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A tendril of hope unfurled in her. “Maybe from some of the victims, too.”
“Whatever came from your interview with the stepmother?” They waited until the man unwrapped another sandwich before he responded to Hayes’s question.
“She seemed shocked. He’d told us that she’d called to wake him up and get him going on the chores she’d written out for him. But Eckworth said she’d contacted him to wake him up. That she does it almost every day, just to make sure he gets out of bed.” He used a napkin Reese had found in a drawer to wipe his mouth. “Problem for her is that we did a data dump on his phone. Records don’t support her version. He’s only had two calls from her this month, and the other one came during the afternoon.”
A slight smile curved Reese’s lips. It sounded like Eckworth had earned herself another interview with the police.
When she said as much, the detective washed a bite of sandwich down with a drink of beer. “I took another run at McNulty before I came here. Seems his relationship with his stepmother has always been rocky. She agreed to let him live with her short-term when his father stopped giving him money for rent. According to him, she expected free labor in return. He now says she called yesterday to summon him to the diner. I had an officer retrace the trip at the same time this morning and it took him exactly six minutes to travel from Eckworth’s house to the restaurant.”
“What was he told to do?” There was a lethal edge to Hayes’s voice that Reese hadn’t heard before.
“He was supposed to ‘scare’ the woman parked in the rear parking lot. Gave him your vehicle description and license plate.”
Reese choked on the bite she’d been swallowing. He’d accomplished that result. But she’d made damn sure he paid for it. “I guess we predicted correctly about her researching me.”
Hayes wore a frown as he loosened the label from the bottle with a thumbnail.
The detective polished off the rest of the food. “Do you know this woman?”
She gave him a brief rundown of their contesting petitions for Ben’s conservatorship.
“The court documents don’t share the names of the other applicants, but my attorney was able to discover hers easily enough. Maybe she found mine, as well.”
He spent a moment digesting that. “Does that sort of thing pay well?”
After getting that question from Officer Hastings, Reese had looked it up. “Depending on the needs of the conservatee. In California, the fees for the conservator can range from forty-five to eighty thousand dollars annually.”
Jennings stared hard at her. “For a part-time job? Yeah, that might be motive. Eckworth says she works for a local church. Can’t imagine that’s making her rich. Take out the other petitioner, shake her up, make her think twice about going through the court process… That would make sense.”
“To a sociopath.”
He nodded at Hayes’s reply. “Goes without saying. I’ll take another go at her tomorrow and see what she has to say about her stepson’s allegations. Of course, McNulty couldn’t explain what scaring you had to do with driving you to that vacant building.” His smile was humorless. “Bet he thinks of an excuse by the time I talk to him next, though.”
“I ran a ViCAP search for sexual assaults in the area with similar details to Reese’s experience. Her idea,” Hayes sent her a quick smile. “I’ll send you the map it generated of victimswho were kidnapped, transported for the assault, then dumped elsewhere. A pattern exists. It might come in handy if the lab results point to McNulty. ”
“You’re a couple of jumps ahead of me. But hell, yeah, I’m interested. Include all the details about the parameters you used.” When Hayes promised to do so, the detective stood.
“Thank you for all your efforts.”
He nodded at Reese. “I should be thanking you for pointing us to that building. I have a feeling I’m going to have an even bigger investigation after lab results are available from the evidence we collected today.”
And maybe, she thought as the man headed for the door, those results would help some rape victims get a measure of justice.
29
Hayes had barely resecured the locks behind the detective when his cell rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and read the screen, his mouth flattening. “I have to take this.” He went to the bedroom, swinging the door shut behind him. Reese heard him answer. “This is Hayes.”
Intrigued, she studied the half-closed door. A few days ago, she would have wondered if the caller was someone he was involved with. But if there was one thing she’d learned about him in a few short days, it was that Hayes Moreland had an unswerving moral code. She wouldn’t have been in his arms this morning if he was in a relationship.
Reese had packed a stack of the medical documents to go through, but the scene with Sedgewick was too fresh in her mind. She thought for a moment, then pulled out her cell and scrolled through her call log until she found the contact information for the two former colleagues of the doctor’s at her last job. Both were nurses. Sedgewick had been a faceless unknown to her at the time, but after today, Reese had more questions. She hit redial on Bonita Price’s number. Waited while it rang, fully expecting to leave a message.
“Hello.” The woman’s voice was wary.
“Ms. Price. This is Reese Decody. We spoke a few weeks ago about your experience working with Dr. Sedgewick.”
“I don’t really have anything to add to what I told you before.”
“I wasn’t entirely open when we spoke.” Silence met Reese’s words.