needed to bring himself up to date on Franny’s case and fast. “I’ll need to look at everything you have on the murder.”
“Of course.” Sheriff Franklin tilted forward in his chair. “Most of the staff has the day off tomorrow, since it’s Sunday. Why don’t you come back Monday morning? I’ll have Cindy pull the boxes for you. You can look through everything, decide what’s important, and she’ll make copies.”
“You don’t have the case stored electronically?” Megan asked.
Sheriff Franklin frowned, the movement causing deep lines in his jowls. “Unfortunately, we had a computer virus two years ago that took out our entire system. We lost everything, and with the county struggling financially, it wasn’t feasible to hire computer experts. Thankfully, I required everything to be backed up on paper, so we have everything, but the older cases haven’t been re-digitized yet.”
“And thank goodness you did, Sheriff.” Brent shook his head. “I can’t even begin to imagine the crisis we would’ve had if there hadn’t been physical copies of the case files.”
“We’ll be back in on Monday morning then,” Luke said.
He rose, as did Megan.
Sheriff Franklin was slower to get up. He stretched out a hand for Megan to shake. “Whatever is going on, you will have my full support. I want the truth as much as you do.”
Megan clasped his meaty hand in both of hers. “Thank you, Sheriff.”
“I had a soft spot for Franny. Heath Dickerson isn’t an easy man, and he pushed his kids hard. Half of Chad’s troubles stem from the way he was raised and the expectations placed on him. Franny was a sweet girl with a kind heart, a lot like her momma. I was glad when she applied to work here.
