28

“One of the last calls Glen made was to your wife’s cell phone.” Tess noted the cell towers used. She knew the basics of cell phone triangulation because of the system cell phone companies developed for 911 dispatchers. Multiple towers are used to track the phone’s location by measuring the time delay that a signal takes to return back to the towers. The delay is calculated into distance and gives a fairly accurate location of the phone. There wasn’t a tower in Rogue’s Hollow. Calls made in this town generally pinged off a tower on Crowfoot or one in Shady Cove. There was also a tower in Butte Falls, and that was where Anna’s phone was identified as being. It looked like Anna was in Butte Falls when she talked to Glen, and Glen was here in Rogue’s Hollow.

Oliver looked thoughtful. She saw his throat work as he swallowed.

“Can you tell if she answered or not?”

Tess nodded. “The call lasted fifteen minutes. It’s the last call showing on your wife’s phone record, but there are three more on Glen’s phone.” She highlighted the calls and showed them to the pastor. “Do you recognize any of the numbers?”

Oliver took the sheet from her and studied the numbers. “One is to Octavio—at least that’s the number for the Butte Falls church. The others I don’t recognize.” He handed it back.

Tess dialed the unknown numbers and got a “number not in service” recording for one. When she dialed the other, she got the recording for the PSS business office.

“What?” She stared at the phone and saw Oliver staring at her.

“He called PSS. What on earth would a homeless man need with a security system?” Tess left a message for Beto Acosta, asking for a call back.

She checked the time and date on the phone calls. Based on what Casey had said about Anna being in her shop, and the time Octavio had given for Anna’s arrival at the church, Anna probably talked to Glen while she drove to Butte Falls. Tess wished she could know what the conversation was about. One missing, one dead—that phone call might just tell a tale.

She studied Oliver. He seemed defeated and deflated but determined to soldier on. Tess felt a twinge in her own gut as his pain radiated to her. The odds that his wife was still alive were not good. But she would not say that to him.

Bringing her hands together, she tapped her fingertips and asked, “What do you think they talked about?”

“Glen’s salvation. I’m sure of it.” He seemed to get a second wind and stood to pace. “Glen probably told her he was ready to change his life.”

“Why wouldn’t he have told her that when he gave her the money? And maybe where the money came from?”

“I can’t know for certain, but at that point Anna might not have believed him and instead called the police.”

“Why?”

“One time a few years ago, Glen told us he’d changed. We believed him and let him come stay with us.” He shook his head.

“It was a mistake?”

“A big one. Turned out he only needed money. We don’t have much of value now, and we didn’t then, but Anna had a ring her mother had given her and an expensive guitar. Glen stole them both and pawned them. We never got either back and learned our lesson. Trust but verify.” He flashed a wry, sad smile.

“A good rule.”

Oliver continued. “Anna probably wanted to talk to Octavio, see what he thought, determine if the conversion was real this time.”

“When we talked to him yesterday, he seemed to think Glen was telling the truth. And I suppose him giving you all that money . . .”

Since Tess was just about certain Glen was killed because of the money, it followed that he’d obviously gotten ahold of it illegally and wanted to come clean, which was why he gave it to his cousin. Did that gesture seal her fate?

Tess fought a shudder. If Glen was dead because of the money, it’s possible Anna was also dead because of the money. She wasn’t ready to voice that thought to Oliver.

“We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt,” she said. “He was trying to turn over a new leaf. But it had to be other people’s money he gave you, and they could not have been happy about it. Glen should have known something bad would happen because of what he did.”

“I’ve wondered about that. Do you think that if we’d found him sooner, maybe . . . ? Well, I mean we could have . . .”

“Prevented what happened?” She frowned and shook her head. “If it was the money that got Glen killed, he made the choice to take it. That’s on him, not you.”

Oliver was quiet for a moment. “Are you certain the money is what got Glen killed?” he finally asked.

“Not 100 percent. But right now, it’s a logical supposition. I’m thinking he was confronted by the man he stole from. Glen no longer had the money, couldn’t give it back, and that got him killed. Next, your home was broken into and ransacked. Someone wanted their money back.” Maybe that’s what happened to Anna. She also ran afoul of the person who wanted his money back, she thought but didn’t say.

Oliver looked at her, an odd expression on his face. “I doubt that my house being broken into had anything to do with money. I can’t say why I think that, but . . .”

“But what? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

He nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Chief, I know who ransacked my house. I didn’t tell you earlier because, well, I really had to think about it.”

“What?” Tess tensed. “You know who ransacked your house?”

“I recognized her face. It was Tilly Dover. She’s—”

“Tilly? I’ve been looking for her. She’s Glen’s friend. Why would you keep this from me?” Tess felt her pulse pound. She thought she could trust this man, and here he was withholding evidence.

“Because she needs help, not jail. I was hoping to find her, ask her why she did what she did. Yes, she was often with Glen. But she’s not his killer and she would never hurt Anna.” He held her gaze and Tess saw hopeful naiveté there.

Was this a sinister omission or just because the man was a pastor and he saw good in people where none existed?

LTS. Listen. Think. Speak. Tess waited and let her pulse calm. She knew she’d need to reevaluate this.

“She’s a drug addict, unpredictable. Why wouldn’t she be after the money? She must have known he gave it to you—” Tess stopped midsentence.

“What?” Oliver asked. “Did you remember something?”

“No, it’s just pieces falling into place. She knew Glen was dead. She’s not in any information stream that I know of. She was there when he was shot.”

She saw realization spread across Oliver’s face. “And she survived?”

“Someone else was there—I’m sure of it. We thought someone went into the creek, but a body hasn’t surfaced. It must have been Tilly who was there; that’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Oliver arched an eyebrow. “A witness to the murder.”

“Hopefully someone we can talk to eventually.”

He nodded and said nothing.

Tess thought for a minute, energized. “This is something to do. I need to find Tilly.”

“I want to help.”

“Pastor Macpherson—”

“Oliver.”

“Oliver, there is really nothing for you to do. This is a police matter.”

“It’s my wife.”

“Yes, I realize that. But you need to be at home in case someone does call and demand a ransom. And you still have a church to run.”

“The church is second to Anna, no matter what. I’m just not a good bench sitter.”

“Neither am I. I’ll do everything I can to find her, I promise.”

Again he held her gaze and Tess saw the pain in his eyes, the questioning, the fear. But there was also strength and resolve there. The more she knew Oliver Macpherson, the more she doubted that his wife would ever walk away voluntarily.

Tess vowed to herself that she’d turn over every rock. Trouble was, was it already too late?