Meanwhile, Masters is at his desk watching and re-watching security video. At the 6:51 pm mark, he observes Naomi driving past the Saunders residence in her white Ford Escape, then turning left onto Oak Avenue. That has to be her going to book club, thinks Masters. Then, at the 7:25 mark, Masters sees a vehicle headed east on Oak Avenue. It slows down and appears to be parking along the south curb, just past Sandy Lane. The car appears to be a light-colored BMW. The car eventually leaves the frame before stopping. Masters is unable to read the plate. A few minutes later, he views a male walking southbound on the sidewalk across the street from Saunders’ home. The male fits the size and physique of King and is wearing a dark-colored windbreaker-type jacket. Masters believes it could be King.
Masters continues studying the video until he sees Naomi turning south onto Sandy Lane at the 8:52 mark and continuing south toward her home. That is Naomi returning from book club. King is still at the house.
At the 9:34 mark, Masters observes the same male figure walking northbound toward Oak Avenue. The male cuts across the front lawn of the far corner property toward the location where Masters believes the BMW is parked. He believes the car is King’s and it is King he sees walking, but others may not see it the same way. Masters hopes getting the digital file enhanced will make the license plate and walking male more identifiable.
At 8:45 pm, Tippen snuggles into bed with a James Patterson novel, hoping to get some reading in before falling asleep. At 9:15, she is sound asleep with the book lying open across her stomach when she is awakened by her phone ringing on the bedside table. She sees the call is from Masters.
“What is it Bill?”
“He was there!” exclaims Masters.
“What are you talking about Bill?”
“King! He was at the house with Cooper the night of the murder. And get this, he was there when Naomi returned home.”
“How do you know?”
“He’s on the Saunders security video.”
Tippen is still processing what Masters has just told her when he blurts out, “he and Naomi may have been arguing with Cooper over the affair when she was shot.”
“This just keeps getting stranger all the time,” replies Tippen.
“Yes, it does. I just wanted to share the news. I have to go and get this ready for our tech people to work on tomorrow. See you then,” says Masters as he hangs up the phone.
Wednesday
In the morning, Tippen arrives at work at eight o’clock and finds Masters is already there working.
“Did you go home last night?”
“Yes, about ten-thirty. Just wanted to get an early start today. I didn’t sleep well anyway.”
“No, I didn’t either, not after your phone call anyway. I started going through different possible scenarios in my mind.”
“No kidding,” says Masters, “we need to somehow figure out what happened between Cooper and King, and then what happened when Naomi returned home. If Cooper shot Naomi over the affair, why not also shoot King?”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.”
By early afternoon, none of the forensic results they are waiting on have been completed. Finally, Tippen receives a phone call from Brent Butler, the fingerprint analyst.
“I’ve got some news I think might impact your case,” announces Butler.
“Well? What is it?”
“We were able to get three comparable prints off those unfired bullet casings using cyanoacrylate fuming, what you detectives call superglue fuming. We found no prints belonging to Ryan Cooper. All three prints are positively identified as belonging to Justin King.”
“Holy crap,” says Tippen.
“That’s not all. Remember the partial off the bottom of the drink glass?”
“Yeah.”
“As I said, we only have seven points for comparison, so I can’t make a positive ID, but all seven points match the side of King’s right-hand pinky finger, making it highly probable he is the contributor of that print as well.”
“Thank you so much Brent, this is great information.”
Tippen wastes no time in telling Masters the news.
Masters summarizes, “So now we have King at the scene, and have him as the one who loaded the bullets in the gun that killed Naomi. And we now believe he was having an affair with Naomi. This case is getting turned upside down.”
“This new information has me thinking,” says Tippen. “The fingerprints found on the gun were from Cooper’s right hand, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember him signing the property receipt when we gathered his clothing and cell phone?”
“No, didn’t an officer handle that?”
“Yes, but I saw him signing before he left. If I remember correctly, I believe he signed with his left hand.”
“Call the assistant at the electric company,” suggests Masters, “she will be able to tell you if Cooper is left-handed.”
Ten minutes later, Tippen returns to Masters’ desk and tells him Lisa Morgan confirmed what she remembers, Cooper is left-handed. She also tells him that according to Morgan, King is acting stranger every day. He is letting work slide, wants to remove Cooper as a partner, and is complaining about how the investigation is going.
“You know Jane, I’m starting to think we may have gotten suckered into some grand scheme of King’s.”
“It’s certainly looking like it,” she agrees.
“And the more I think about it,” continues Masters, “I would not be surprised if this second blood test shows Cooper was indeed drugged.”
Later that afternoon, the results continue to come in. Masters receives an enhanced copy of the security footage. Masters is now able to make out the plate on the BMW. It is Colorado plate KCS173. He is also able to see more clearly the person walking in the direction of Cooper’s
