Secrets Never Die (Morgan Dane #5)(29)

“Paul was O positive.” The sheriff nodded. “I’ve asked that the DNA tests be expedited, but I can’t say when the lab will get to them. However, only about one point five percent of the population has B negative blood. I’d say the chances are good that the samples belong to Evan.”

“So he’s definitely hurt.” Tina wiped a hand under her eye.

“Yes, ma’am.” The sheriff reached behind him and took a box of tissues from a credenza. He set it on the table in front of her.

“Thank you.” She sniffed and plucked a tissue from the box.

“The front and rear doors of the house were unlocked. The garage door was secure. All of the windows were locked and intact. Does anyone else have a key to your house?”

Tina shook her head. “No, and Paul didn’t believe in those electronic keypad or wireless locks either. He didn’t trust electronics and said anything accessible by Wi-Fi could be hacked.”

“It’s not that hard to pick a lock,” Lance said. “What about fingerprints?”

The sheriff didn’t respond. “So far, all of the fingerprints that we’ve identified in the house have belonged to family members—and you.” The sheriff nodded at Lance. “Unknown latent prints were submitted to AFIS but no matches so far.”

This was not unusual. AFIS held the known fingerprints of criminals and unknown latent prints found at crime scenes. Unidentified fingerprints taken from the Knox residence would be kept on file for comparison in the event a suspect was later arrested.

“Now I have a few questions for Mrs. Knox.” The sheriff leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees, his focus narrowing on Tina’s face. “Two months ago, deputies were called to your house because Evan and Paul were fighting.”

Morgan didn’t react, but why hadn’t Tina told her about this?

“Arguing,” Tina corrected. She shifted her torso, settling back into the chair, distancing herself from the sheriff—or the question.

“All right. Arguing. Important distinction,” the sheriff acknowledged with a nod. “Can you tell me what they argued about?”

Tina sighed and scrubbed both hands down her face. “Kirk had just won his visitation petition, and Evan had had dinner with him the night before. He told us he wasn’t going back.”

The sheriff’s eyes narrowed. “Why is that, Mrs. Knox?”

“Because his father is an asshole.” The skin around Tina’s lips wrinkled as her mouth pursed. “Paul said he had to or there would be legal repercussions. Kirk was claiming parental alienation. Kirk said that, while he was in prison, I had turned Evan against him, as if that was even necessary. That was when Evan started yelling. But he was angry in general at the situation. His temper wasn’t really directed at Paul. Paul just happened to be the one standing in front of him.”

The sheriff lifted a sheet of paper from the table. “The police report says Evan took a swing at Paul.”

“He didn’t hit him, and Paul wasn’t mad.” Tina exhaled audibly through her nose. “He knew how much Evan was hurting. I don’t know how to describe how upset Evan was that day.”

“Their argument was loud enough that your neighbor Mr. Palmer called the police,” the sheriff pointed out.

“The windows were open.” Tina’s tone was more hostile than Morgan expected from her.

Lance’s head swiveled around. He and Morgan shared a concerned glance.

Morgan stepped in. “Where are you going with these questions, Sheriff?”

“Just trying to get all the facts that might help us find Evan.” The sheriff glanced at Morgan with irritation.

Morgan bit back a bullshit. She had established a shaky working relationship with Sheriff Colgate since he’d taken over the department. On one hand, she did not want to jeopardize his cooperation. The previous sheriff had made every aspect of her job as difficult as possible. On the other hand, she did not like the direction he’d taken with this line of questioning.

He was treating Tina more like a suspect than a victim.

“How have visitations gone with Evan’s father since then?” The sheriff set the paper down and steepled his fingers.

“More often than not, Kirk cancels, which is fine with all of us, but this week he actually showed up.” She paused for a breath. “Sunday night, I picked Evan up at the restaurant, and he refused to speak all the way home. He went straight to his room. He was still mad when he came home from school Monday. When Paul asked him to mow the lawn, he refused and started yelling. Paul and I could both see that he was hurting from whatever Kirk had said to him. Usually, he doesn’t mind helping out. He knows Paul has—had—a bad back.” She caught herself with a quiver to her breath. “But Evan went to his room and slammed his door.”

“Was Paul angry?”

“No. Paul said, ‘He had a rough night. Give him some space.’ Because that’s the kind of man he was.” Tina’s gaze dropped to the tissue in her hand. “I went to work. I thought seeing Jake that night would cheer up Evan.”

“Evan had a record before you married Paul.” The sheriff had clearly also worked late gathering background information last night.

“He had a hard time when his father went to prison. Although frankly, that was the best thing that could have happened to us.” Tina frowned. “Have you questioned Kirk? He told Evan that Paul was the reason we couldn’t be a family.”