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CHAPTER 73

CINDY WAS HAVING dinner at home, alone.

Richie was still at work. Cindy had the TV on, tuned to the news, but was paying more attention to the recording of her latest call with homicide detective Steven Wilson. She sipped her smoothie as she typed up her notes.

She stopped typing for a minute to read them over and see if the transcript made sense to her. Detective Sergeant Wilson thought it was more probable than not that Angela Palmer had been killed by her ex-husband, who turned out to be an FBI agent named Brett Palmer. It was only opinion, not backed by a witness or forensic evidence, but Wilson had added more paint strokes to the picture.

He had said, “I found out that Brett Palmer had a first wife, Roxanne Sands Palmer, who also died before her time. The death certificate says that Roxanne Palmer drowned in the bathtub. The cause of death was ‘drowning.’ But the means were also ‘undetermined.’”

Cindy had then asked Wilson, “The ME couldn’t say if she’d drowned accidentally or on purpose? Was Palmer a suspect? Was he charged?”

Wilson had said, “Palmer was the number one suspect because he was the dead woman’s ex-husband, but there were no bruises on the body, and Palmer had an alibi.”

“Let’s hear it, Steve.”

“Well, he was at the high school gym watching his nephew play basketball. It was a playoff for the championship.”

“And Palmer stayed in his seat throughout this game?”

“Yup. He came in his car. His sister and brother-in-law came in another, and they all sat together in the gym. Palmer’s sister said that Brett was there the whole time. His sister isn’t going to say otherwise even if it was possible for him to slip away during this high-tension basketball game and get back to his seat. But I’m thinking, if Palmer drowned his wife before the game, the temperature of the bath water would have kept the body warm for quite a while.

“There was no writing on anything, however. No ‘I said. You dead’ messages. End of story.”

“Wait. So, what’s your opinion?”

“I’m still thinking. Okay. Off the top of my head. Palmer was married twice. Both of his ex-wives appear to have had died under suspicious circumstances. Could he have gotten away with murder? Maybe he did. Palmer’s been professionally trained by the FBI. I don’t think it’s impossible that Palmer also killed his second ex-wife by hanging her and writing ‘I said’ on the sole of one of her shoes and ‘You dead’ on the other. Does that help, Cindy?”

“Sure it does. Steve. Release me from my promise, please. I have to get the SFPD involved.”

“Okay. But you have to forget my name.”

“Sure thing. Thanks very much.”

Cindy turned off the recorder and thought more about Agent Brett Palmer. No inscription reading, “I said. You dead,” was found on or near Brett Palmer’s first ex-wife. Not on shoes or matchbooks, and not even on a computer screen.

If Roxanne Palmer was Brett Palmer’s first killing, he may still have been an amateur. Had Palmer been a serial killer in the making?

If so, by the time he’d killed Jacobi, he would have been a pro.