Page 146 of Dead Man's List

“Well, no, sir. It’s the fault of whoever’s been killing people over the last week.”

Tindall stared at her again, and then clarity seemed to hit him. “Brooks Munro. You’re McKittrick. You’re investigating the murder of that slime bag Brooks Munro.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thenhe’sresponsible?”

Kit wanted to say that Munro couldn’t be responsible for Aylene’s murder, as he’d been dead for around a week. But that wasn’t what Tindall was asking.

She answered as best she could. “It’s related. I’d tell you more if I knew.” Mostly true. “Can I ask you a few questions? I know this is awful timing, but…”

“Of course,” Tindall murmured. “She was my baby. My only child.”

“I’m so sorry. Your daughter and son-in-law, did they seem happy together?”

He nodded. “Yes, they did. Pete treated her like a queen.”

That was interesting. Peter had said some awful things about his wife the night before. “Did your daughter work outside the home?”

“She worked from home, managing our family’s foundation. We give a substantial amount to charities around the city.”

Kit had read that in the news over the years. “So money wasn’t tight.”

Tindall shook his head. “No. She had a trust fund and minimal expenses. I paid for nearly everything so that she could do the charity work and Pete could teach school. They give back.”

Kit smiled sadly. “She sounds utterly wonderful.”

“She was,” Tindall whispered. “How am I going to tell the kids?”

“It’s not easy,” Kit said. “Not to tell and not to hear. I can give you the name of a good psychologist who specializes in childhood trauma due to crime. She’s helped my family.”

He lifted his eyes, so filled with pain and shock that they hurt Kit’s heart. “You lost someone?”

She couldn’t tell him about Rita, so she gave him the answerthat anyone who’d read an article about Kit would already know. “My sister. We were fifteen. We never caught the guy who did it, but wewillcatch whoever killed your Aylene.”

“Thank you, Detective.” Duncan Tindall lowered his face to his hands and began toweep.

Chapter Seventeen

San Diego PD, San Diego, California

Thursday, January 12, 4:45 p.m.

Kit slumped into her desk chair and frantically searched her drawer, sighing in relief when she found the Snickers bar she’d left there for just such an occasion. It was king-sized, but still not big enough for the amount of stress she needed to assuage.

“You’re not okay,” Navarro said, perching on the edge of her desk. “So I won’t even ask.”

“Good,” Kit said through a mouthful of chocolate and caramel. She swallowed the first bite and put the candy aside, because Navarro wanted an update. “Alicia Batra said the bathwater fucked with Aylene’s body temperature, so TOD’s not clear. Sometime between seven last night and seven this morning. Her husband said she was in the tub when SDPD showed up to bring him in for questioning and that was at nine fifteen last night, so that narrows the window a bit.”

“When did we pick up the other suspects?”

“Between nine and midnight. So any of them could have done it if TOD is on the earlier side.” She flung her arms wide. “Or none of them could have done it. We don’t know!”

Navarro remained silent, patiently waiting for her outburst to subside.

Kit took another huge bite of the candy bar and crossed her arms over her chest as she chewed. “I’m sorry,” she said when she’d finished the entire king-sized bar. She checked her drawer, but there was no more. “Dammit.”

Navarro pulled another Snickers bar from his jacket pocket. “I bought the party pack. Have one of mine.”