Page 40 of Line of Sight (Second Sight #4)

DAN STARED at the whiteboard. “I don’t know if it’s just me, but we’re four days into the new year already, and it feels as if we haven’t gotten very far.

Nothing points to Greg being anywhere near Boston when his stepbrother was murdered.

No one saw anything suspicious in Forest Park the day Brad was killed.

We haven’t interviewed Jennifer Sullivan yet, and—”

“Hold that thought,” Riley interjected. “There was a call for you while you were out this morning. Jennifer will be able to meet with us Tuesday next week.”

“Well, that’s something.” Dan knew he sounded glum, but they seemed to be at a dead end in terms of clues. He hadn’t given them much more to work with, beyond the feeling Mark Wilson was afraid of being found out.

As for what he wanted to stay hidden, Dan had no clue.

I don’t think I’m going to be useful with these cases.

The realization was depressing.

A shadow fell across his desk. Gary stood there, his gaze focused on Dan. “We’ll get there. You know that, don’t you?”

Dan couldn’t hold back his smile. “You’re getting way too good at reading me.”

Gary buffed his nails on his shirt. “Good to know.”

“I have an idea,” Riley said suddenly. “We can’t move further with Mark Wilson’s case until we speak with Jennifer, so in the meantime, let’s take a look at the next murder.”

“Works for me,” Gary said with a shrug.

Dan stood and went to the whiteboard. He pointed to the picture of Heather Kelly. “I remember this one. Her husband was running for office at the time. Senator—”

“Jason Kelly, the senator for Maine. I remember thinking at the ball that he seemed familiar.” Gary stared at Heather’s photo. “So her body was found late on the evening of June 8, 2013.”

“Found where?” Riley asked.

“In her office in Boston. She ran a charity foundation. According to the report, she’d been working late. Everyone else had gone home.”

Dan grimaced. “The killer used a heavy-duty steam cleaner, aimed at her face, but that’s not the worst part.” He peered at the police report. “The tech boys examined it and found he’d modified the device.”

“Modified how?”

“Apparently a second heating element had been added. So it could generate more steam in less time. He set it up on the desk, the nozzle taped to a pile of books aimed at head height, then left it running. No fingerprints were found on the cleaner.”

“Did they trace it?”

“Yes. It had been bought for cash. The store couldn’t give any details about the buyer.”

“Did anyone see the killer? I mean, he had to have brought that piece of kit with him.” Riley smacked his head. “Stupid question. He strolled in there as though he was one of the cleaning staff, didn’t he?”

“The security guard on duty said they were all gone by about nine. He thinks there was one more, but he couldn’t swear to it.”

“And where was Heather’s husband at the time?” Gary asked. “Not that I’m suggesting he bumped off his wife.”

Riley snorted. “ Sure you’re not. But you’re thinking he might be behind it.”

“Because that’s the pattern, isn’t it?” Dan added.

Riley consulted his folder. “Okay, according to the reports, Senator Kelly was at the wedding of one of their classmates.”

Dan recalled something from the interview with Marie McCarthy. “Would that be Greg Collins’s wedding?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

Dan chuckled. “Let me take a stab at who else was at that wedding. Because you don’t need to be psychic to think Jennifer Sullivan and the rest of the band were there.”

Riley made a note. “I’m on it.”

Dan stroked his jaw. “A wedding…. And what do weddings have? Lots of people to see him. Potential witnesses.”

Gary grinned. “You’re getting a feeling about this, aren’t you?”

Dan counted off on his fingers. “They’re supposedly at the concert in New York when Scott was murdered.

That means witnesses and TV cameras. They’re all on a boat trip while someone kills Mark Wilson, with a witness to that effect.

They’re at a wedding while someone kills Heather. Lots of witnesses.”

“Even if they somehow managed to be in two places at once, what about motives?” Riley joined Dan in front of the board. “There’s a reason none of these four have ever been suspected of the murders. Not one of them has a motive.”

“Then let’s put our heads together and see if we can come up with one or two.

” Gary picked up a dry wipe pen. He pointed to the McCarthy crime-scene photos.

“Okay, Marie McCarthy said when Greg and Scott reached twenty-one, Owen told them they would eventually run all his companies. That’s a whole lotta money. ”

“You think that’s important?” Riley asked. “What bearing could it have on the case?”

Dan stilled. “You didn’t see how Greg lives. Five-star luxury all the way.”

Gary nodded. “You think Scott would have had a similar lifestyle, knowing what we do about him?” He glanced at Riley. “This guy might only have been twenty-two when he died, but he was an honest-to-God philanthropist.”

“Exactly.” Dan’s heartbeat raced. “Now, just suppose Scott learns he’s going to inherit joint control of an empire. Would that sit well with him? With his ideals?”

Gary shook his head. “I think it’s reasonable to conclude he’d probably have given away most of his money.”

“My thoughts too. But where does that leave Greg? All that money that’ll slip through his fingers one day….”

“Now wait a minute.” Riley scraped his hand over his scalp.

“Suppose you’re right. Suppose Scott did harbor thoughts of donating most of his inheritance to charities or worthy causes.

Who’s to say by the time Owen stepped down, Scott might have changed his tune?

Lost a few ideals? Discovered he was living in the real world?

How many years passed between Owen making the decision to hand it all over to the boys and actually relinquishing control? ”

Gary consulted his notebook. “Eleven years. Owen died a year later.”

Dan caught his breath. “Riley, you might be on to something. Maybe Greg couldn’t count on that scenario. Perhaps he wanted to stack the odds in his favor early on.”

Riley let out a long whistle. “You mean Greg was playing a long game?”

Gary’s breathing hitched. “Remember what his mom said? She told us how he really stepped up for Owen. What if that was always the goal? Scott dies, Greg is there for Owen, makes himself indispensable….”

“It’s a bit of a risk, though,” Dan remarked. “What if Owen changed his mind?”

“It’d be a risk worth taking if it worked.” Gary stared at him. “He’d have years to ingratiate himself, remember. If he got a feeling Owen was thinking of changing his mind, all he had to do was up his game.”

Dan shook his head. “What guy in his early twenties considers murder to secure an inheritance?”

“Then you think it’s possible,” Gary concluded.

“Unfortunately yes.”

“What about Mark Wilson?” Riley demanded. “What’s the motive there?”

Dan consulted his notes. “Jennifer Sullivan hit the news in ’98 when she went public on the scientific breakthrough she and Mark had made. By the look of things, she got herself a pretty good career out of it. But at no time did she claim all the work as her own.”

“They were going to publish,” Gary added.

“Mark’s parents said he had two companies he wanted to work with.” Dan glanced at Gary. “Let’s talk to them before we meet with Jennifer.”

Gary cocked his head to one side. “What are you thinking?”

Dan’s mind raced. “This is only a theory, okay?”

Riley chuckled. “But your theories are usually on the money, so tell us.”

“Jennifer did the decent thing. She gave Mark credit for his contribution to their project. What if Mark wasn’t so decent? Those two companies he approached…. Did he tell them it was their work—or just his?”

Riley frowned. “So what if he did lie about it? No one’s gonna murder him over a lie.”

“Jennifer might,” Dan interjected. “If she found out what he was up to. Her future career was probably riding on this.”

The silence that followed told him his theory might not be so far-fetched after all.

“Then why not confront him?” Riley countered.

Dan shrugged. “Sure, she could do that. Or she could simply remove him from the equation. Mark dies. She continues with the project, only now it’s all hers. She credits him as having contributed, and no one bats an eyelid.”

Gary expelled a long breath. “That’s plausible. It assumes the companies would say nothing when she published, however.”

“Why would they?” Dan remonstrated. “She didn’t claim it all as her own work, did she? Maybe they put two and two together, worked out what Mark was up to, and didn’t say anything, because hell, the guy had just been murdered. If they said anything, it would only cause pain for his family.”

Riley grinned. “Okay, I’m really liking these ideas. What about Heather Kelly?”

“Ask me when we start looking into her case in depth,” Gary told him. “But I’ll make a prediction.” His eyes gleamed. “I’ll bet you a month’s supply of coffee and cinnamon rolls that when Jeff Murphy’s murder was taking place, all four of them were together.”

Riley’s face lit up, but then he pouted. “Yeah, I’m not gonna take that bet.”

“We know there’s a fifth person somewhere in all this,” Dan observed. “They organized the concert tickets. They organized the camping trip too. I think connecting them to the wedding is a bit of a stretch, however.”

Gary widened his eyes. “Unless it was the other way around.”

“What do you mean?”

“If he knew these guys, then he’d have known about the wedding. The date. He could’ve arranged to kill Heather when he knew they’d all have alibis. Come on, weddings are organized months, even years in advance.”

“Wait a minute.” Riley stared at him. “You’re saying Unknown Guy is our killer? He arranged to kill Heather?”

Dan held up his hands. “Hey, it’s just a theory. But if all four of them have alibis….” He gestured to the whiteboard. “ Someone killed all these people.”

“But how does he benefit?” Riley demanded. “Why is he doing this?”

Dan said nothing for a moment, not wanting to give voice to the idea that bloomed into something horrific.

“Dan?”

He gazed at Riley. “Maybe he is getting something.”

“Like what? Payment?”

“We could look at bank records,” Gary suggested. “See if any of these four made large withdrawals around the times of the murders.”

Dan shook his head once more. “No. This guy doesn’t do it for the money.”

“Then what does he do it for?”

He looked Gary in the eye.

“He does it because he likes it.”