Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

S am picked up the warrant at the station and drove directly to Judy Glover, who studied it as if she was looking for a loophole. Her sharp eyes scanned the document, her lips pursed in concentration. Sam waited patiently, his hands clasped behind his back.

“This all seems to be in order,” Judy finally said, her tone clipped. She handed the warrant back to Sam with a guarded expression.

Sam had no idea why she didn’t like the cops, but he tried to remain friendly as he accepted the video file. “Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Glover. This tape could be crucial to our investigation.”

Judy merely nodded, her eyes already drifting back to her computer screen. Sam took that as his cue to leave.

By the time he got back to the station, Kevin had sent the ashes to the lab for analysis along with the feathers to see if they matched those in Alex’s jacket.

Wyatt, who had been sent out to make the tire cast, was also back and hunched over his desk, carefully examining the cast he had made.

“Find anything interesting?” Sam asked, leaning against Wyatt’s desk.

Wyatt looked up, his eyes bright with excitement. “Actually, yeah. Looks like the size of a car tire, so we’re looking for some sort of sedan. I’m running the tread pattern through our database now to see if we get a match.”

Sam nodded, impressed by Wyatt’s thoroughness. “Good work. Let me know as soon as you find something.”

Sam held up the thumb drive Judy had given him. “Anyone want to watch a really boring movie that hopefully has an exciting ending that helps solve the case?”

Kevin grinned, grabbing his chair and rolling it over. “I’m always up for a good mystery. Let’s see what we’ve got.”

The rest of the team gathered around, their faces illuminated by the glow of Kevin’s computer screen as he inserted the thumb drive and pulled up the video.

At first, the footage was uneventful. People came and went, their backs mostly to the camera. Sam leaned forward, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he tried to spot anyone familiar.

“There’s Alex,” Jo said, pointing at the screen. Sure enough, Alex Sheridan entered the building alone, his head down and his hands shoved into his pockets.

“He’s alone, so he must have been meeting someone there like we thought,” Jo said.

The team watched as more people filtered in and out, none of them recognizable. Sam drummed his fingers on the desk, frustration mounting. Would this video really give them the break they needed?

As the footage neared closing time, a few stragglers exited the building. But there was no sign of Alex.

“Wait, who is that?” Jo asked, leaning closer to the screen.

Kevin paused the video, zooming in on the person in question. The team collectively held their breath as the image sharpened, revealing a woman with wavy honey-blond hair.

“Isn’t that the woman from Marnie’s campaign?” Jo asked.

“Amelia Donovan,” Sam confirmed, his voice grim.

Jo’s brows rose. “She got Alex’s job as campaign manager.”

“You think she killed him for the position?” Kevin asked, his eyebrows raised skeptically.

Sam sighed, leaning back in his chair. “No. And besides, she’s leaving alone. But if she’s not involved, then why lie to us? She said she was at home the night Alex was killed.”

The team exchanged glances, the implications of Amelia’s deception sinking in. If she had lied about her whereabouts, what else could she be hiding?

“I’ll dig into her background, see if I can find anything,” Wyatt said.

As the tape continued to play, Sam suddenly sat up straighter, his eyes narrowing. “There’s another strange thing,” he said, pointing at the screen. “Look there. That’s the bartender locking up.”

Jo leaned in, her brow furrowed. “So? What’s so strange about that?”

“Alex never left the bar,” Sam said grimly.

A heavy silence settled over the room as the team processed this new information. If Alex had never left the bar, then how had he ended up dead in the lake?

“I planned to have a chat with Marnie about why those phone lines were switched. And while we’re at it, I can find out why Amelia lied,” Sam said.

Kevin raised an eyebrow. “But if Amelia had something to do with it, what about the cigar ashes at the crime scene ?”

Jo nodded thoughtfully. “If it’s tied to Alex’s death, she might not have acted alone.”

“Maybe she smokes cigars,” Wyatt suggested.

Jo frowned. “Could be, but does she have a car that matches the tire tracks? Or maybe those tire tracks are not related.”

“Of course, we need to prove the area where we think he went in is tied to the murder,” Sam said, his mind already racing ahead. “But there’s something else bugging me. That bag of money Harry said they found in the woods back in the day.”

Sam continued, “Harry made it sound like they didn’t search very thoroughly back then. And besides, they didn’t have Lucy. Maybe there’s something there that could help us.” He reached down to give the German Shepherd an affectionate pat.

At the mention of her name, Lucy’s ears perked up, her tail wagging slightly. Major, on the other hand, continued to snore softly atop the filing cabinet.

Wyatt frowned, his fingers flying over his keyboard. “I couldn’t find anything on Obsidian Enterprises, so how could we get permission to search again?”

Jo leaned forward, a mischievous glint in her eye. “Maybe we don’t need permission. The FBI is up there digging already. Who would think a few cops searching would be out of place?” She shrugged. “And who would even be watching?”

Sam considered this for a moment, weighing the risks and benefits. On one hand, an unauthorized search could land them in hot water. But on the other hand, if they found something crucial to the case, it could be worth it.

“All right,” he said finally, his jaw set with determination. “Let’s do it. I want to get over to Marnie’s campaign headquarters, and it’s already late in the day. First thing tomorrow. But we need to be careful. No drawing undue attention to ourselves.”