Her Broken Wings by D.K. Hood
Ten
A blast of wind splattered icy rain against the window like buckshot and Jenna shivered at the thought of venturing out into the cold again. She looked at her deputies. How easy it would be to delegate and stay inside in the warm, but that was not her way. She bit back a smile at the idea and turned her mind back to the case. “Okay, so if it was a hit, the question burning on my lips is why anyone would want to murder a financial advisor?”
“Maybe he cheated someone?” Rowley shrugged. “Or gave them bad advice and they lost their money.”
“Not likely.” Kane shifted in his chair. “A professional hitman is not only hard to find but getting one to travel here would be expensive.”
Jenna drummed her fingers on the desk, thinking. “Then we dig into the couple’s lives. If Lucas Robinson mixes with the rich and famous, maybe he upset the wrong man. Rowley, I want you to look for any dirt on the man, where he went, what he was doing and with whom. If he was having an affair with a rich man’s wife for instance.” She made notes listing what she needed to do and then lifted her gaze. “Search the society pages for events and question his co-workers. People in offices often gossip, so speak to everyone he knew.”
“Okay.” Rowley scribbled in his notebook. “And the wife, same with her?”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, find out what you can on them. There must be something dirty in their backgrounds. I mean, why live in practical isolation if you have nothing to hide?”
“Sure.” Rowley glanced at her. “I guess you’re heading out in the cold.”
Jenna frowned at him. “Yeah, we’ll be checking out the crime scene again and visiting Mrs. Robinson at the hospital. If we get time, we’ll drop by the morgue to attend the autopsy on Mr. Robinson.” She narrowed her gaze. “Would you rather swap duties?”
“No, ma’am.” Rowley stood abruptly. “I’ll get on this right away.” He headed out the door.
Jenna turned her attention to Kane, folded her notepad, and stood. “Ready to go? We have a crime to solve.”
“Sure.” Kane gave her a slow smile and then pushed to his feet. “I’ll grab my gear.” He turned and strolled out the door.
In the daylight, the Robinsons’ house didn’t appear any less intimidating than the previous night. As they drove up the twisting driveway and the house came into view, Jenna scanned the area and shook her head. “Robinson must have been crazy building the home so close to the trees. If a fire broke out, they’d have no chance of escape.”
“It would’ve been a nightmare trying to sleep.” Kane pulled up outside the front steps and turned to look at her. “The trees have grown so close to the walls, the noise inside is disturbing. Last night I was waiting for a branch to come through one of the windows.”
“Maybe that’s why Robinson didn’t hear the intruder?” Jenna zipped up her jacket. “He was probably used to all the creaks and whines. Anyone could’ve broken in and he’d have slept through it.” She pulled her hood over her woolen hat and braced herself for the cold.
“Well, he slept through getting his brains spread all over the wall.” Kane shook his head. “I wonder if his wife heard anything unusual before the shooting.”
Jenna reached for the door handle. “She heard the floorboards creak is all. We’ll ask her if she remembers anything else later.”
The moment Jenna slid from her seat a blast of sleet smacked her in the face. “Ugh! I wish it would just snow already.” She bent her head and dashed up the steps. Pulling off one glove, she removed the crime scene tape across the door and reached inside her coat. She fumbled in a pocket, surprised when the keys felt warm to the touch, and lifted them to the door.
As the door opened, the waft of death coming from inside the house greeted them. Jenna shook her head. “We’ll stick together. The killer could be lurking around, and if he’s a professional, he’d pick us off in seconds.” She pushed the door wide open. “Maybe let some fresh air inside, to clear the stink.” She glanced at Kane. “Remind me to ask Mrs. Robinson about a clean-up crew. She’ll need one before she returns.” She headed back down the front steps. “That’s if she returns. I’m not sure I’d want to live here alone after what’s happened.”
“It would sure be a pretty place.” Kane scanned the area. “This is prime real estate but after this no one will want to buy it.”
Jenna noticed the look on his face. “You’d buy it, wouldn’t you?”
“Once, maybe.” He gave her a crooked smile. “The fact someone was murdered here doesn’t worry me. The right security is the key, but I’m not planning on moving out of my cottage until my landlord decides to kick me to the curb.”
The sad expression Kane gave her made her chuckle. “That’s not going to happen. Come on we have a job to do.” With the wind blasting ice into her face, she headed down the side of the house, weaving through the trees in search of the open cellar window and stopped dead and stared. “That can’t be good.”
The closed shutters over the cellar window made her turn and scan the dense trees. A prickle of apprehension crawled up her spine. Beside her, Kane tensed and they both instinctively moved behind the protection of a dripping wet trunk. Could someone be in the forest watching and waiting for their return to murder them as well? Jenna lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “See anyone?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean a thing. With the wind and the low visibility, we can’t hear or see anyone hiding in the forest.” Kane turned and peered at the ground. “Someone has been here since it started sleeting. Those tracks are fresh.” He moved off, following the footprints, and then turned back to her. “Meter reader. Likely, he knew nobody was home, noticed the rain getting inside, and closed the shutters. It would be a neighborly thing to do around here.”
Jenna huffed out a frustrated cloud of steam. “Yeah, and he obliterated any signs of a break-in while he was at it.” She bent over to peer at the shutters. “No sign of forced entry.” She tried to open the shutters. “These appear to be locked. Maybe someone else broke in again and shut them from the inside?”
“I guess we’ll have to go into the cellar and take a look.” Kane narrowed his gaze. “I locked the cellar door when we left last night, so if someone went through this window they’d still be in the cellar.”
An icy trickle of rain ran down the collar of Jenna’s jacket and she shivered. “Oh, this day just gets better by the second.”
Keeping a watchful eye all around, Jenna led the way inside the house. They both paused in the entrance to pull on surgical gloves and then she closed the front door. “We’ll clear the rooms, just in case.”
“Roger that.” Kane tipped his head to the left of the entrance. “Do you want to split up?”
Jenna allowed her last visit to run through her mind. All the rooms on the lower level were spacious and had minimal furniture. It would be difficult for an intruder to hide anywhere. “Yeah, but first we’ll see if the cellar is locked.”
“Okay.” Kane led the way to the hallway. “It’s locked. I can see the bolt across the door.”
“Good, then we’ll split up. You check the study and upstairs, I’ll go right. Call out as we go.” Jenna headed back to the family room and, keeping her back to the wall, turned the knob and pushed the door open. She peeked around the room and, seeing it empty, closed the door. “Family room, clear.”
As she moved toward the kitchen, she could hear Kane calling out as he cleared the rooms upstairs, and they met up at the kitchen door. She turkey-peeked around the door and then entered. After checking out the mudroom and back door, she turned to Kane. “No one has been here. They’d track dirt inside, and the mat outside was dry before we used it.”
“Cellar next?” Kane turned to leave.
“Hold up.” Jenna frowned. “We’ll open the door and call out. If someone is down there, they’ll want to come out rather than die of starvation.” She sighed. “I’m more interested in searching for clues to discover why someone wanted to murder Lucas Robinson.”
She waited for Kane to unbolt the cellar door. When he waved his flashlight around and called out, no response came. He looked at Jenna and shrugged. “There’s no one down there. Want me to go check?”
Jenna shook her head. The idea of going into a dark cellar again chilled her to the bone. “It’s not necessary. We have everything we need. I’ll grab the pair of boots I found in the broom closet and take them to Wolfe for a comparison to the footprints under the window.”
“I’ll go and get the hard drive out of his computer. Did you notice a laptop anywhere?” Kane turned to the office doorway.
“No, but there was a briefcase resting on a chair in the bedroom.” Jenna swallowed hard at the thought of viewing the bloody crime scene again. “I’ll go get it.”
Without waiting for a reply, she pulled a face mask from her pocket and dashed up the stairs, avoiding the blood trail. Inside the master bedroom, she averted her gaze from the congealed blood pools around the bed and collected the briefcase. As she slipped down the stairs, she heard tires on gravel. A car door slammed, and moments later, someone knocked on the front door. As Kane emerged from the office and went to her side, she looked at him. “It seems we have a visitor.”
“Hmm, and one who isn’t too worried about crime scene tape.” Kane headed for the door, reaching for his weapon.