Page 89 of Wild Frost

"Where is Slater now?”

”I’m about to call the regional crime lab and find out. I’ll keep you posted.”

Dread twisted my stomach. Maybe Slater was Ian's guy on the inside who owed him a favor.

47

It was about an hour later when the sheriff called back. "You want the good news or the bad news?"

"Just the good news, please. I've had enough bad news recently."

"The crime lab received the evidence. It was sealed and didn't appear to be tampered with.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't get too excited. When the lab tech opened the bag containing the panties, he noticed a faint odor of bleach.”

My heart sank.

"Somebody got to that evidence. It's likely that any DNA that remained on that fabric has been degraded. It seems like Ian accomplished his mission.”

"Where is Slater now?”

"I sent a patrol unit to his residence to pick him up. They have him in custody. I'm sure you want to have a talk with him.”

"Absolutely!” I said. “Check all the logs in the property department. See if anyone else accessed that evidence. We'll be there shortly."

I ended the call and told JD. We said goodbye to Teagan, hopped off the barstools, and hustled across the parking lot to the Porsche.

By the time we got to the station, Slater was in an interrogation room. We chatted with the sheriff in a hallway before questioning the courier.

“The property clerk said no one had direct access to the evidence lockers during her shift, except for her,” Daniels said. “Oddly enough, the camera went down,” he added with a suspicious expression. “There’s no footage from the last several hours. I’ve got Crenshaw looking into it.”

“I want to talk to the clerk.”

“We did have a power surge during the storm this afternoon that could have knocked the camera offline.”

I frowned.

“Find out if this asshole had any involvement,” Daniels said with a sour face.

JD and I stepped into the interrogation room and took a seat across the table from Zach. He was in his late 20s with short brown hair, thick eyebrows, and dark eyes. He carried a little more weight than he would have liked, and his black polo shirt clung snugly around his belly.

I flashed my badge and made introductions.

Zach wasn’t cuffed. He wasn’t under arrest yet. He raised his hands innocently. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but that evidence was sealed when I picked it up, and sealed when I dropped it off. I’ve been working for the lab for five years and never had a problem.”

"You picked up the evidence this evening. But it didn't get to the lab until over an hour later. It doesn’t take that long to get to the lab. Can you account for the discrepancy?"

"I was hungry. I stopped and got something to eat.”

"Where at?"

"Big Tony's. It's the best pizza in town.”

That much was true.

"Look, I didn't do anything,” Zach said. “I don't have a dog in this fight. I told you, I've been shuttling evidence around for the county for the last five years. Never an incident. Never a problem. I like my job. It's not hard. Why would I want to screw that up?"