Page 143 of Dead Man's List

Kit held up her hands, hoping to both reassure and quiet the man. “What’s your name, sir?” She glanced at the officers. “Can you let him go? Don’t run, sir. We want to help you.”

Because she’d had a sudden shiver at the thought of this man coming to check on his daughter. From his age, Kit was guessing that his daughter was Peter Shoemaker’s wife.

The man yanked out of the officers’ grips and turned to face Kit. “I’m Duncan Tindall.”

“He is,” Connor confirmed in a quiet whisper that only Kit could hear.

Even Kit recognized that name. Duncan Tindall was one of the wealthiest men in Southern California.

“Thank you, sir. I’m Detective McKittrick and this is my partner, Detective Robinson. Tell me what’s happened.”

Tindall drew a shaky breath and let it out. “My daughter Aylene isn’t answering my phone calls. Shealwaysanswers my calls. My twin granddaughters are staying with us for a few daysand they wanted to talk to their mother, but she didn’t answer their calls, either. Something is wrong.”

“Do the children live with you?” Kit asked.

“No. My daughter asked me to keep them for a few days. She and my son-in-law wanted some time alone before the spring semester got busy.”

“And you have a key to the house?” Connor asked.

Tindall glowered. “Yes, I have a key. I bought this damn house!”

“I’m so sorry, sir,” Kit said, hoping she sounded placating. “We didn’t mean to insinuate anything. You say your key no longer fits?”

“It doesn’t. I was trying the windows when these…menaccosted me.”

The uniforms gave Kit and Connor identical unimpressed looks. “We were assigned to make sure no one entered who wasn’t authorized,” one of them said.

Tindall’s eyes narrowed. “Why?” The single word was filled with a combination of outrage and fear.

“Your son-in-law was brought in last night for questioning,” Connor told him.

Tindall’s outrage seemed to deflate, shock taking over. “For what? Pete’s a fine man.”

A taxi pulled up behind them and none other than Peter Shoemaker got out of the back seat. He waved the taxi away and started toward them, a wary expression on his face.

“Why are you here, Dad?” Shoemaker asked, ignoring Kit and Connor.

“Why doesn’t my key fit in the lock?” Tindall demanded. “And why were you brought in for questioning?”

“I’d hoped I’d be able to talk to Aylene about this in private first. Why areyouhere, Detectives?”

“To search your house and to talk to your wife,” Kit said. “We’re confirming alibis, just as we said we would. Sounds like we all want to talk to Mrs.Shoemaker.”

“Tindall,” Tindall corrected. “She kept her maiden name.”

Which seemed to bother Peter Shoemaker if his frown was any indication. “Your key doesn’t work because Aylene changed the locks,” he said. “There were reports of a prowler around, so she wanted to be careful.” He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and gave one to his father-in-law. “Here you go. Now, why are you here, Dad?”

“Aylene isn’t answering my calls. She didn’t answer when the girls called, either.”

Shoemaker stilled. “She didn’t answer when I called, either. I thought she was mad because I didn’t come home last night.” He started for the front door at a fast jog. “She was mad when I left.”

“Did you tell her where you were going?” Kit asked, following closely behind because the shiver down her spine had grown to full-blown dread.

Something was wrong.

“No. She was already in the bathtub when…when I was summoned. I figured I’d only be an hour. Two tops. I told her to enjoy her bath and I’d be home soon.” Shoemaker’s hands shook as he tried to get his key into the lock. “And then…after…I didn’t want to have to explain anything to her over the phone.”

“Explainwhat?” Tindall demanded. “Dammit, Pete. What’s going on?”