Indecent Danger (Danger Incorporated #3)(47)

“I’ve been there more than a few times,” West laughed on the other end of the line. “When you don’t know what to do next the best thing to do is go back to the beginning. Look at all your suspects again even if you think you’ve eliminated them already. Look at who had motive and opportunity, but especially opportunity. Just because you think someone doesn’t have a motive doesn’t mean they don’t. It could be hidden, so don’t think a person is innocent just because you can’t see a motive. You need to make a chart of where everyone was at the time of the murder. Then take a closer look at anyone you can’t account for. But basically it’s all about going back to the basics. Don’t overthink this, Trav. In most cases criminals aren’t that bright.”

Travis hoped that were indeed true.





Chapter Twenty-Four




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Two large pizzas later Aubrey, Shane, and Travis were sitting around the dining room table. They’d cleared it completely and were ready to start at the beginning.

“So what do we know for sure?” Aubrey asked, placing a notebook and pen in front of her. “Let’s make a list.”

She tore out two pieces of paper. One she titled Things We Know and the other she titled Open Questions.


“We know that Bruce owed money to a lot of people,” Shane offered. “We don’t know if he paid Tom back or not.”

“That’s a good start.” She scribbled details on her lists. “What else?”

Travis stood and looked out of the windows but the moon was hidden behind clouds tonight. “We know Bruce was stabbed in the heart. It suggests that the killer had to be able to get close. I doubt a stranger could get near enough to make the first strike deadly.”

“He could have been surprised from behind and turned around,” Aubrey pointed out, chewing on the end of the pen. “Maybe the killer never gave him a chance.”

Shane shook his head. “I’m not buying that. Let me show you.” He tossed an extra pencil at Travis who caught it easily in his right hand. “I’ll stand here and you come up behind me.”

Shane stood with his back turned about five feet from Travis who stealthily snuck up behind Shane. Travis raised the pencil like a knife but at the last minute Shane spun around and grabbed Travis’s wrist, and a mock struggle ensued with Travis finally dropping the pencil on the floor.

“According to our sources, there were no defensive wounds on Bruce’s person which tells me he didn’t see it coming. Unless he was deaf and blind I don’t think he would have let a stranger sneak up behind him and shove a knife directly into his heart. But that’s just me.”

Aubrey sighed and held up her hands in surrender. “Mea culpa. I’m convinced. I see what you’re saying and it makes sense. Only someone he wasn’t afraid of would have been allowed to get that close without him fighting back.”

“But is that something we actually know or just suspect?” Shane popped open another soda. “I don’t think we can know it for sure at this point. We don’t have any of the forensic reports to help us either which really ties our hands.”

“We can’t know it but I think we can call it an assumption. I don’t think this was a stranger killing.” Travis braced his hands on the back of a parson’s chair. “Bruce was killed for a reason. This wasn’t some random act of violence.”

Aubrey scribbled more on her list. “I’ll put an asterisk next to it to mark our assumption. What else do we know?”

All three were silent until Shane rolled his eyes and groaned loudly. “Shit, we really don’t know anything, do we?”

“We know that my whereabouts were confirmed by other people at the party, so that means we have a time of death or at least an idea. They think he was killed around eleven-thirty.”

Aubrey tapped her chin with the pen. She’d always had a respect for law enforcement, but now they’d soared in her estimation if this was what they dealt with every day.

“Good.” Travis rubbed the back of his neck as he paced back and forth. “Who else do we remember at the party during that time? We can take them off the suspect list.”

An hour later they had a list of party guests they couldn’t account for and possible motives they might have. Aubrey rubbed her temples and yawned, a headache pounding behind her eyes. It was clear she wasn’t cut out for this detective stuff.

Travis sat down and leaned his elbows on his knees, his chin cupped in his hands. “But this doesn’t even scratch the surface as to who would want both Bruce and Iris dead. That’s the real mystery.”

The faces of party guests drifted through Aubrey’s mind but one kept crowding out the others.

“Caroline,” she said softly. “She had motive to kill both of them.”

Travis was already shaking his head. “I don’t want to believe that. She’s been through the wringer with Bruce.”

“All the more reason for her to kill him,” Shane retorted. “She’s a sweet girl as far as we know, but hell, we don’t spend that much time with her. Not really. She could have done it and she’s on our list of people not accounted for during the time of death. We have to consider her.”

Travis fell back into one of the chairs and dragged a hand down his face, stubble darkening his jawline. “Dammit. I know we have to. I just hate the thought of it. We also have to include Martin as well. He’d do anything to protect his granddaughter.”