Page 70 of Her Dying Secret

Josie heard the rapid-fire sound of shoes on steps. Just from the frenetic pace, she was certain it was Turner. Moments later, she felt his breath ruffle the hair on the top of her head.

“He’s not here, but come on up and have a look at the room. LT is arranging for the truck to be impounded.”

FIFTY-ONE

One look around room 12 and Josie could not imagine Seth Lee keeping anyone there. It just wasn’t big enough. A neatly made bed took up eighty percent of the space. Standing near the window that overlooked the driveway, she could hear the residents from both adjacent rooms complaining to officers about the intrusion. Every resident of the building was being questioned to see if any of them had seen Seth Lee here recently—or Mira, Rosie, and even April Carlson in the past year. Even if someone had seen something, Josie doubted they’d admit it. This was definitely the kind of place where people minded their own business.

“Closet’s empty.” Turner brushed by her and rounded the bed. He used a gloved hand to open the top dresser drawer. “We got some shirts. Flannel. Must be his favorite. Coupla pairs of jeans, socks and underwear. I don’t see any shoes anywhere.”

Josie sighed. “Maybe he uses it as a place to keep a few extra things? Every person we talked to said he doesn’t like to stay indoors. I think he just used this place to dump the truck. He abandoned it out back where no one except other residents would see it. None of them would report it. At least not right away. Maybe the landlord would have called to have it towed if it sat too long. If Rebecca hadn’t found Jon’s cash withdrawals, we wouldn’t even know about this place.”

Turner opened the next drawer and stared at its contents. “Store a few extra things, huh?”

Josie walked over as Turner pulled out the remaining drawers. They were packed with food. Prepackaged food. Granola bars. Protein bars. Pouches of oatmeal. Cups of microwaveable macaroni and cheese. Cans of soup. Chocolate bars. Peanut butter cookies. Several different types of crackers.

“What in the hell is up with this guy?” Turner said. “I thought he had a thing about food being tampered with. Isn’t that why he’s eating from his brother’s produce stand? But he’s stocking food here? You think he comes here and eats it and then goes back to whatever hole he’s got his kid living in and makes her eat mud?”

The thought was deeply disturbing. “Maybe his brother left it here for him?” she suggested. “I can call Jon Lee and find out.”

Turner slowly closed the drawers and peeled his gloves off. “Back to square one. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Turner left the boardinghouse before anyone else. Apparently a more pressing matter had come up. Josie and Noah stayed until all the residents had been interviewed and then they returned to the stationhouse. The press had caught wind of what they were now calling the “raid” on the boardinghouse in Bellewood. Several reporters crowded the municipal entrance at the back of the station, shouting questions as Josie and Noah pushed past them and into the building.

“How did you track Lee to that boardinghouse?”

“How long was he staying there?”

“Did he know you were going to try to arrest him there? Did someone at the house tip him off?”

“Where do you go from here?”

Josie was relieved when the door closed behind them, cutting off the voices. Even after spending an hour at her desk in the great room, that last question haunted her. Where did they go from here? Before she worked on her reports, she had called the Lees to find out from Jon whether he stocked food and clothes in the room he rented for Seth. He claimed that he had never actually been inside the room, nor did he have a key, but Josie wasn’t sure whether to trust him or not. The one thing Jon Lee had proven consistently was that he was willing to lie on behalf of his brother.

While Noah made phone calls, Josie stood up and went back to the corkboard. It had grown in scope. Things were starting to overlap. There was the aerial view of Tranquil Trails with pins to mark the produce stand, the place on Prout Road where Mira had stopped for twenty-two minutes after the stabbing, and now the approximate location of Shane Foster’s body. By now, most of the map was covered with printouts of other things related to the investigation. There were photos of the four people who comprised the drama they had all been swept up in: Seth Lee, Rosie Summers, Mira Summers, and April Carlson. There was the Post-it note that April had given Mira, telling her where to find the body of Shane Foster. Someone had hung up a page with all the information pertaining to the truck that Seth had been driving, including a copy of the registration that Deirdre Velis had provided. There was also now a copy of a crime scene photo that showed the strange fibers found on April Carlson’s body. Whoever hung it up had drawn a thick black question mark next to it. Then there was the drawing that Rosie had made, the supposed map, and her message on the back, pleading for help.

The stairwell door opened, sending a blast of air through the room. The pages on the board fluttered. Turner sauntered in. His vest had been replaced with his suit jacket. An energy drink peeked from one of the pockets. As always, he held his phone in one hand, thumb scrolling endlessly. He glanced at Josie.

“You still obsessed with that stupid drawing?”

“You have anything better for us to follow up on?” she asked pointedly.

Turner sank into his chair, trading his phone for his foam basketball. “Where’s Parker?”

“Palmer,” Josie said, turning her back to the corkboard.

Noah hung up his desk phone. “She’s off today. That was Anya—Dr. Feist—with apologies for taking so long to get us her full report on the body Blue found on the Tranquil Trails property.”

Turner tossed his ball at the net and, predictably, missed. “She matched the dental records days ago. We know it was that Hillcrest officer, Foster.”

Noah’s cell phone buzzed with a message. While he checked it, he spoke. “Right. Hummel took what was left of the clothing and shoes found with his remains into evidence and sent them out to the state lab to see if any DNA can be pulled that might link Seth Lee or anyone else to the body. She also cleaned up the challenge coin and the bracelet. The coin was from Hillcrest PD, as expected. The bracelet was a scarab bracelet. She was able to send Teresa Carlson photos. As far as she can tell, it’s a match to April’s, but she’s going to gather as many photos of it as she can so they can do a more detailed and comprehensive comparison.”

Which would tell them what Josie already knew. It was definitely April’s bracelet. “What about cause of death?”

“Undetermined,” Noah said.

“He was in the dirt too long,” Turner said. “He could have been stabbed, smothered, beaten to death, but soft tissue and organ injuries don’t show up on a skeleton.”

“What about blunt force injuries?” Josie asked. “Broken bones? Skull fracture?”

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