“There were no prints anywhere on the liftgate,” said Fairweather. “I went inch by inch.”
“Pretty weird,” said Mars.
“No, it’s not,” said Natty. “She used the button on her key fob to open it, like I just said.”
“She couldn’t,” said Decker.
“Why?”
“The keys were in the ignition. This car is old enough, so you have to put the key in the ignition, not just have it with you to start the car. So the key and the fob already would have been in the vehicle.” He eyed Natty. “Check out the ignition if you don’t believe me.”
“Okay, if that’s the case, where’s the print?” said Natty, looking confused.
“Good question.”
“What does its absence tell us?” asked Natty.
“Another good question,” said Decker. “And here’s one more. Why did she start the car first and then go back into the house and bring the luggage out? Why not bring the luggage out, start the car, and drive off? The way she did it, the lady had to make two trips instead of one.”
Natty’s brow furrowed. “Okay, I give. Why would she—?”
But Decker had already turned and walked off.
“Damn it, I hate when the sonofabitch does that,” exclaimed Natty.
Mars said, “Yeah, I get that. But second piece of advice, man?”
Natty eyed him. “Why should I listen to you? I don’t even know you.”
“Yeah, but I know Decker. You want to solve this sucker and get your next promotion, give the dude some room to work.”
“I’m running this case!”
“But what you don’t want to do is run it into the ground. Just my two cents.”
Mars turned and followed Decker.
Natty looked at Fairweather, who was staring at him. “What?” he barked.
“I don’t know that guy, but to me, he makes a lot of sense.”
“Why does everybody think Amos Decker walks on water!” barked Natty.
“Hey, the guy’s got his issues. We all know that. But when it comes to catching bad guys, do you know anybody who does it better?”
She went back to work, leaving Natty staring down at his shoes.
Chapter 29
ON THE DRIVE BACK to town, Decker said nothing.
Mars would look over at him occasionally, and several times appeared ready to ask something, but then he’d glance away and remain silent.
“You have something to say?” Decker finally asked.
Mars grinned. “Was I that obvious?”
“Apparently.”
“That Natty guy has it in for you. What’s that about?”
“He didn’t like the fact that Lancaster and I solved most of the homicides in Burlington. Well, more than most. Basically all. He was the rising star in the department before I got bumped to detective. He got relegated to investigating lesser crimes, and I think he blames me. Then he made a big mistake on the Hargrove case. Missing person turned homicide. That sidetracked his career. Since I left I guess he’s been attempting a comeback. And he kisses Pete Childress’s ass, even though the guy hung him out to dry when the fallout came on the Hargrove matter.”
“Is he any good at being a detective?”
“He’s competent. But he always goes for the easiest solution. And he makes mistakes. Gets sloppy at times. Assumes things he shouldn’t.”
“Like you did with the murders all those years ago?”
Decker glanced over at him. “I deserved that.”
“Come on, I was just pulling your chain. I’m telling you, you keep yourself under all that pressure, you’re gonna pop one day.”
“I think my popping days are over.”
“What’s on the agenda now?”
Decker looked at the clock on the dashboard.
“We’ve got some time before we meet Sally Brimmer and pick up the flash drive.”
“So where?”
“Susan Richards’s house.”
* * *
Decker pulled his car into the driveway about two hours later and they got out. Decker glanced over at Agatha Bates’s home and thought he could see the old woman on her screen porch reading a book.
Mars looked the house over. “You think Richards is dead?”
“No signs of violence in the car. Or outside it. No one’s found a body. But still, she could be dead.”
“How are we going to get in?”
“I’ve got a key. My old partner, Mary Lancaster, gave it to me while we were working Susan Richards’s disappearance.” Decker put the key in the lock and began to turn it.
“Wait a minute, Decker. Will this get you in trouble? Aren’t you just supposed to be observing?”
“Well, when I go into the house, I’ll just be observing.”
Decker led Mars into the front part of the house.
“So, Richards packs a big bag and hightails it out of here after you bring her in for questioning on the Hawkins murder.”
“And we couldn’t confirm her alibi. The other neighbors weren’t home during the time in question. And the old lady across the street, the one who saw Richards leaving, can’t completely account for Richards’s movements when Hawkins was killed.”
“Which may explain why she ran for it. She killed the guy.”
“But how would she even know he was back in town?” Decker wondered.
“Maybe she ran into him. Or saw him and followed him back to the Residence Inn. That’s possible.”
“It is possible, but not probable.”
“Then what are we doing here?”
Decker led the way upstairs and into the woman’s bedroom. He went straight for the closet. It had been reconfigured and enlarged, he figured, because the house was old enough not to have originally had such a spacious closet. It was packed with clothes on hangers, sweaters and shoes on shelves, and purses and handbags on hooks. He stood in the middle of the space and looked around.
Mars said, “Harper has a closet about four times the size of this one. And it’s packed to the gills. Didn’t know one person could need all that stuff.”
“Society demands that women care more about their appearance than men.”
“Wow, that’s very enlightened of you.”
“It’s not me. My wife would always say that.”
“Well, looks like Susan Richards took that to heart.”
Decker noted several empty hangers, a space on a shelf where it looked like two pairs of shoes had been removed, and a hook without a corresponding bag.
He left the closet and went over to a chest of drawers. He went through each one. Then he walked into the bathroom and examined every inch of the space, including the bins under the sink.
He got up and opened the medicine cabinet and looked at the line of prescription bottles. He picked them up and examined each one in turn, holding one bottle for a beat longer before replacing it.
“Lady is on a lot of meds,” said Mars.
“America is on a lot of meds,” replied Decker.
They walked back down to the first floor and Decker headed over to the fireplace mantel. He looked over each of the photos lined up there.