Page 30 of Crime Lab Cold Case (Pacific Northwest Forensics #2)
Michael had hired him as a favor to a friend of Reynolds, and the kid had proved himself to be competent, friendly and helpful. Maybe too helpful. He always seemed to be into everything, offering his services to everyone.
Michael got up from his desk and poked his head out the door. Dead quiet.
When he returned to his computer, he tried to find information about Westfall’s two children.
Nothing came up under that name in Marysville.
He couldn’t even find any property listed for Westfall.
He needed the help of his buddies in the department.
Or maybe once Natalie came clean about her identity and her connection to Katie, the sheriff’s department would take this link to Westfall seriously and get some warrants.
In the meantime, Michael snapped his laptop closed and jumped to his feet.
He could at least try to find out who had visited Westfall at Shady View.
If the man did have outside help, that assistant would have to visit Westfall in person.
The man couldn’t speak on the phone or send an email without help.
Michael packed up his stuff and jogged down the stairs, raising a hand to Sam as he exited the building. With any luck, Monica would not be working reception at Shady View. After Natalie’s outburst this morning, he wouldn’t make it two feet past Monica.
He drove back to Everett, barely noticing the scenery, his foot getting heavier on the accelerator. If he could make this right for Natalie maybe she’d trust him again. Maybe she’d stay.
He parked on the edge of the parking lot and slinked along the side of the building to peek in the window before heading through the front doors. He released a long breath when he spotted someone other than Monica sitting behind the reception desk.
Squaring his shoulders, he entered the lobby. Low-burning candles emitted a peachy scent that beat the hell out of the antiseptic burn in the hallways. His gaze darted to the doors that led to the rooms in the back. If that nurse from this morning came through those doors, he’d be toast.
He nodded briskly at the smiling woman behind the computer. She said hello without asking him if he had a loved one he wanted to park here. Good. He had a different image to project.
“Good afternoon, ma’am. I’m with the Washington State Patrol, and I need to have a look at your visitor log for the past few months.
” He placed a hand on his badge that did, in fact, have Washington State Patrol on it, but it didn’t much look like law-enforcement ID, especially as the picture had him in a white lab coat.
Her kind face creased, and her lips turned down. “Oh, this must be in connection to poor Mrs. Butler’s granddaughter. The police were out here this morning, I understand.”
“Yes, we were here to notify Mrs. Butler. Now, something else has come up, and we need to check the visitor logs.”
“Two months, you say?” The woman, Fay, was already clicking keys on her computer, and Michael stood still, his muscles tense.
Fay tapped the guest book on the counter. “We have people sign in here, but then we transfer that information to the computer for easier access. We do keep all the books, though, if you want to see those.”
“I think just the names would suffice for now. The computer record includes the resident the visitor signed in to see, correct?”
“Oh, yes, so you’ll see all of Mrs. Butler’s visitors, although honestly, I think it was just her granddaughter, who was a sweet person and a doctor.” Fay tapped a key with a flourish. “I’m printing the pages out for you now.”
“Thank you, Fay. We appreciate your help.” More than you’ll ever know .
She whipped the pages from the printer and handed them to Michael. As he reached for them, she playfully pulled them back. “I even highlighted Mrs. Butler’s name for you.”
“You’re so considerate.” He turned just as the door to the hallway swung open. He didn’t want to move to draw attention to himself, so he ducked his head to scan the pages in his hands.
“Barb isn’t eating her meals. I’m going to see if she’ll have some nutritional supplement.”
Recognizing the nurse’s voice from this morning, Michael buried his head even farther in the pages. He ran his finger down the list, searching for John Westfall’s name. He found the first instance and dragged his finger to the right under the visitor name column.
He almost dropped the whole sheaf of papers on the floor. How was this possible? He found the Westfall entry, and the next and the next, and the same visitor name met his horrified gaze each time.
He stood with his back turned to the conversation, clutching the edges of the papers, a bead of sweat trailing down his temple to his ear. When the nurse went back through the door, Michael spun around to face Fay.
His finger jabbed at the name of Westfall’s visitor. “Do you know John Westfall?”
Fay’s mouth grimaced before she managed to turn it into a tight smile. “Yes, I know Mr. Westfall.”
“This is his only visitor? Are you sure?”
Tilting her head, she said, “Of course, I’m sure. I thought you were looking at Mrs. Butler’s visitors.”
With his hands trembling, Michael dug his phone from his pocket and swiped through his photos until he found one from the office Christmas party last year. He used his fingers to zero in on one face in the group. “This? Is this his visitor?”
Fay put on a pair of glasses and leaned in. “Yes. That’s Mr. Westfall’s daughter, Nicole.”