Wrecked (Josie Gray Mysteries #3)(19)

Otto handed the pendant back to Roy, careful not to smudge with his gloves what might hold a partial fingerprint. “I think it has something to do with the Catholics. Some bizarre splinter group.”

“Phillips is Catholic.” Roy stepped around the two men installing the new piece of glass and yelled down the street to Deputy Dave Phillips, who was patrolling the perimeter.

“I need you a minute!”

Phillips said hello to the men working in the entryway as he walked inside. He wore the standard sheriff’s department uniform: beige pants with a brown stripe down the side of the leg, and a brown shirt with a silver sheriff’s star over his breast pocket. His hair was cut in a buzz so short that his sunburnt scalp was visible. He was a clean-shaven kid of about twenty-five, trim with an athletic build. Otto hitched his gun belt up and wondered how many weeks of pastries he would have to deny himself to look like that.

“What’s up, Sheriff?”

He even sounded young, thought Otto.

Roy said, “What do you know about this?” He held the pendant under the floor lamp that stood between the couches.

Phillips took a look and pulled back. “That’s Santa Muerte.”

Roy gave him a skeptical look.

“She’s supposed to be some kind of saint, but the Catholics don’t like her.”

“A saint with a gun and a cigarette?” Otto said. “What’s the significance?”

“No clue,” Phillips said.

“How hard would it be to track down something like this? To find out where someone might buy it?”

Phillips grimaced and shook his head. “They’re all over the place. My wife’s family lives in Mexico City. There’s stores called botanicas. They sell little…” He stopped, trying to think of the English translation. “Like herbal stuff and religious trinkets. Alternative medicine and folk remedies. They carry Catholic stuff, rosary beads and holy water. Some of them carry Santa Muerte jewelry and statues. She’s a big deal in Mexico.”

Roy pulled a hand down his long bushy mustache, frowning at Phillips. “In other words, this won’t help us narrow down our killer.”

Phillips shrugged. “The only Santa Muerte followers around here that I know of is that group outside of town.”

“That little ranch house over by the mud flats?” Otto asked.

“Yeah, that’s it. Don’t know much about them. Just rumors,” Phillips said.

Otto nodded. “That’s good. We’ll check it out.”

By the time he and Roy finished with the crime scene and the paperwork, it was going on seven o’clock. Otto drove back to the police department to check in with Josie.

After canvassing the Driftriver neighborhood, Josie and Marta had returned to the police station to run account information on Christina and Dillon. Josie started with the cell phone company, West Texas Mobile. Josie knew Christina used the company because Dillon had secured a small-business package deal for them. Josie had a contact there who had provided her confidential information in the past. The employee could have been fired for divulging the information without a subpoena, but she had been genuinely intent on aiding the police. Josie figured she either had a family link to someone who worked in law enforcement, maybe a husband who was a cop, or she just liked the diversion, the thrill of doing something behind the boss’s back. Regardless of the reason, Josie had been thankful for her help.

Josie dialed the company’s number and asked for the woman by name.

Several seconds later she picked up. “This is Arlene. How may I help you?”

“Arlene, this is Chief Josie Gray with the Artemis Police. How are you today?”

“Oh, I’m good! How are you, Chief?”

“I’m not so good. We had a tragedy this morning, and I’m desperate for information.”

She lowered her voice. “My husband called me about the murder and the missing man. He heard it at the press conference the sheriff gave. Is that the case?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I knew you’d be calling. I already pulled both their records.”

Josie sighed into the phone. “You are a godsend. This will go no further. I’ll get the records subpoenaed if it looks at all necessary.”

“I know you will. I’m not worried. I’ve got an Excel file pulled for the Office of Abacus, and for Mr. Reese and Ms. Handley for the past two weeks.” She paused for a second. “Just please destroy the file once you’ve taken an initial glance?”

“Absolutely,” she said before hanging up.

A few minutes later the file appeared in her e-mail and Josie sent a copy to Marta’s work account so she could examine Dillon’s calls. Josie scrolled through Christina’s personal cell phone record for the previous day and discovered she had received a three-minute phone call at 8:45 P.M. from an unknown caller. It was a received call, so Josie was fairly certain Christina was still alive at that point, unless the killer had answered her phone.

Josie glanced at the clock at the bottom of her computer screen and realized Dillon had officially been missing for twenty-four hours. She had been scouring records and studying call logs for the past three hours. Her cell phone lay beside her desk phone, and every time either phone rang her heart raced in hope and fear of what might be demanded.