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CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

COTTONWOOD, ARIZONA

TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2023

4:30 P.M.

Ali was clearing her desk in preparation for leaving the office when a call came in from Frigg. Before answering, Ali studied the phone with some apprehension. The AI seldom called with good news, and Ali couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong now. It wasn’t Cami. She had boarded her flight at Heathrow hours earlier. In fact, Mateo had already left to drive to Phoenix to pick her up and bring her home.

“Good afternoon, Ali,” Frigg said. “I hope you’re having a pleasant day.”

That depends , Ali thought. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“I believe your day is about to get better,” Frigg replied. “Do you remember Frank Munoz?”

A little over two years earlier, Frank Munoz, an ex-con bent on wreaking revenge on the people who had put him in prison years earlier, had very nearly taken B.’s life along with that of his airport shuttle driver, Hal Holden, the former Pasadena police officer who had effected Munoz’s original arrest and conviction.

“Of course,” a puzzled Ali replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Remember how we located him?”

“I believe you managed to find him online and locate his home address.”

“Correct,” Frigg answered. “After he burned down his former wife’s home, I hacked into several nearby news sites and planted a trojan so I could capture the IP addresses of all people logging in to that story, especially ones doing so repeatedly. It worked then, and it’s working now. It turns out that the homicide investigators in Edmonds have finally gotten the hint.”

“What hint?”

“That they need to be looking at people other than Clarice Brewster and Donna Jean Plummer. I’ve hacked into several Seattle area news sites capturing the names and IP addresses of everyone logging into stories connected to the Charles Brewster homicide. There was an update on KOMO News earlier this morning. According to that, nameless sources close to the investigation speaking anonymously have revealed that, although Mr. Brewster’s widow is still considered to be a suspect in the case, detectives are currently following up on leads in Southern California.”

“That is good news,” Ali said.

“But it gets better,” Frigg replied. “One of the devices logging in to that news site was the burner, logging in from an IP address on Churchill Drive in Huntington Beach, California.”

Ali allowed herself a relieved deep breath. “So, it’s either Adam or Joel.”

“Definitely Joel,” Frigg declared. “As soon as the cops lay hands on that burner and go through what’s on it, let’s hope they’ll have everything they need to put Mark Atherton and Joel Franklin away for good.”