“Miss Dark, sorry to have to do that. Truthfully, I heard you fine on the other line, but I needed to talk to you off the record. I can’t do that on my work line.”
Ella’s curiosity surged to uncontrollable levels. “Off the record? Sure, but why?”
“Professional courtesy prevents me from speculating and doing so can cost me my job. But you said Kevin Steen is a suspect in a murder case?”
“He is, yes. Three murders.” Ella heard Kathy sigh desperately down the phone, like she was struggling to control her breathing. Her voice lowered to a whisper.
“Kevin Steen is a notorious thief, but he’s also highly dangerous. I assume you know about his past.”
“I know he was in prison for thievery.”
“He was tried for the murder of the same store owner but acquitted due to lack of evidence. But in private talks with me, Kevin more or less admitted he did it.”
Ella waved to get Byford’s attention. She flailed her arm around in a futile attempt to relay the conversation. “Really? He admitted it?”
“If you ask me, yes. But it doesn’t stop there. During our last contact, he told me he ‘had big plans.’ I didn’t know what he was talking about. I thought he was just being his usual grandiose self. But he said he was going after ’the big four,’ and he was going to do it in the span of a week.”
“The big four?” Ella said. “Any ideas what that meant?”
“None. I thought it was just Kevin being Kevin. Talking about turning his life around, maybe. Then I saw the news of Alan Yates and Jimmy Loveridge and my heart just sank.”
Ella digested the information, tried to process it all and make sense of it. “Hang on a second, why did you assume Kevin Steen had anything to do with their deaths?” She detected Kathy’s hesitance, despite them being a hundred miles apart. The line crackled with static.
“We are off the record, yes? This information can’t be used in a court of law.”
“No, I promise.”
“Well, this is by no means confirmed. It’s just one of those rumors, one perpetuated by Kevin himself.”
“I’m listening.”
“Alan Yates and Jimmy Loveridge. Kevin Steen was their supplier. He would burglarize items for them. How do you think they both made so much money?”
“Oh, Christ. That’s… very helpful,” Ella said. “Do you know where Kevin might be now?”
“No. We’ve had police searching for him for several days. He was due to check in on April 26 but never did.”
Ella turned to the timeline on the whiteboard. That was the day before the first murder. Something was going on here.
“Thank you, Miss Starks.”
“You’re welcome. Please don’t mention this conversation in any official capacity.”
Ella understood the need. “Trust me. One last thing before you go. Does the name Barry Windham mean anything to you?” She heard a tapping down the other end of the line.
“Windham, Windham,” Kathy repeated. “Yes, but…”
Kathy stopped. Ella sensed a reveal was forthcoming. “You know it?”
“I just checked Kevin’s notes. The store owner who Kevin was suspected of killing. He was Barry Windham’s brother.”
That’s it, Ella thought, finally seeing a clear picture for the first time. Everything fell into place, like a million-piece jigsaw that had been scattered across Newark. The revelation brought a euphoric high that nothing in the world could match.
“Thank you for your help. You might have just helped us find a murderer.” Ella hung up, turned to Byford and didn’t know where to start.
This killer is clearing up loose ends, she repeated.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
They always returned home. It didn’t matter if they were petty criminals or wanted fugitives. If they were on the run, the one place they’d visit again would be their home. That’s why Ella was sat in a car one hundred yards from the house of Kevin Steen, eyes glued to it like a hawk. The building was a split-level home, with a set of wooden steps leading to the front door. Cream window blinds obscured the interior, and between them and the single-hung windows sat a row of potted plants. Not exactly how she pictured the home of a notorious thief. She and Byford now entered their third hour of waiting.
“Ella, this is great and everything, but we can’t sit here all day,” Byford said.
She was starting to feel the same way. Steen would return eventually, but it could be days or weeks before he did. Career criminals had places they could hide long-term. “Yeah, you’re right. What do you wanna do?”
“What if I patrol the streets? I’ll get some of the local PD to come with me. We can cover more ground that way.”
“Sounds like a plan. If you catch a whiff of this guy, buzz me straight away.”
“Same. If he comes home, call for backup. Don’t try and take this guy down on your own.” Byford pulled out his phone and made a quick call back to the precinct. “I’m gonna jump in a squad car down the road. We’ll stay within a few miles.”
Byford exited the car and disappeared down the road, leaving Ella alone. She’d looked at the house for so long now that the image was burned into her retinas. She had every exterior detail committed to memory so if anything changed when she blinked, she’d know about it.
Ella considered the suspect and how his thought process might be operating. Kevin Steen had a connection to each victim and a motive to kill them. Ella put herself in his head and ran through the events of the past five years. In 2016, Kevin Steen burglarized Gold Rush Coins in Wilmington, Delaware. Steen was caught in the act by the store owner but managed to flee. Three days later, the store owner wound up dead.
Steen was tried for the crime and ultimately found innocent of murder, but such an ordeal would take its toll on the man. He’d harbor resentment for the man who caught him and put him through a lengthy trial process, so after that, could Steen be targeting the people from his past? If these rumors were true of Steen supplying goods to people around Newark, what triggered him to take their lives? Was he trying to wipe the slate clean, or maybe exact vengeance upon people who used him?
And who were the “big four” he allegedly spoke of? Four victims, four people from his past? If that was the case, that meant he could be planning to strike tonight. A deranged mind like this would be thirsty for retribution after the mistakes he made with Barry Windham last night. Right now, he’d be doubting himself, and the only way to make things better would be to pull off a flawless crime scene like the first two.
Ella’s phone vibrated on the dashboard, and for the umpteenth time today, Mark’s name appeared. She didn’t read the messages because they’d just upset her. She didn’t have time to deal with an insecure, emotionally stunted abuser when there were more pressing matters to attend to. When she got back to D.C., God knows when, she was going to tell Mark the straight facts. Our relationship is over. He’d know the reasons why, and she would be under no obligation to state them even if he begged her to. She owed the man nothing, and she’d start and stop at exactly that.
It was nearing two pm and the rays of spring beamed through her windshield. She welcomed the warmth, then pushed back her car seat so she had ample space to stretch her joints. Her shoulders cracked loudly then she slumped back down in her seat. She shut her eyes, hoping that a minute of micro-sleep might tackle her exhaustion.