Ding Dong Dead

48

Caroline sits in an interrogation room with Matt Albright. Good thing Gretchen took off down the street before the detective found out about their escapade at the museum. He’s working his jaw like he’s trying to restrain an angry outburst. It crosses her mind to push him a little. What happens when her daughter’s boyfriend gets really angry? She’d like to see him at his worst.

If he’s not the right guy for Gretchen, she wants to know now.

“Let me get this straight,” he says. “You spent the night at the museum after I specifically told you that it was off-limits?”

“You never told me any such thing.”

“I warned your daughter. The two of you violated police orders. That building is under investigation. It’s a crime scene. I can’t believe it.” He studies the ceiling like he might find the answer written up there.

Caroline feels a tinge of compassion for him. He’s in a tough place, sitting on the fence between his professional ethics and his personal relationship with her daughter. Would he be exhibiting this kind of frustration with two women he didn’t know? She doesn’t think so. He feels helpless and is afraid for them. His emotions surface as anger. She studied psychology in college and is putting it to good use.

She won’t let him get to her.

His elbows are on the table. He rubs both hands through his hair. “Where is she?” he asks.

“I said I’ll tell you but not yet.” Calm down first.

“The guy you hog-tied insists he was protecting you.”

“Hardly likely. He broke in. He had a knife.”

“You think he’s a killer.”

“Yes.”

“Both Flora Berringer and Allison Thomasia were murdered with a geologist’s hammer, not a switchblade. The killer didn’t use a knife on his victims. The guy you assaulted is in trouble for breaking and entering and carrying, but not for murdering a woman in a cemetery. Not for stashing bones in an armoire.”

Could Matt be right? Caroline isn’t sure. But Jerome, not exactly a harmless guy, is off the street. “I wouldn’t discount him if I were you,” she says.

“Where is she?”

“At the banquet hall. She has my cell phone.”

She gives him the number and he dials with his thumb. “No answer.”

“The phone was running low on power.”

They are out in a front entry room of the police station when another cop pulls Matt aside. Whispers. She hears only one word. Berringer.

“I’ll have someone take you home,” Matt says to her. “I’ll let you know if we need anything else from you.”

He has dismissed her, distracted.

The detective stops at a window and speaks clearly, so Caroline doesn’t miss a word. “Locate a car in central Phoenix,” he says to the dispatcher. “Have the squad pick up Gretchen Birch and bring her here.” He gives the location of the banquet hall before disappearing down the hall.