Page 56 of Last Seen Alive

Mere hours before her murder. “Were you here then?”

“I was.”

“Do you remember her? Long brown hair, likely straightened, gray eyes, mid-thirties?”

“Yes.”

“Was she with anyone?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Did you see how she got here?”

“I think she walked from somewhere.”

This place was a fair distance from Lux Suites for her to have huffed it by foot. She might not have been dropped off right at the doors though. Possibly in the lot or down the street. “Do you have security cameras that cover the lot?”

“Just inside.” She pointed to a camera nestled against the ceiling in one corner of the room. “It covers the front desk and door.”

Amanda’s mind was running wild. Why would Claire leave a note with the estate lawyer for Logan to come here for answers if she was just going to empty the box? Did this letter also implicate someone in a crime, and had that person found out? Had Claire been forced to remove and destroy the letter? And going back to her conversation with Trent, had Claire also held on to the Glock all these years to use against a partner as a bargaining chip? Had it been in the box along with the letter for Logan? “Thanks for your help.” Amanda tapped the counter and motioned for Logan to lead the way outside.

“What the hell, Mandy?” Logan flailed his arms. “She tells me to come here, then empties the box. That’s a new low.”

“I’m not sure she had a choice.”

“Oh please.”

Did she tell him her suspicion?“Think about it. Why leave a note if she was going to empty it out? That makes no sense.”

Logan looked over at her. “What are you saying? Someone forced her to do it? Why?”

She couldn’t disclose too much and risk compromising the case. Logan might be able to help her stitch the timeline together though. “When did Claire leave that note with her estate lawyer?”

“Here’s the real kicker. I asked that question. Turns out before we left for Nebraska.”

Amanda gave that some thought. “I’ll be right back.” She went back inside and asked the clerk when Claire had first rented the box. Her answer confirmed that Claire had secrets long before meeting Logan.

TWENTY-TWO

There wasn’t much Amanda could say to Logan about Claire because he was no longer listening. She dropped him off at the Maxwells’ house, grabbed something quick to eat, and returned to Central.

She found Trent at his desk and went over to him. “The safe deposit box was empty.”

“Thought he was told to go there.”

“Uh-huh, he was. But apparently, Claire was there last Friday afternoon.”

“The same day she died.”

“Yes, that tidbit didn’t escape my notice either. But it doesn’t make sense that she’d send Logan there only to empty it ahead of time.” She told Trent that she thought the killer might have forced Claire to do it. And if not that, she could have felt pressured to do so. She then shared what else she’d learned from the clerk at Locked Up Tight. “Claire rented the box when she was twenty-one. That’s fifteen years ago. In all this time she’s only been back twice. Once the day before leaving for Nebraska, and once last Friday when she removed the contents.” She stopped talking as Trent’s grin kept growing bigger. “What is it?”

“Oh, let’s say some things are coming together, but before I get to the real juicy bits, I went to Lux Suites. No one recognized Rita Flynn.”

“All right, so if they were in recent contact, it wasn’t there.”

“Yep. Now, I called the lab about the ballistics on the Glock. Turns out they were just about to call you.” Trent stopped talking there and paled.

“What?”