CHAPTER TWELVE

It was just after eight on the Tuesday morning when Paige pulled into Mike’s driveway to follow up with Hailey. She was alone. Sam had left the house early for a budget meeting in Columbia.

Mike answered Paige’s knock. “Hey, Paige.”

“Sorry for the early call.”

“No problem. Come in.”

“Mike, I need to speak with Hailey. She hasn’t left for the school yet, has she?”

“No. She’s in the kitchen with Rita.”

Mike led the way past a living room with well worn furniture and children’s toys strewn across the carpeted floor. The TV was tuned low to a news program.

Mike led her into a kitchen that smelled of the bacon frying on the stove and was painted a sunny yellow. Plants lined the windowsill above the sink. Paige could see a large yard with a swing set and a dog house.

“Hey, honey.” Mike put his arm on the shoulder of the pretty dark-haired woman in a thick purple robe who stood stirring a skillet. “Paige is here.”

Rita Nunez set the fork on a plate on the counter then kissed Paige on both cheeks. “It’s nice to see you vertical.”

The last time Paige had seen Rita had been in Kirk County General after her last foot surgery. “It’s good to be vertical.”

Rita smiled. “I’ll bet. You’re welcome to stay for breakfast.”

“Thank you but I’m here to speak with Hailey and then I need to get to the office.”

“She went to finish dressing for work. She’ll be right back.” Rita turned to the coffee pot behind her, poured two mugs and set them on the kitchen table beside a carton of half and half and a bowl of sugar. Next she turned down the flame of the burner on the stove. “I’ll go check on the kids. Make sure they’re getting ready for school and not playing video games.”

Mike kissed Rita on the lips. “You’re the greatest.”

Rita wagged a finger at Mike. “Don’t ever forget it.”

When Rita left, Mike asked, “What’s going on?”

Mike had not been in the office yesterday when Martin Hendershot’s watch had been recovered. Paige told him about the watch. “It belonged to Martin Hendershot.”

Mike drew back. “How?”

“That’s what we want to find out.” Paige gave Mike a rundown of what had gone down. “We don’t know when Corbett got it. Maybe Hailey can tell us.”

Hailey entered the kitchen. She stopped walking at seeing Paige for the second time in two days. Her eyes widened in alarm. “Has something happened? Riley?”

“Riley’s fine.” Paige had a photo of the watch on her phone and showed it to Hailey. “Hailey, do you recognize this?”

“No. Should I?”

“Think carefully, please.” Paige watched her. “Do you recall seeing your brother with this watch?”

She bit her lower lip. “You’re saying this belonged to Lonny?”

“Not initially, no. Do you recognize it?”

“No.”

“You said that Lonny didn’t get into meth until three years ago?” Paige said.

“Yes.”

“What about before then? What was he into?”

“Usual stuff, I suppose. Driving our parents’ cars too fast. Picking up girls. Fighting with our parents about not wanting to go to college.”

“What was Lonny like as a teenager?”

“He was the class clown.”

“Growing up, was he ever in trouble with the law?” The analyst Mrs. Hendershot had contacted about Corbett had not come across any sealed juvenile records but Paige asked anyway, wanting to know if something hadn’t made it to formal charges.

“No.” Hailey gave a small shrug. “I mean, he was always looking for an easy way out but he never did anything illegal.” She paused then added in a whisper, “Not until the meth.”

“Did you know Marian Hendershot before meeting Riley?”

“No.”

“What about Lonny? Did he know the Hendershots?” Paige pushed.

“I can’t see how. They didn’t live in our neighborhood. He never mentioned them. Mrs. Hendershot never mentioned knowing him. Paige, can you tell me what this is all about?”

“We need to know where your brother was in August eight years ago. I’ll need you to give me your parents’ contact information.”

“No need to ask them. I can tell you. Every August our family drove to Georgia to visit our grandparents. We would stay for the entire month. The last time we went as a family was the year before Lonny got into meth. He was eighteen.”

Paige would confirm that, but she didn’t expect to find anything to contradict Hailey’s memory. What Hailey had told her supported what they already believed. Corbett was not Hendershot’s killer.

* * *

Sam entered the building that housed the Columbia Bureau offices. He’d been here just three days earlier with Paige for Lonny Corbett’s autopsy. He hadn’t planned on returning anytime soon. With Riley still the number one suspect in the Corbett murder, and the recovery of Martin Hendershot’s watch that had turned that cold case back into a warm one, Sam’s time was certainly better spent elsewhere. But his plans had no bearing today. He’d been summoned.

Sam had received a phone call from Deputy Associate Deputy Director Simon Biltmore to meet this morning. Biltmore oversaw budget, administration, and management of Bureau personnel. It was the management of one Bureau employee in particular that had sparked this meeting: Paige. Sam hadn’t told Paige that. He’d told her the meeting was for budget talks when she’d asked him about it. Call it what it was. He’d lied to her.

Sam stopped at the reception desk where a male admin assistant was seated. “Agent McKade to see Deputy Associate Deputy Director Biltmore.”

“You can go right in. He’s expecting you, Agent McKade.”

The man rose from behind the desk. Sam raised a hand. “I’ll see myself to his office.”

Sam followed the long carpeted hall to the corner office at the end. The door was open and as soon as Sam reached the doorway, Biltmore called out to him.

“Agent McKade, come in.”

Biltmore was in his forties with a slightly receding hairline and deep-set eyes. He was seated on a couch that fronted a round coffee table. Sunlight flooded the room from the floor-to-ceiling window that made up the wall behind his desk. Despite the warm sunlit glow, the office remained austere and unapproachable, like Biltmore himself.

“Close the door. Have a seat.” Biltmore gestured to one of the unoccupied black leather chairs.

Sam took the seat opposite Biltmore.

“How is Agent Carson?” Biltmore asked.

“She’s well.”

Biltmore paused, obviously waiting for Sam to elaborate. He would be waiting a long time. Nothing good would come of Sam providing further information about Paige. Sam said nothing more.

Biltmore said, “How is she on the job?”

“Fine.”

“She was severely injured, injuries that she is not going to recover fully from. She will never regain the full use of her left foot. She is no longer able to fully function as an agent on your squad.”

Biltmore’s choice of words, that Paige was less, grated on Sam. His next words were clipped. “Agent Carson is performing her duties as well as any of us.”

Biltmore leaned back on the couch and steepled his fingers. “She may be better served if she were in another position. She has a degree in criminal science. She is fluent in several languages. The Bureau can make use of those skills. She can continue to serve in another capacity, other than in the field, again in a position that would be better for her.”

Though not unexpected, Biltmore’s false concern for Paige sparked Sam’s temper. Biltmore was not interested in what was best for Paige, but what was best for the Bureau. While Paige had worked behind a desk prior to joining his squad, Sam knew it would be the beginning of the end for her to have to return to a job outside of the field. She’d found a place in field work and with their squad. Above all, she’d earned this post. No one had handed it to her. She deserved it. He could not let it be taken from her.

Tamping down on his anger which would not help Paige, Sam kept his tone even. “Agent Carson has many skills that make her a valuable member of my squad.”

Biltmore’s gaze grew avid. “But are those skills still valuable in the field? Sam, you have a small squad. You can’t afford to have Carson at anything less than full capacity. Now may be a good time to bring in another agent and transition Carson to a more suitable post.”

Sam knew what that meant. Paige’s takedown of Thames was a victory the Bureau wanted to continue to claim. Officially, the Bureau would continue to express support for Paige even as she was shuffled to the bottom of the deck as far as assignments went. She would be relegated to the bowels of a building like this one, buried in paper work.

“The skills that enabled Agent Carson to bring down Thames while severely overpowered weren’t in her foot.” Sam drove home the point that Paige’s sharp mind was the reason she was alive, and that Thames was no longer butchering women. “Those skills remain. Eight years ago, Simon, I was appointed to oversee the Kirk County office and to select the members of my squad as I saw fit. I ask that you respect my judgment when I say that my squad continues to operate at full capacity.” Sam met Biltmore’s steely eyed stare with one just as hard.

A silence ensued that Sam would not be the first one to break.

Biltmore scratched his jaw then twisted his lips. “I will consider all you’ve said.” He lowered his gaze to his impeccable suit jacket and plucked a non-existent piece of lint, effectively dismissing further discussion. “I’ll let you get back to Kirk County.”

Sam left Biltmore’s office. He had won this battle, but the war to keep Paige part of his squad was far from over.

* * *

Paige left Mike’s house and drove to the office. Mrs. Hendershot was at her desk. Paige wanted to ask the woman how she was. But the last thing she wanted to do was to revive the pain for her. Paige doubted anything that had taken place yesterday was far from Mrs. Hendershot’s mind, but Paige imagined the woman would not want to be the focus of more personal inquiry. Paige winced, thinking of her own circumstances, and kept the question to herself, settling for a simple, “Good morning.”

Mrs. Hendershot gave Paige her usual no-nonsense stare. “Good morning, Agent Carson. With Special Agent in Charge McKade out of the office this morning, will you be handling his calls?”

“Only those that pertain to the Corbett murder.”

“Very well.”

Paige had just arrived at her desk when Mrs. Hendershot entered the squad room.

“Agent Carson.” Mrs. Hendershot made her way to Paige. “Detective Orr is here. He would like to speak with Special Agent in Charge McKade. In his absence, would you like to speak with him or shall I ask Detective Orr to make an appointment to return at another time?”

Before Paige could say that Orr would need to speak with Sam, Orr joined them in the squad room.

Mrs. Hendershot turned to Orr. “Detective, I asked you to wait in the lobby.” Her face clearly expressed her disapproval.

Orr straightened his tie. “Sorry, ma’am. I don’t have a lot of time. I need to be at work in an hour. I was hoping Agent McKade could fit me in, if possible.”

Paige addressed Orr. “Sam isn’t here, Detective.”

He turned to Paige. “Call me Jason. You’re Paige, right?”

“Yes, Paige.”

He extended his hand then pumped Paige’s hand in a vigorous handshake before releasing her. His gaze traveled around the squad room. Eyes wide, he seemed to be taking in his entire surroundings at once. Orr’s eagerness was obvious. Paige recalled her own excitement when she’d first interviewed for the Bureau. “I don’t know when Sam will be back. It would be best if you scheduled an appointment so you don’t waste your time again.”

“Sure. It was a long shot, just dropping in. Hey.” He smiled, revealing a crooked incisor. “I took a chance.”

Mrs. Hendershot clasped her hands behind her back. She drew herself up to her full height which only reached midway to Orr’s chest. She raised her chin and narrowed her eyes at Orr. “If you will accompany me, Detective. I will take a look at Special Agent in Charge McKade’s schedule.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Orr raised his hand to Paige in a wave then followed Mrs. Hendershot back to the lobby.

Paige swiveled her chair and booted her computer. While she waited, she went over in her head what they knew so far. Clayton Garwood’s work alibi had checked out. Their searches hadn’t turned up anything that warranted further investigation of Aldon Doucette and Will Ledger. They were still looking at Adams, but so far, despite the watch that linked Corbett and Adams, they hadn’t tied Adams to Hendershot.

She went back to Corbett. Several items found in Adams’s pawn shop had been reported stolen in house burglaries five days before Corbett’s murder. Adams had confirmed that he’d gotten them from Corbett. Likewise with Hendershot’s watch.

None of the recent burglaries reported Hendershot’s watch as having been taken. Made sense, she supposed, if the person in possession of Hendershot’s watch had killed him, he or she would not report the watch as stolen. She picked up a pen from her desk, sliding it between her fingers as she worked through the information they had so far.

Pawn shops received lists of stolen goods from local law enforcement. A legit shop would have made sure that an item hadn’t been stolen before taking it on, and if the item had somehow slipped through the cracks and was found to be stolen after the shop got it, it would have been reported to law enforcement who would have followed up with whoever brought it to the shop in the first place.

Paige dismissed the possibility that the watch had been obtained innocently, that the buyer had purchased it from someone who had not checked to make sure it hadn’t been stolen and that this new owner didn’t know the history behind the watch. She didn’t believe it, given the value of the piece and that it was somewhat rare and a vintage item.

Added to that, if the watch had been obtained innocently, why not report it had been stolen? She was back to that. Hendershot’s watch was not something that would be forgotten or go unnoticed as missing when filling out a theft report.

Paige tossed the pen back onto her desk. Turning to her laptop, she started a timeline of where they knew Corbett to be on his last days.

Oct 17: Five days ago: Corbett was killed in the alley.

Oct 15: Seven days ago: Corbett went to Adams’s pawnshop with Martin Hendershot’s watch and other items reported stolen from house burglaries.

Oct 12: Ten days ago: Three daytime house burglaries were reported on the same day. All three took place in the same neighborhood. All by Lonny Corbett.

Paige sat back in her chair. She could hear her computer humming. The office was quiet. Sam wasn’t the only one out. Harry, Dom, and Mike were absent as well.

This had all started with the burglaries. They needed to check out the house owners to see if anyone linked to Martin Hendershot in some way. Paige called up information on the three properties that had been burglarized. All were houses in the same block, all of a similar design. The police reports listed the back doors as the points of entry. Those doors had windows and latches that could be opened by sliding something thin, like a knife, between the frames.

She moved on to the owners. One of the houses belonged to a sixty-three-year-old widow. The woman managed an accounting firm. Another belonged to a young couple, newly arrived in Kirk. They hadn’t lived here eight years ago so Paige dismissed them as having a possible link to Martin Hendershot. The third house was owned by two elderly sisters who owned and operated a bakery.

Three elderly women. Though crime wasn’t limited to just men, or to those under the age of sixty, the information in the databases showed that not one of these women looked good for being Martin Hendershot’s killer. Paige shifted on the chair, rethinking that the watch could not have been obtained innocently.

Kirk PD had spoken with the women, as indicated in the reports, but Paige wanted to speak with them as well. Here was one thing she could do. Despite her injury, she could still conduct interviews, still speak with people. Thames hadn’t taken her mind. Yet.

Paige fought back the dark thought and returned her attention to the three women. She would speak with them before she dismissed them. Before she was forced to accept that if Lonny Corbett had not obtained Hendershot’s watch from one of those houses, then five days before he was killed, Corbett had robbed more than the three houses they knew about.