A Merciful Silence (Mercy Kilpatrick #4)(18)

No! “Maybe.” The cat vibrated contentedly under Mercy’s stroking hand.

“I’d noticed two small pet bowls on the floor in the kitchen. And there was a cat bed in the pink bedroom. I bet she misses her people.” Bolton ran a hand over the cat’s back.

Damn him.

“We’ll see,” Mercy admitted. “Maybe there are some Hartlage relatives who would take her in.”

But deep down she suspected she’d just acquired a cat.





NINE

Truman knocked on the front door of Steve Harris’s home.

The house didn’t have a garage, and Steve’s truck was parked on the street, directly in front of the fire hydrant. Looking around, Truman realized that the man really didn’t have anywhere else to park unless he went down the street quite a way. His neighbors’ vehicles filled both sides of the street. Yes, it was a safety issue, but Truman figured it’d only take the firemen an extra thirty seconds to bash in the windows of the truck to access the fire hydrant. Bringing up the issue on this visit wouldn’t get him any insight into the Verbeek family murder.

Steve answered the door. In his midfifties, Steve was a tall, angular man with an oddly wide face that didn’t suit the rest of his body. He was bald except for a little hair above his ears. His eyes immediately narrowed at the sight of Truman on his front porch.

Truman held up a hand before Steve could speak. “I’m not here about the violation I just walked past at your curb.”

Steve relaxed a fraction, but his gaze was still suspicious. “Then what do you want?”

“I’m doing a little research about some cases from twenty-odd years ago.”

“The Verbeek murders,” he stated in a flat tone. The suspicion vanished from Steve’s eyes, replaced by a distant emptiness.

“Do you mind answering a few questions?”

“Why? Why do you care about something that happened so long ago?”

Truman paused, weighing how much to reveal. “Something came up recently that has us reviewing the murders of those families.”

“Why? Grady Baldwin was tried and found guilty. The cases were closed, right?”

“They were.” Truman didn’t want to say that it was possible something similar had happened recently. How can I phrase this? “Sometimes we have to look at the past to find answers for the present.”

“What does that bullshit mean?” Steve shoved his hands in his pockets, his stance stiff, blocking the door.

Truman gave up on tact. “It means something violent has happened and we’re looking at the old cases for help.” He looked directly at Steve, all his cards on the table.

Steve considered him for a long moment. He took a step back and gestured for Truman to come in.

The inside of the home was surprisingly nice. From the outside, the old bungalow-style home looked as if it hadn’t been touched since the 1960s. But inside, it had been updated with nice wood floors, baseboards, a modern fireplace, and contemporary furniture. The home smelled of coffee and bacon.

Truman took a seat in an upholstered chair that was uncomfortable and stiff. Steve sat in a matching chair. “What happened?” Steve asked.

Truman mulled it over.

“You can’t tell me,” Steve stated before Truman could speak.

“Not yet.”

Steve slowly nodded. “It’s serious?”

“Yes.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Tell me about the morning you found the Verbeek family.”

Steve looked away, rubbing his jaw. “It’s been a long time. I try not to think about it. Never seen anything like that before. And I haven’t since, thank God.”

“What made you go in the house?”

“The door was open a bit and no one answered my knock, so I pushed it.” He wouldn’t meet Truman’s gaze. “I knew something was wrong . . . It didn’t smell right either. I called out and stepped inside. Dennis Verbeek was on the floor in the living room.” He looked down at his hands. “Blood had soaked his head and the floor. It wasn’t quite dry, but he was cold. I found Maria in the hallway. She was the same.”

He cleared his throat and his knuckles went white as his hands tightened.

“Maria was outside the girls’ room. I checked the twins first. They were bloody and cold like their parents, but when I touched Britta’s arm, she was still warm.”

His gaze met Truman’s. “Those girls were beaten in the head. I don’t understand the kind of person who does that to adults, let alone helpless small girls.”

“You called 911 from the Verbeek home?”

“Yes. I was too scared to move Britta from the top bunk bed . . . I was afraid I’d injure her worse. She was unconscious, with a head and mouth injury. There was nothing else I could do, so I waited for the ambulance and prayed she continued to breathe.”

“Did you know Grady Baldwin?”

Anger filled Steve’s face. “I knew who he was. I’d never talked to him. I knew Dennis Verbeek had hired Grady to help him reroof his home a few months before.”

“He made a pass at Maria Verbeek and got turned down?”

“So they said.”

“You don’t believe it?”