The drive to the Colemans would take twenty-five minutes. They lived in one of the ranches recently built out of Glacial Heights. It was a secluded area for the more affluent people in town and not far from the new ski-resort. She drove a little slower than necessary, not risking the possibility of having an accident the first time she’d traveled this far alone. It was dusk and the forest loomed on one side of the road, hiding the trails in deep shadows. This far from town the streetlights were non-existent and the idea of getting a flat or being stranded alone sent shivers up her spine. She pushed the thought away; her car was mechanically sound and her dad, Uncle Dave, or Jake Rowley were not far away if she needed help. By the time she arrived at the Colman’s ranch, she’d gained more confidence and negotiated the treelined driveway with precision. Small lights led the way to the front of the house, a huge redbrick, with a riot of flowers in garden beds.
She parked beside the magistrate’s silver SUV and climbed out. A cool breeze brushed her legs and rustled the leaves on the trees. Somewhere in the distance, she heard the shriek of an owl and the flapping of wings. Looking over one shoulder into the darkening night, she shook off the uncomfortable feeling of being watched, collected her bag, and headed for the steps. The idea to bring her laptop to complete her school assignments had been Emily’s. Once the kids went to sleep, she’d have a nice peaceful place to study. She didn’t have time to ring the doorbell before the door flew open and Lucy stood in the doorway, dressed in PJs with a broad grin on her face. She smiled at the little girl. “Hello, Lucy.”
“Come in, Mommy’s getting dressed.” Lucy hurried along the passageway. “She said to wait in the family room and she’d be down soon.”
A wonderful aroma of fresh baked cookies wafted on the air. The house was modern and a polished floor she could see her face in ran the length of the hallway. The family room was huge with a fireplace big enough to roast a pig. Overstuffed leather sofas sat around a coffee table and a flat screen above the mantel was the biggest she’d ever seen. An elk’s head stared at her from another wall and on a bookcase, pictures of the family, wedding photos, fun holiday times and baby photos all in silver frames. A box of toys sat in one corner, piled up high and spilling onto the carpet. She looked at Lucy. “What would you like to do tonight?”
“Well, Mommy said I have to be in bed by seven-thirty so could you read me a story?” Lucy looked at her expectantly. “Daddy doesn’t like me watching TV before bedtime but I like bedtime stories.”
Relieved she would be easy to care for, Julie nodded. “I’d like that fine.”
When Mrs. Coleman came into the room, bringing with her the scent of perfume, she smiled at her. “Is there anything special I have to do for John tonight?”
“No, he’ll sleep right through now.” Mrs. Coleman patted her hair. “Just check on him every hour or so, Lucy will go straight to sleep. She has a routine and falls asleep without a fuss. You have my number and my husband’s but if anything bad should happen, call 911 first and then us but I’m sure with a medical examiner for a father, you know the drill.”
Wondering what could possibly go wrong for her to call 911, Julie nodded. “I have all the sheriff’s department’s numbers if necessary but is there a problem I should be aware of?”
“No, not at all.” Mr. Coleman came into the room. “It’s a precaution is all. The children will be asleep, you can watch TV, help yourself to whatever you need.”
“I baked cookies and they’re still cooling on the counter.” Mrs. Coleman smiled. “We’ll be about two to three hours is all.” She turned to kiss Lucy on the cheek. “Off to bed with you.”
“Julie is going to read me a story.” Lucy blinked up at her parents.
“Just the one.” Mrs. Coleman smiled at Julie. “Then she’ll go straight to sleep.” She followed her husband to the front door.
Julie stood for a moment, watching the Colemans drive away. She closed the door and stared out the window. It was almost full dark now and the trees seemed to close in around her. All alone, with two children to care for and for some reason the gnawing feeling of someone watching her just wouldn’t go away.
Fifty-Four
Exhausted, Jenna rested one hip on the edge of the table and stared at the notations on the whiteboard. No matter which way she looked at the circumstantial evidence, she couldn’t find enough to put forward a solid case against a suspect. She took the pen and swiped a line through two names on the board and then turned and looked at her team. “Taking all the evidence, I think we can remove, Dexter and Haralson from the suspects list. We already discounted Peter Huntley, the other person who had a problem with Wood, earlier on, so I figure we need to concentrate on Cleaves and Suffolk.”
“With the suggested link between social services, cops, magistrates, and lawyers, I’d keep Peter Huntley on the list.” Kane collected the scattered statements and tapped them into a neat pile. “He might appear to be living quietly here in town but we don’t know what’s going on inside his head and we don’t know if he was in DC at the time of the bombings. In fact, we don’t know anything about him.”
“My head is spinning.” Jo rubbed her temples. “Instead of going around in circles, and going over these files again, could we just make a list of the main points we have on each suspect?”
“That would help, with all of us working on different suspects it’s hard to keep track.” Carter looked at Jenna. “Do we have contact info on Peter Huntley?”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, it’s in his file along with everything Phelps from the social services told us about him.”
“I’ll ask Kalo to run a background check on him. He might be the sleeper.” Carter stood up and went outside the room to make the call.
Jenna stared at the whiteboard. It had notations everywhere. She moved to one end and placed the names, Suffolk, Cleaves and Huntley on the top of the board and separated them with vertical lines. “Okay this is what we have so far:”
Roger Suffolk.
Spousal abuse.
Prefers underage girls.
Was in DC time of the bombings.
Was in Blackwater and Louan time of bombings.
Has experience with explosives.
Had a fight with Wood.
Wife died in accident caused by brake failure.
Unremorseful.
Jenna turned to look at them. “Then we have the secretary of DC magistrate Graham Lindley died in the car bombing. Lindley was the friend who reported him for chasing underage girls and caused his family to leave Blackwater.” She sighed. “So, what’s missing? Suffolk had no other dealings with Sheriff Stuart.”
“Did we look?” Kane lifted his gaze from his tablet. “His wife wrecked her car in Blackwater. That would’ve come under Sheriff Stuart’s jurisdiction.” He scanned the files. “Yeah, Stuart handled the case and he had a question mark on the brake failure. He hauled Suffolk in for questioning. From the case file Kalo sent, Suffolk’s lawyer wanted an expert opinion and it was placed into the hands of a Louan brake specialist and later went on to a car insurance assessor. He passed the claim.”