Chapter Twenty-Eight
The next night Ava, Logan, Drake, and Tanner all sat around the coffee table nibbling at the remains of the pizza. Logan and Drake sat on the floor while Tanner and Ava sat on the couch and the chair. The twins were tucked up in bed after having been read a whopping six stories. Three by Ava, one by Logan, another by Drake, and the last by Tanner. They were now sleeping peacefully with a tummy full of sausage and cheese.
Tanner bit into a piece of crust. “We’re back at square one. Mary, Aaron, and his wife Lindsay alibi for each other, plus the neighbors remember the loud argument. We were also able to place Mary’s vehicle on the road to their house that morning with a traffic camera so that corroborates their story. Drake found a witness to your father-in-law’s fishing so he’s out. Cory Eldridge no longer has a motive either because he would have wanted to keep his good money laundering scheme going. So now we’ve got bupkiss.”
Ava snorted. “We’d be lucky to get bupkiss. No one has a motive or if they do they have an alibi.”
Drake steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them. “What do we do now? Are we saying that it was some random event? A serial killer or maybe a hunter that wasn’t paying attention?”
“I hope that no one was hunting in the local park,” Logan replied, his own expression sober. The whole case was at a standstill. While Ava was thrilled her sister and father were innocent she’d hoped for the evidence to send her off onto a productive path. That hadn’t happened. They were stuck in quicksand. “As for a serial killer, that’s a theory but what are the chances of two serial killers in a town this small? I’m no math genius but the odds have to be astronomical.”
Ava agreed but this entire case had been strange. “I think you’re right about the math but we have to consider the possibility. No one else has been killed but that doesn’t mean anything. If we can’t find Lyle’s shooter, then we need to be cognizant when future crimes are investigated. They might be related.”
“Has Jared done a search for similar crimes?” Tanner queried. “Maybe the killer was passing through.”
“He did,” Logan confirmed. “He didn’t find anything that tripped my radar. We do have to think about the possibility that this was an accident. Someone playing with a gun – maybe a kid – and it went off by accident. Lyle was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Tanner didn’t look convinced. “What’s your gut telling you?”
Logan was famous for his lawman gut. It had solved more crimes than the heroes in Ava’s mystery novels.
“It wasn’t an accident. Someone shot Lyle, but who or why I don’t know.”
Logan was trying to play it off but Ava knew her husband too well. He was pained terribly that he couldn’t solve this crime. He didn’t like it when he thought a criminal was smarter than he was. With his personal connection to the victim, she didn’t see him simply walking away and moving on to the next case either.
“That leaves us sitting here eating pizza,” Drake said glumly. “The only thing I know to do is go back over the evidence we already have.”
“What would your characters do, Ava?” Tanner said with a laugh. “Who would be the killer in one of your books?”
“That’s an easy question. The killer is always the person it absolutely couldn’t be.”
“And who is that?” Drake asked.
“Wade,” Logan replied between gritted teeth. “That would be Wade.”
It couldn’t be Wade. That was impossible.
The silence stretched on as everyone contemplated Logan’s words. It didn’t make any sense but little had in this case.
“It can’t be Wade,” Ava argued, sitting up on the couch. “He’s in prison. He couldn’t have shot Lyle. And he doesn’t have a motive either.”
“He hates the Bryson family’s brand of loyalty,” Logan said. “He told me that when I visited him. And he sure as shit wasn’t all broken up about his little brother’s death, not that I expected him to be. He’s grown a hell of a lot colder since being inside. But I will say that he had nothing but contempt for the Bryson business dealings.”
“But he couldn’t have done it.” Drake looked around the group. “Right?”
Tanner’s eyes narrowed as he watched Logan closely. “What’ve you got on your mind? You’re thinking something. I can practically see the hamster wheels turning in your head. Talk to us.”
Logan sat up and leaned on one hand, his legs stretched out on the rug. “Wade made a big deal about telling me that he’s like a king inside. He’s got people who look up to him, he’s got female groupies outside that want to marry him and have his baby. Do you think that one of those women would kill for him?”
Ava’s curiosity was piqued. “Do you think Wade was trying to brag without actually admitting to anything?”
“Wade is a sick individual,” Logan reminded her with a grimace. “He’s not dealing with reality, especially behind bars. He has his own little world there and apparently he’s a worshipped like a god. But I think we should get a look at Wade’s visitor logs. According to Aaron he won’t see his family but he might see some of his admirers. We could check out the names.”
“We need to check his mail, too,” Tanner added. “These serial killers get a ton of mail from lovelorn ladies. We need to check the ones he writes to. He’s got a lot of free time on his hands. He might be pen pals with several people.”
Logan looked happier than he had a few minutes ago. “I’ll check with the prison tomorrow. Drake, we may need a warrant.”
“I’ll get it,” Drake vowed, already pulling his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call the county judge and get him to sign off on it tonight.”
They had a direction to go in. A new start.
Had Wade conspired to have his younger brother killed? It was a long shot of a theory but they had to check it out.