Hans spoke up. “What we know for certain is that Glenn was in the bar during the same time you and Will were in the bar. When could he have gotten in?”
“I thought you were watching him,” Robin said. “After Jessica-”
Will nodded. “We were. I had a patrol on him. He slipped out, again. He lived in a beach house. We had someone on each entrance. What we didn’t have covered were his upstairs windows. He could have climbed onto the roof, then scrambled down. He has experience rock climbing; scaling a house would be nothing to him.”
“In the trial you said something about that,” Robin said. “That impressions had been found on the north side of the house or something.”
“Exactly, that was our theory. And it gave reasonable doubt that he was in the house all night. No one saw him there, no one spoke to him. And even though we had men on the house, the evidence that he’d scaled down from the roof, out of sight, proved he could have left undetected.”
Hans said, “Robin, how long were you alone in the bar?”
“It was a weeknight, we closed at midnight, locked the door.” She paused. “There were three regulars still there, but they just finished their drinks and chatted while RJ and I cleaned up.”
“Who let them out?”
“I don’t remember. It could have been either of us. Probably RJ.”
“Why wasn’t RJ there when Will arrived?”
“He was tired. He had heart problems and was on medication. He’d been talking about selling out. In fact, he later sold to me. After Brandi was killed RJ lost his drive. He was already old, but he suddenly got older. I told him to go home, I would stock up and finish. He didn’t want to, but-I promised him I’d be okay. He left about one. Will came in shortly after that.”
“Did you see Theodore Glenn at all that night?”
She shook her head. “RJ banned him. He wasn’t allowed on the property.”
“Could he have snuck in?”
“I don’t see how. We had a bouncer, and-” She paused. “The bouncer left after the last dance. That’s eleven on weeknights.”
“So there was an hour when he could have snuck in,” Will said.
“I don’t see-” She swallowed. “Yeah, he would have known our routine. But-I don’t see where he’d have been.”
“What about in the dressing room?” Will said. “If the shows were over, would there have been any reason for you or RJ to go back there?”
Slowly, Robin shook her head. “The last two girls left at eleven thirty that night. Together. Safety in numbers and all that.”
“Why did you let RJ leave you there alone?” Will asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe because I never seriously thought Theodore would hurt me. He was targeting women who slept with him. I never did. I didn’t feel he was a personal threat to
“When did you turn on the alarm?” Hans asked.
“When I left.”
“So he left before that,” Hans said.
“I–I guess. It was on motion detectors, so if someone were inside the alarm would have gone off.”
“Could he have had the code?”
“I doubt it,” Robin said. “RJ changed it monthly and every time an employee left.”
Will said, “We checked the logs per routine and it was untouched after Robin locked up at one fifty-two that morning.”
“See?” Robin said. “He saw Will and me, then went over to kill Anna.”
“But everyone thought Anna was out of town,” Will said. “You said so yourself-she told everyone at the club.”
“Then-he went there to kill me and she was there.” Robin swallowed.
“I don’t think so,” Hans said. “Whoever killed Anna had time to restrain her, cut her, and position her body.” He paused. “After reviewing the crime scene, the killer must have spent at least fifteen minutes there, and that’s rushing it. If Glenn killed her before midnight-before he could have slipped into the club-the time of death would be completely different. And while time of death is not wholly accurate, when we have the body that quickly we can narrow it down better. If he killed her after watching you and Will-the time of death would have proven that. As it was, death was fixed at between one and one thirty a.m. Will received the page at twelve fifty-five. He told me he arrived at the club at one-oh-five or so. You both left at one fifty. Since Glenn knows information about that time period, he couldn’t have killed Anna. He wouldn’t have had enough time. Not considering what was done to the body.”
Hans looked from Will to Robin. “The million dollar question is, who called Will from your apartment? Anna-or her killer?”
Will squeezed Robin’s hands. “I see where you’re coming from, Hans. I can’t believe I overlooked that back then.”
“You didn’t. You assumed Robin called you.”
“But I didn’t ask her. If I had, we could have figured this out seven years ago.”
“But the conclusion would have been the same,” Hans reminded him. “The evidence points to Glenn.”
“Could Anna have called me?” Will asked, almost to himself. “If she was scared or heard something, why wouldn’t she have called 911?”
“I was right across the street! Why didn’t she call me?”
“We don’t know, we’re only speculating…”
“Or Glenn called Will,” Robin said, grasping at straws. “You said the killer may have called him. To scare him. Didn’t you say that he wanted to scare me by making me think he was after Will, and scare Will to make him think he was after me?”
“If the time line proved that, I’d say it was a damn good guess,” Hans said. “I do believe that Glenn was after you that night. Then Will came into the bar. He wasn’t expecting him. Maybe he wasn’t prepared.”
“So who killed Anna? Who would want her dead? She was harmless. Sweet.”
Hans was about to say something, but Will interrupted. “We don’t know, but we will find out. In the meantime, we have a more important problem. Glenn is still out there and he is playing with you. And me.” He looked at Mario. “Sit on her tight. Don’t let her out of your sight.”
“What about you?” Robin asked, her voice wavering.
“I’m a cop. I’m surrounded by cops. I’ll be okay.”
She didn’t look convinced.
“Glenn killed Anna,” Robin said emphatically. She didn’t look at either of them.
Pickles jumped in her lap. Will stared at him, looked at Hans. “This is Anna’s cat,” Will told him, awestruck.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Robin said, scratching the cat’s ears.
“If Theodore killed Anna, he would have wanted to torment her first,” Hans said.
“Remember his sister’s testimony?” Will said softly. “About how he tormented her by killing her cat? And no one believed her?”
She nodded.
“It’s part of his M.O.,” Will said. “He plays with his victims. Cutting them. Pouring bleach over them. Killing their pets in front of them. But Anna’s cat lived.”
“Maybe Pickles hid from him,” Robin said, her voice almost a whimper.
“This is the friendliest cat on the planet,” Will said. “The cat proves it.”
“Proves what?” Robin demanded.
Hans answered. “Theodore Glenn didn’t kill your roommate.”
