Her Last Word(14)

“I do.” She read it off.

Adler dialed the number. The call went to voicemail. He opted not to leave a message. He wanted to deliver the news face-to-face so he could observe Keller’s reaction.

Adler and Quinn drove to a fast-food restaurant and went through the drive-through. Quinn ordered a bacon-and-egg biscuit and black coffee. He went for the same.

“This stuff is going to kill us,” she said.

“No one gets out of here alive.” But no crappy meal was going to do him in.

“When’s the last time you saw Logan?” she asked.

“A few days ago. He has his new prosthetic, and he’s learning to walk.”

“He and Suzanne were a little rocky. They okay?”

“We didn’t talk about his wife.” He hoped the marriage was solid enough to sustain through Logan’s injury.

They ate the rest of the meal in silence and then made their way to Keller and Mayberry Engineering thirty minutes away. When they arrived it was seven a.m., but the building was lit up.

A large sign embossed with a K&M logo resembling towering mountain peaks hung behind a smooth pine receptionist desk, where a young blond woman in a crisp red dress already sat. She smiled. “May I help you?”

Adler showed his badge, and she immediately rose to her feet.

“I’m looking for Jeremy Keller.”

She looked a little startled. “I’ll get him right away.” She disappeared into a maze of gray cubicles.

Minutes later a tall, lean man with thinning red hair and sporting tortoiseshell glasses shrugged on his suit jacket and adjusted his tie as he quickly walked toward the detectives.

“I’m Jeremy Keller,” the man said while extending his hand.

“I’m Detective Adler, and this is my partner, Detective Quinn. Is there someplace we can talk privately?”

Jeremy reached for his monogrammed cuff and tugged it with a jerk. “Sure. The conference room.” He led them into a corner room dominated by a mahogany table surrounded by twelve leather-bound chairs. He quietly closed the door and invited them to sit. “What’s this about?”

“Does your company always open this early?” Adler asked.

“We have a big deadline. I was here all night.”

“Never left?”

“Correct. It’s not unusual in this line of work.”

“That explains it. We stopped by your house an hour ago,” Adler said.

“As I said, I was here. We have a big presentation in two days. May I ask why you would go by my home?”

“You also didn’t answer your phone,” Adler countered.

Keller’s frown deepened. “I don’t when I’m working. What is this about, Detectives?”

“One of your employees, Jennifer Ralston, was murdered in her home last night.” Adler enunciated the words slowly, watching Jeremy’s face. Some murderers were good at feigning shock. Most, however, did it poorly. Adler couldn’t always articulate why someone’s reaction was off, but he knew it when he saw it.

Jeremy’s face paled, and he flinched as if struck. “Jesus, are you sure? I saw her yesterday. We were in a meeting, and she was excited about heading up a new project.”

“We’re sure. You said you saw her yesterday? When was that exactly?”

He stared absently for a moment and then shook his head. “About five.” He slumped farther into the leather chair. “We were sitting right here. I wanted Jennifer to stay late, but she was adamant she had to leave.”

Adler angled the chair slightly toward Jeremy, knowing his body position suggested they were on the same team.

Quinn sat across from them. He and Quinn hadn’t interviewed as a team yet. Normally partners fell into a rhythm. Call it good cop/bad cop roles or whatever, but having a balance of adversarial versus supportive interview skills worked. Most people had seen enough TV cop shows to spot the technique, but real-life situations brought a ton of adrenaline and stress. It was only natural to gravitate to the guy throwing you a lifeline, which in this case would be Adler.

“Do you have any idea who might have done this?” Quinn asked.

“Kill Jennifer? Shit. I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation. No. I don’t know anyone like that. She was well liked by all her colleagues. A good person.”

“Someone didn’t see it that way,” Quinn said.

“How was Ms. Ralston’s performance on the job?” Adler asked.

“She was great. She was one of our most productive managers. Her attention to detail was annoyingly amazing.”

“Did you notice a difference in the last couple of months?” Adler asked.

“I could tell she was a little distracted. In late February, she was not quite on her game and missed a few details. I called her into my office. She swore she was fine, but I could see something was bothering her.”

“Did she tell you what it was?” Quinn asked as she studied an architectural drawing on the wall behind Keller.

“No.”

“Did her distraction have to do with the personal relationship she shared with you?” Quinn asked.

“What?” Jeremy’s face reddened. “Jennifer and I weren’t really in a relationship.”

“What would you call it?” Adler asked.