Secrets Never Die (Morgan Dane #5)(49)

Morgan closed the file and set it on the desktop behind her. “The Knox front door was unlocked, and there were no signs of a break-in. If Paul let someone in that night, it would have been someone he knew and trusted.”

“Like Brian.” Lance underlined the words DIRTY COP on the board. “Would the boys have told you if he were corrupt?”

Sharp stopped pacing. His head tilted as he considered Lance’s question. “They wouldn’t lie to me. They know Evan is missing. But the answers I got were a little too vague for my comfort. Jimmy mentioned an excessive force complaint filed against Brian.”

Did that mean Brian had a history of violent behavior or poor impulse control? The same argument used for Evan’s motive could apply to someone else.

“Plus, it appeared as if Brian left his house in a hurry and took his desktop computer with him,” Sharp said.

“Or someone stole it,” Morgan suggested. “For the same reason that the police seize criminals’ computers—to find out what they’ve been doing. Brian is a seasoned deputy. I’m sure he knows how to cover his tracks online. But no one sanitizes their actual machine every night. His hard drive would contain plenty of information about his recent activity.”

Sharp returned to the chair behind the desk. “Jenny is looking for a property on a lake in Brian’s family. We can’t talk to him until we find him. Your mom is also trying to find any information on the excessive force complaint filed against Brian and the department by Sam Jones.”

“Let’s move on to other theories,” Lance said.

Sharp leaned forward and pressed a key on his laptop to wake it.

“Have we ruled out robbery gone wrong as a possibility for his death?” Morgan pointed at the ROBBERY notation on the board. “As Lance pointed out to the sheriff, the fact that there was no obvious sign of a break-in does not rule out a robbery. Even quality locks can be picked by an experienced burglar.”

“All true,” Sharp agreed. “But since the killing was particularly cold-blooded, other motives come immediately to mind: revenge, elimination, and information.”

“Don’t forget anger.” Morgan picked up her coffee. “That’s how the sheriff is justifying Evan as the prime suspect.”

“And with good reason.” Sharp shifted backward in the chair and studied the board. “Evan has means, motive, and opportunity.”

“I know, and I’ve struggled with that very question,” Lance said. “But I can’t see Evan hurting anyone but himself.”

Shifting her coffee to her left hand, Morgan walked to the board and picked up a marker. She began to write notes in Evan’s column. “If the weapon is recovered and ballistics proves Paul was killed with his own gun, that would be another hefty piece of physical evidence against Evan. He lived in the house and had access to the gun. His DNA and fingerprints will be all over everything. If he should be arrested, I’m sure the ADA will point out every damning occurrence, no matter how irrelevant or ridiculous.”

“Even if you prove it’s meaningless, the jury will have heard, and the damage will be done.” Lance rubbed the bruised back of his neck. Three ibuprofen tablets had done nothing to alleviate the pain.

“What about Tina?” Morgan tapped the marker on the board under Tina’s name. “Is Tina still on our list of suspects?”

“She’s your client,” Sharp snorted.

Morgan shrugged. “I promised to represent her to the best of my ability. That doesn’t mean I trust her. Despite her excuses, she has to know that the information she withheld about her father could play into Paul’s murder and Evan’s disappearance. Yet she did not tell us until she was backed into a corner. I’m not as concerned about the friction between Paul and Evan. I can’t see Evan as the killer. What would he have to gain by killing Paul? By all accounts, Paul was kind to him.”

Lance scanned the names. Someone was guilty. Someone had killed Paul. “Tina was at work, in full view of a dozen people and security cameras. She couldn’t come up with a better alibi if she tried.”

Sharp rubbed his chin. “But she could have blackmailed or paid someone else to kill him.”

“But what was her motive?” Morgan gestured toward the board with her coffee. “And why would she then come to us for help?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like that she did not tell us about her father either,” Sharp said. “That was a big-ass secret she was keeping.”

“If Tina was behind Paul’s murder, then where is Evan?” Morgan asked.

“Maybe Tina’s plan didn’t work out the way she wanted,” Sharp argued.

Morgan shook her head. “But then wouldn’t she suspect who had taken her son? That scenario doesn’t work for me. Her father seems like a more likely suspect.”

“I agree.” Lance chugged more coffee, then swigged his shake, the combination waking his brain cells. “Her testimony put him in prison for twenty-five years. I’m sure that pissed him off. Joe Martin had a history of taking revenge. Killing Paul and destroying Tina’s newfound happiness would be the perfect retaliation.”

“He could have taken Evan too,” Morgan agreed. “As additional payback or to convince her to come to him. Maybe he wants her to watch him kill Evan.”