photographs, were birth and death dates. For Penelope and Kay, birth dates were entered, but the spaces for the dates of death were blank, ready to be filled in.
It was all good incriminating evidence.
Kerney looked at the evidence boxes and stacks of papers taken from Linda's residence. They filled the district headquarters conference room table and spilled over to the floor. He would leave it to Lee and his team to do the tedious analysis and cataloging needed to strengthen the case.
Outside the closed door he could hear banging sounds as folding tables were being set up in the reception area to handle the large volume of evidence collected at the other search sites. He went to find Lee, who was directing the placement of evidence being carted in from the units.
'This is gonna keep us real busy for a while,' Lee said.
'You can handle it.'
'Are you bailing out on us?'
'As soon as I finish meeting with the district attorney, I'm heading back to Santa Fe.'
'You did it, Chief.'
Kerney smiled grimly. 'We all did it, Lee.'
Lee studied Kerney's solemn expression. 'Are you okay, Chief?'
'I'm fine. Give the team my thanks for their good work.'
He moved out the door and through the parking lot, past an agent who was unloading more evidence. Night had brought a light, cooling rain and the tangy scent of creosote filled the air. He shivered. Not against the chill, but in an attempt to shake off all he'd learned about the Langsford family and would rather never have known.
Slightly disoriented from a dreamless, heavy sleep, Kerney rolled out of bed. It took a minute for him to realize he was back in Santa Fe at his own place and the morning was half gone. He cleaned up, got dressed, drove to work, and tried to make an inconspicuous entrance through a side door. Before he could reach the second-floor landing, half a dozen officers and civilian employees had stopped him to offer congratulations on the Langsford case. A few others in the hallway, probably those unwilling to forget about the Shockley incident, greeted him with tight, curt nods.
He smiled at Andy Baca, who waited for him in the reception area outside his office. Kerney had worn his uniform to work and he watched Andy take in the unusual sight with a look of mock disbelief. In his office, they both sat on the couch that faced Andy's oak desk.
'Lee Sedillo says you've made a strong case,' Andy said.
'The DA bought it after he heard the tape recording,' Kerney replied.
'He'll take Linda Langsford to trial. But he wasn't happy about prosecuting her without any hard physical evidence or not being able to use Linda's taped confession. He figures the defense will argue insanity.'
'Is she?'
Kerney shrugged. 'Insane or not, she's a cold-blooded killer. She murdered five people to conceal an act of revenge against her father, killed her mother and brother, and was planning to ice three more, if you include Eric, Kay Murray, and Penelope Gibben.'
'Will you be able to arrest her for the murder of her mother and brother?' Andy asked.
'That's hard to say. I've asked the Cold Crimes Unit to reopen the investigations.'
'What about Gibben and Murray?' Andy asked.
'I don't know how that will fall out. I'm hoping we can get enough information from the search warrants to at least track down some of Vernon Langsford's other victims. Then it depends on what they tell us.'
'If Gibben and Murray didn't procure for Langsford, at the very least they colluded with him.'
Kerney nodded in agreement. 'There could be conspiracy charges filed.'
'Will the DA follow up?'
'That's iffy right now. The perpetrator is dead, it's possible that the statute of limitations has expired, and only Margie Hobeck and Kay Murray have made statements. He's researching case law.'
'Have any other victims come forward?'
'Not yet. The news about the case is just breaking, and the department shrink says it may take a while before any of them feel safe enough to want to talk.'
'Langsford was a lifetime pedophile with multiple victims. That might win a jury's sympathy,' Andy said.
'Sympathy won't wipe the slate clean for the five innocent people she left dead in her wake,' Kerney replied. 'It's gonna be some trial, that's for sure.'
'The really bad guy wasn't brought to justice.'
'Getting shot to death by your daughter comes pretty close,' Andy said.
'I rather he'd been caught and held accountable.'
'We don't execute child molesters in New Mexico,' Andy said.
'I wasn't thinking of legal action,' Kerney said. 'I had something more personal in mind.'
Andy recognized the feeling. It had been a case to turn anyone's stomach, no matter how hardened. Kerney had been right in the middle of a dung heap of a family, and squashing Vernon Langsford would have made any cop feel better. 'This one got to you, didn't it?'
'Big time.'
'What's with the uniform?' Andy asked. 'You haven't worn it more than five times in the last year.'
'I decided to put it on while I still had the chance,' Kerney said, as he pulled at his shirt collar displaying the three stars. 'So, you really are leaving.'
'Without fanfare.'
'No party?'
'No party, no surprises.'
Andy went to his desk, returned with a business card, and gave it to Kerney. 'The Santa Fe city manager wants you to call him.'
'About what?'
'I don't know. He was here for a joint criminal justice planning meeting and left his card with my secretary. You will let Connie and me take you and Sara to dinner before you leave, won't you?'
'As long as you don't get sloppy drunk and maudlin,' Kerney said.
'Have I ever?'
'There's always a first time,' Kerney said, smiling at Andy, 'for both of us.'
The thirty days Kerney had promised Andy stretched into two months. On the Friday before his last week at work, Kerney took the day off and drove to Las Cruces, where he met Milton Lynch, the executor of Erma Fergurson's estate, who was ready to close on the sale of Kerney's inherited land to the Nature Conservancy and file final papers with the probate court.
Lynch took Kerney through the paperwork, his back to the picture window in his office that gave a stunning view of the Organ Mountains, and finished up with an accounting of the net proceeds that Kerney would receive after the taxes were paid.
Even with the enormous tax bite and the sale of the land to the Nature Conservancy at below market value, Kerney was about to become a multimillionaire.
'How do you want the funds disbursed?' Lynch asked.
Kerney had consulted a tax attorney and CPA in Santa Fe earlier in the week. He gave Lynch a disbursement schedule for the joint accounts that he'd opened in his and Sara's names.
Lynch studied the schedule. 'This is a good mix of conservative and growth investments,' he said. 'But you really need to buy some real estate fairly soon, and let your tax-free fund pay the monthly principal and interest.'
'I plan to do that,' Kerney said.
Lynch ran a stubby finger across the line that projected Kerney's annual after-tax income. He noted the amount and asked, 'Will this amount adequately provide for you and your wife?'
Kerney laughed. Even after reinvesting most of the expected dividends and interest, his net disposable
