Page 132 of Dead Man's List

“Honestly? I figured Hugh had found a hit man. Or that he and the others had done their ownOrient Express. All I know is that I wasn’t involved in Munro’s death.”

“Did you know about the dead man’s switch?” Kit asked. “The list he threatened to make public were he to die unexpectedly?”

“I didn’t until Hugh mentioned it. I always paid Munro. Like clockwork. I never missed and was never late, so I guess he didn’t think he had to threaten me.”

“Have you received instructions for this month’s payment?” Kit asked. “In the last few days, I mean.”

Shoemaker flinched. “Yes. I got a text to my phone on Sunday. My day is the seventeenth. I’m to take the money to a locker in the bus station.”

“So you knew that request couldn’t have come from Brooks Munro,” Kit said. “Since he was dead by then.”

“No, I guess not. So what happens next?”

“We’ll keep you, pending corroboration of your story.”

Shoemaker frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” Kit said, “that we’ll be searching your home, office, phone, and financial records just like we said we would when westarted this interview. It’s being recorded, so you can watch it for yourself if you want verification.”

Shoemaker started to rise from his chair, but a menacing look from Connor had him sitting back down. “You’re going to search my house?”

“Yes,” Kit said. “You are involved in a murder-for-hire plot, Mr.Shoemaker. You should have come forward immediately after it happened. Like it or not, you’re part of a conspiracy to commit murder.”

“But I didn’tdoanything!”

“That remains to be seen,” Kit said. “You didn’t report it, though, and that makes you look really bad, sir.”

“But…but now my wife is going to know.”

Kit shrugged. “That’s not our problem.”

Shoemaker’s eyes narrowed, fury clear on his face. “You—”

“Peter!” his lawyer interrupted. “That’s enough. We’ll get a deal. You’ve clearly given them a lot of information they didn’t have before. We will get a deal.”

Shoemaker slumped into his chair. “This is a nightmare.”

Kit glanced at Connor and saw his nod. He was also done.

She pushed to her feet. “Yeah, well, this killer’s five victims would agree with you that this is a nightmare.Ifthey were still alive to do so. Sit tight. We’ll be back.”

They left Peter Shoemaker with his head in his hands.

San Diego PD, San Diego, California

Thursday, January 12, 12:45 a.m.

“Well?” Navarro asked. “What did you think?”

“Yeah, Sam,” Kit said, closing the observation room door. “What’s your opinion?”

Sam continued watching Peter Shoemaker, who’d begun to shiver despite the warmth of the interview room. The man pulled his head from his hands and was nervously pulling on his blazer. Mopping his sweaty brow, Shoemaker stuffed a handkerchief into his coat pocket, tugged his sleeves into place, then dropped his head back into his hands.

“I’m not sure,” Sam admitted. “He definitely hates his wife.”

Navarro snorted. “I got that.”

Sam sighed. “Paying most of your salary to a blackmailer seems like a lot of trouble to hide an affair from your wife, but I suppose the stakes are high.”