Page 85 of Asher's Assignment

“Someone tried to break into Esther’s house just a little while ago. Edie and I chased him, but he got away thanks to some local intervention.” Audra shot a dark look at the detective.

Esther rolled her lips in. Those poor cops would probably never gain her forgiveness. She couldn’t blame her, either. She wished they hadn’t stopped her too.

Jo let out a soft grunt. “Isn’t that a rub? Okay. What do you need from me?”

“Have you had any luck getting info on Lennox?”

“I found a picture. And I’m running a background check, but not much is coming up. Like your girl, Lindy, he disappeared after her parents died. It’ll take some time to run facial rec against the old license photo I found. I haven’t been able to”—she paused for half a second—“do that other thing we talked about.”

Esther shot a quick look at Stroud to see if he caught her hesitation. His eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn’t comment. She was glad. All the digging they’d done was one thing. None of it was illegal. Hacking the pizzeria’s security system definitely was.

“Did he have any criminal history?” Stroud asked.

“No. And I’m betting his new identity doesn’t, either.”

“I agree,” Esther said. “From the way Connie described him, he’s highly intelligent. I think he only lost control back then because she wouldn’t bow to his wishes. Since then, I’m betting he’s buttoned up his emotions. He’ll be a model citizen.”

“What else have you checked?” Stroud reached for his notebook, then grimaced and dropped his hand.

“The standard social media sites. There aren’t any profiles with that name. Not even old ones.”

Esther hadn’t expected her to find any. But it did make her think of something. “What about engineering societies?”

“That’s a good idea,” Edie said.

“Engineering?” Jo said.

“Connie said they both majored in engineering,” Esther said. “She works in a field loosely related to that. With his intelligence and the behavioral traits he shows, he probably wouldn’t want to give up his career. If he could fake a new identity, I don’t think it would be out of the realm of possibility that his new persona included new credentials as well.”

“I’ll run a check. We might need a name first, though. I’m not sure how many of those organizations have pictures of their members.”

“It’s still worth a shot. If we can locate him in one of those, it might give us a place of employment,” Audra said.

“Do you have information on the parents’ deaths?” Stroud said. “I’d like to contact the department that handled the case and review their files.”

“I’ll send everything I have to Audra. Including the image I found of Lennox. I was planning to package all this up on my lunch break, but since you’re all awake, I’ll do it now.”

“Thank you,” Audra said. “We appreciate it.”

“Do you have any more leads?” Jo asked.

“No. Wait.” Audra’s spine straightened. “Can you set up a flag for pharmacy break-ins within, say, fifty miles of here? Leah’s medicines are missing, but I’m not sure how long they’ll last. He might need to get more.”

“Leah’s medication is gone? What?” Stroud frowned. “Mrs. Tyler didn’t mention that.”

Audra held up a finger, making him scowl. Esther didn’t think he found her attitude so amusing now that she directed it at him.

“Yep,” Jo said. “Can you get me a list of her drugs?”

“Probably.”

“Brilliant. Send it over, and I’ll add it to the algorithm.”

“Sounds good. Thanks.”

“No worries. I’ll speak to you soon.” There was a soft click, then silence.

“When did you plan to tell me her meds were gone?” Stroud demanded. “And why didn’t Mrs. Tyler mention it?”

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