Chapter 33

THIRTY-THREE

Heading into an interview with a person who could be a violent criminal was never easy. Keeping a casual and unthreatening attitude was pivotal to getting information from people. After witnessing what had happened in the root cellar at the Old Mitcham Ranch, any of the men they were interviewing could be a monster. After speaking with Twotrees, the hairs on the back of Jenna’s neck had stood to attention. She’d interviewed so many nice serial killers hiding in plain sight that she often relied on her own intuition to bring these people to justice. Both these men were close friends and up until this moment she’d never considered the possibility of two monsters.

Her attention moved to the man behind the desk. Steel-gray eyes met her gaze from a sharp face. He had a pencil tucked behind one ear and in front of him was a legal pad covered with notes and numbers. Long shirt sleeves had been rolled up to display muscular arms that ran to wide shoulders. Both men had a familiarity about them in their build, and she had no doubt they’d been a force to be recognized when playing football. She introduced herself and Kane, and Wasser surprised her by smiling good-naturedly and waving her to a seat.

“You both look very serious. May I offer you a cup of coffee or a soda?” Wasser moved to get up.

“We’re good, thanks.” Kane waited for Jenna to sit down and then took the seat beside her.

Jenna set her things out on the table. “Mr. Wasser, you’ll be aware that the bodies of your friends Cole and Abby were discovered in the river this week.”

“Yeah, it’s a terrible thing. I saw it on the news.” He clasped his hands on the table, covering the notes on the legal pad. “We always wondered what had happened to them. Did they get lost in the caves or something?”

Jenna shook her head. “No, they were murdered and now we’re investigating the case. I’m conducting interviews with the members of the group of friends who went to the mountain on the night they went missing. We’ve already interviewed Josie and Marissa, as well as your business partner, Mr. Twotrees. If you could start from the beginning, as in when you arrived at the mountain, and go on until you returned to your vehicles, I would appreciate it.”

When Wasser gave a facsimile of Twotrees’ account of the night, Jenna looked at Kane and rolled her eyes. The story was so well rehearsed he even chuckled in the same place. “That story is word for word from everyone we’ve spoken to so far. Surely, there must have been something else that happened that night. A detail we can check up on. Right now we have only the group of you to prove you were together at the riverside camp. What I need are witnesses to confirm you were in a certain place at a certain time.”

“Hmm.” Wasser rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “It’s such a long time ago but hearing about Abby and Cole has stirred a few memories. Two of the players on our football team got into a fight over a girl, they stumbled through our firepit, and we needed to stamp out the flames. Is that the type of thing you’re looking for?”

Surprised by the extra information, Jenna lifted her pen and nodded. “Yeah, that’s perfect. What were their names?”

“Cory Dunn and Alan Clarke. I don’t recall the name of the girl they were fighting over. It was all over in a few seconds.” Wasser stared into space for a beat. “I know Cory moved to LA with his parents just after he graduated, but Alan still lives in town here somewhere. I did see him at one of our last reunions.”

Relieved to get more information about the night Cole and Abby were murdered, Jenna made notes and then lifted her head to look at him. “You’ll be aware that Marissa Kendrick was found murdered on Thursday. Can you account for your movements from lunchtime on Wednesday to approximately eleven on Thursday morning?”

“I move around a fair bit in my job, making sure that consignments are sent and parts ordered. Many garages across the county rely on getting their parts without delay. I do believe I was in the office most of that day. I went home around seven o’clock that night. I stayed home and watched TV and then came back to work the following morning. I live alone, so I don’t have anyone to corroborate my story, but I’ll be happy to submit my GPS records in my vehicle and on my phone, if that’s necessary. I have nothing to hide. My life is an open book.”

“When did you last see Marissa Kendrick?” Kane leaned forward in his chair.

“Oh, last year around tax time.” Wasser opened his hands wide. “It’s no secret she was my tax agent. Someone from your office called me late on Wednesday to ask if I’d seen her and does she come to my office or do I go and see her, but you’d know that, right?” He sat back in his chair. “Marissa was very efficient. I’ll miss her.”

Jenna didn’t know as Maggie had made most of the calls and his name must have slipped through the net, but then many of the townsfolk could have used Marissa’s services. It didn’t mean they’d murdered her. Although not convinced of his innocence, she would call his bluff. “To eliminate you from the investigation I would like those GPS records. She opened a new page on her notebook, wrote a permissions slip, detailing the information they required and his approval. She pushed the notepad across the desk to him. “If you don’t mind signing and dating this? We won’t need your phone or your vehicle, just the details: your phone number and carrier, your vehicle’s plate number and make and model.”

“Not a problem.” Wasser wrote down the relevant information and handed the book back to her. “I hope you find Marissa’s killer.” He smiled at her.

Bodies of his old friends had been discovered and his tax agent had been murdered and he smiled at her as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Two can play at that game. Jenna gave him a confident smile. “Oh, we’ll catch him. The problem with killers like this one is they believe they’re invincible, but even the best leave trace evidence behind and one skin flake is enough to identify them.” She stood. “Thank you for your assistance. Have a nice day.”