Page 19 of The Smart Killer

Noah nodded. “Listen, local PD will need access to your sister’s apartment. We’ll need to gather her devices, laptop, desktop, whatever else she uses.”

“Hannah gave me a key to her place. I’ll get it,” she said, rising and heading out of the room. Noah clasped his hands together and looked over at McKenzie.

“Local PD call you in?” McKenzie said.

“Not yet. But Ray will speak to the chief.”

“I want in.”

“You know that’s not up to me. This is local.”

“She’s one of us.”

“I know that. But unless they call upon the county sheriff’s office, not much I can do.”

“Your father is Hugh Sutherland. I’m sure he can pull strings.”

“Don’t I know that? If this gets bigger, you have my word I’ll reach out.”

“Don’t go fucking this up, Sutherland.”

He nodded. “Anyway, it’s not like I’m working alone. Savannah has me babysitting a detective in training.”

McKenzie let out a chuckle. It was the first smile Noah had seen from him since he’d entered the apartment. “Aye, is that so? And where is this kid?”

“Out in the lot. Keeping watch over my vehicle.”

McKenzie roared with laughter. “Aye, just as I thought.”

As Callie returned, his laughter faded. She handed Noah a key and told him the apartment number. “I could go get it for you. Might save you having to get a search warrant.”

“You’ve done enough,” he said, rising. “I should get going.”

Callie saw him out, leaving McKenzie inside. Outside, she closed the door behind her. “Noah.”

“Yeah?”

“Find out who did this.” He nodded, hugged her, and went down to the ground floor. On the way down, his phone jangled in his pocket.

“Yeah?” He answered without looking at the caller ID.

“Noah,” Ray said without letting him get a word in. “Seems Jason was telling the truth. The M.E. just got back the results from the dental records. It’s not a match. The kids they’ve ID’d, but the male present with Hannah isn’t Adam.”

“Figured. These things are never straightforward.” He continued walking. “Tell me, did you pull the garbage from the residence?”

“Yeah. We got it. Why?”

“Check if there is a letter among it. I spoke with Callie a moment ago. She said Adam received a letter warning him to leave a few days before the fire.”

“Will do. How did Callie take it?”

“She already knew.”

“What?”

“People flap their gums, Ray.”

“Sounds about right. You get things worked out with Legacy?”