“Look at that imbecile,” he said with disgust. “Archie Talbott, the Mayor. I couldn’t stand him as a teenager, and I don’t like him now.”
They watched as Archie stood on the steps of City Hall, talking to the reporters. Robert turned the volume up, and they heard Archie telling the reporters that there would be no reopening of the case, so they might as well go home. Just watching Archie made Rachel’s skin crawl.
“Why did you assume Keith was the one who killed the little girl?” Avery spoke up. “Technically, you had no hard evidence.”
Robert turned to look at him. “Keith was a slimeball, pardon me for saying so,” he said to Rachel. “But he was trouble with a capital T. He’d been caught doing a few petty crimes, like breaking into houses and stealing things. He was also a peeping Tom. Irate fathers had called the police a few times because he’d been spotted staring into their teenage daughter’s windows at night. It was only a matter of time that he’d end up in prison.”
Rachel hadn’t known any of this. “Making stupid decisions as a teenager doesn’t make him a murderer, though.”
Robert’s expression grew serious. “No. Not always. But I knew him well. He hung out around the house with Jeremy a lot, as did that creepy Archie. The three of them were terrible together.” He thought a moment. “Besides, I had Jeremy’s testimony that Keith followed the little girl into the woods. Many witnesses had told us prior to the trial that Keith had followed them down that path and purposely scared them.”
“But he didn’t murder them,” Rachel stated.
“No, dear. He did not. But again, it was only a matter of time.” He looked at Rachel thoughtfully. “Do you not believe your brother was capable of murder back then?”
She sighed. “He was capable of being cruel. He and Jeremy taunted many kids in the park as well as teenage girls. And he was always mean to me. But murder? I can’t say I completely believe he could have murdered a little girl.”
“But it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility, was it?” the older man asked.
Rachel dropped her eyes away from his probing stare. “No. I suppose it wasn’t.”
Avery placed a hand on her arm to comfort her and took over the questioning.
“What about the murders of the three women around that same time? Everyone seems to think that Keith was responsible for those, too,” Avery said.
Robert stared at the television screen a moment, watching Archie continue to talk to the reporters. He finally turned to Avery. “I never believed Keith was responsible for those. I know they stopped after he was arrested, but it wasn’t him. There was never any real evidence against anyone for those crimes. At least not that we could use to prosecute someone. Those are the cases that haunt me the most. I wish we’d been able to get that creep.”
“There was a bloody fingerprint at the Turley murder,” Avery said through gritted teeth.
Robert nodded. “Ah, yes. Your mother. I’m sorry, son. But that fingerprint didn’t match up with anyone we suspected. Unfortunately.”
Rachel piped up. “Did you have a suspect?”
“Not one that I can share.”
She glanced over at Avery, who looked angry. It looked like they wouldn’t get anything else out of Robert Mitchell.
“Did you know that Jeremy went to college in Sacramento for pre-law?” Robert asked out of nowhere.
“Uh, no. I didn’t know that.” Rachel was confused by this sudden change of subject.
“Well, he did. But he decided not to continue and changed his major to criminal justice. I never thought he had it in him to become a lawyer anyway.”
Rachel and Avery remained silent, not sure how to reply.
“But you know who else went to Sacramento State University? Archie Talbott. They even shared a dorm room there.”
Rachel saw Avery’s face crease like he was trying to figure out what Robert was getting at.
“Four years. A lot can happen in a town in four years, you know?” Robert stared straight at Avery.
“Uh, yes, it can,” Avery said.
They thanked him for speaking to them and headed out to the SUV. Once inside and on the road, Rachel turned to Avery.
“What was that all about?” she asked.
Avery shook his head. “I don’t know. It was like he was trying to tell us something. But what?”
Rachel dropped back against the seat. “Just another strange thing in this case.”
“Maybe,” Avery said.
It was late afternoon when they returned to Casita, so they picked up fast-food chicken dinners and headed to Rachel’s hotel. Once they drove into the parking lot, though, Avery just kept driving. The whole place was swarming with media trucks.
“Let’s go to my place,” he said. “Hopefully, they don’t know or care where I live.”
She nodded, but Rachel was frustrated. “This whole thing has become ridiculous. We can’t find any answers, we’re being bombarded with the press, and now I can’t even go to my own hotel room.”
Avery slipped his hand over hers. “We can try to sneak you in later tonight.”
As Avery pulled up closer to his 1980s split-level house, he let out a frustrated sigh. “Wow. We can’t catch a break. Look who the welcoming committee is.”
Jeremy was in Avery’s driveway, leaning against his squad car.
Avery opened his garage door and pulled inside. Jeremy followed them in. As the two got out of the car, Jeremy said, “We have to talk.”
Rachel sighed as she wondered what was happening now.
Chapter Thirteen
Avery waved for Jeremy to follow them into the house. They walked into a small entryway off the garage that led to a downstairs family room. Avery turned and headed up the two flights of stairs into the upstairs living room that was open to the kitchen. He set the bag of food on the black quartz countertop and turned to Jeremy. “Now what?”
Jeremy looked at the bag of food. “Do you have enough for three in there?” he asked. “I’m starved.”
Avery rolled his eyes, which made
