“Kyle Danner spoke to you, and he’s still upright and taking nourishment,” Jude said.
Ten climbed into the back seat. He shut his eyes and leaned his head against the window. Sleep was only seconds away when his eyes snapped back open. If Skye’s killer was murdering witnesses one by one, they obviously were keen on keeping their identity hidden. After the witnesses were dealt with, did that mean he and Ronan were next?
31
Ronan
After leaving Muriel and Butch to deal with their adult children, Fitzgibbon had driven everyone back to West Side Magick. Ronan knew Ten needed a bit of a break from this case, so he’d headed out to speak with Cisco Jackson alone.
No matter how hard Ronan and the others worked on this case, nothing was going their way. All of the witnesses had been reluctant to talk, and now two of them had been murdered. It was a cluster fuck of epic proportions. Ronan hadn’t felt this low since he’d been assigned the Michael Frye case. Nothing had gone right with that investigation until he’d met Tennyson.
Cisco sighed heavily as Ronan finished telling him what happened at the Washington house. “Damn, thirty-five years is a long time to keep a secret, especially since it had no real bearing on the case. We all know Skye left the house. With neither sibling asking where she was going or who with, the information is useless, aside from upsetting the parents again.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Ronan agreed. “Everyone associated with this case has paid a high price. I don’t want anyone else suffering.”
“I’ve got Eli Dixon sitting on the house. The Washingtons will be okay for the night.” Cisco sat up straighter in his chair. “Where are we with this case? If the siblings didn’t kill Skye or take her out of the house that night, who does it leave us with?”
“There’s the boyfriend and the last surviving friend, who we still haven’t spoken with.” Ronan had a plan for dealing with them. Killing two birds with one stone, minus the killing.
“With the way things have gone for Jennifer and Heidi, I wouldn’t talk with you either.”
At this point, Ronan couldn’t blame Lisa for not returning his calls. “Do you think Lisa is paying attention to what’s happened?”
“How could she not?” Cisco sounded pretty sure of himself.
“She could be one of those clueless people who doesn’t watch the news or read the paper.” Ronan had known plenty of people like that in his time with the BPD. On the other hand, there were also people who became obsessed with the news, checking websites constantly for updates.
Cisco shook his head. “If you’ve been involved with a murder case in any way, you pay attention. To be honest, it surprised me that no one moved. If my best friend was killed, and the murderer was still at large, I would have gotten away from Salem as fast and as far as possible.”
Ronan had been thinking along a similar line, but there was something else tickling the back of his mind. “There’s no need to move or look over your shoulder if you know who the killer is.”
“Go on,” Cisco urged.
“Let’s say you were the one murdered, and Ten, Fitzgibbon, Jude, and I knew who killed you. We wouldn’t have any need to be afraid since we knew the killer was Carson. There wouldn’t be an all-encompassing fear because we knew what no one else did.”
Cisco nodded. “But if Carson knew you knew he’d killed me, there would have to be some kind of machinery in place, for lack of a better term, to keep four big mouths quiet.”
“Right, something like revenge, I’d guess. Fear of what happened to you happening to us if we blabbed to someone else or the police.” Ronan mulled that thought over for a minute. Whatever it was, it would have to be a big enough penalty to keep the friends from talking. “So, what if the three friends knew who the killer was, and they kept that secret for all these years?”
Cisco nodded. “And since the killer doesn’t know what Jennifer and Heidi spoke to you about, or doesn’t believe what they told the killer when they were confronted, the murderer starts killing the original witnesses to keep their secret safe.” Cisco reached for his phone. “We need to get Lisa McRoy protected.” He started rapid-fire tapping on the screen.
“Good luck with that. She’s going to be the host of the gala at Jennifer’s Place tomorrow night.” Ronan didn’t know anything about hosting a gala, but if it was anything like cooking Thanksgiving dinner for twenty members of his family, that woman wasn’t going to have a minute to spare to go to the bathroom, never mind for a police detail or interview.
“If the family had nothing to do with the murder, that only leaves us with Kyle Danner.”
Ronan shook his head. “Neither Ten nor I got that kind of vibe from him. Not that either one of us are infallible.” Christ, was there something about Kyle that they missed?
“I was going to say that. Not to piss you off, Ronan, but these killers know how to lie. In all my years in law enforcement, I’ve never met a murderer who wasn’t a skilled liar.”
“I have to agree with you there. How do you want us to go about speaking to Kyle Danner again?” Ronan had a few ideas of his own, but since he was technically working for Cisco, figured it would be best if he did things the chief’s way.
Cisco grinned. “If you were back at the BPD, how would you handle him?”
“I would have perp walked him out of his place of business and then put him on ice in an interrogation room.” Ronan chuckled. Ah, the good old days.
“Well, what are you waiting for?”
What was he waiting for? “I’ve mellowed with age and fatherhood. Kyle Danner faced down his demons and won. He’s serving the community now. If I go in there, guns blazing, and drag him out, and then he’s innocent, he’ll never regain Salem’s trust, which means more of our neighbors will go hungry. I’ve got something else in mind.”
“I’m impressed and listening.” Cisco wore a proud look.
Ronan was pretty impressed too. He’d spent so much of his law enforcement career being a hothead. He really had mellowed out over time. “Ten and I are going to the gala tomorrow night. Lisa will be there and so will Kyle. I want to get a feel for how the two of them operate around each other.”
“What about Fitz and Jude? Are they going too?”
Ronan nodded. “Jace is big into philanthropy. He and Kevin were planning on going anyway. Jude and Cope are coming, and so are Carson and Truman.”
“Carson, our murderer?” Cisco laughed.
“He and Truman don’t get out much. When it comes to having psychics in on this case, the more the merrier!” Ronan studied Cisco for a minute. “What about you and Luca? Are you going too?”
“I’m not sure.” Cisco sighed. “I want to show him off to the world, but I’m worried about being seen as a cop at this thing. Any other year, I’d take him in a heartbeat, but I think you guys can handle this by yourselves. I’ll be available to assist if you run into any trouble or gunfire.”
“I’m always armed when I’m working a case.” Ronan set his right ankle on Cisco’s desk. He gave his pant leg a tug to reveal a small holster loaded with a handgun. “Is this a problem for you? I’m pretty sure Kevin and Jude are carrying too.”