Page 21 of I'm Watching You

‘Nothing solid yet,’ Zack said. ‘But there are plenty of leads to run down. It could take weeks to talk to everyone.’

‘Why didn’t you hold the body until we arrived?’ Warwick said.

Zack resented Warwick’s tone but kept his own tone even. ‘The skies are about to open up and I didn’t want to lose trace evidence.’

Warwick frowned. ‘Why didn’t you call me earlier?’

‘I didn’t know what I had until I got here. When I did, I had Ayden track you down.’

Ayden rested his hands on his hips. ‘What else do you know?’

Zack let his gaze scan the yard. ‘The backyard looks clean so far. Sara is going over it inch by inch.’

Warwick studied the pool of blood caked in the dirt by the tree. ‘You said his wallet was still in his pocket?’

‘Yeah, and it still had a couple hundred dollars in cash and a dozen credit cards in it. His briefcase was set neatly beside him and it also appeared untouched.’

‘What’s the pool of blood from?’ Warwick said.

‘It’s from his left hand. The killer severed the hand at the wrist.’

‘Shit,’ Ayden said. ‘Any sign of it?’

‘No.’

Warwick’s eyes narrowed. ‘Was Turner left-handed?’

‘Don’t know,’ Zack said.

‘Do you think this is some kind of ritual thing?’ Ayden said.

Zack pointed to the trash cans. ‘The victim’s body was positioned near the cans. His tie was straight and his hair looked as if it had been combed. The killer didn’t appear in a rush to leave the body.’

Warwick rested his hands on his narrow hips. ‘Like you said, it’ll take weeks to interview everyone who had a beef against Turner.’

‘My gut tells me that this killing was personal,’ Zack said.

Ayden shrugged off his coat and loosened his tie. ‘Turner pissed off a lot of people. But none of them would be likely to stop and fix his tie after they’d shot him.’

‘No. This murder has a different feel to it,’ Zack said.

The three were silent for a moment.

‘You have anything else?’ Warwick said.

‘I talked to the shelter staff,’ Zack said. ‘Ruby Dillon, an assistant to the director, was on call last night. She didn’t see anything until this morning when she found the body.’ Zack didn’t relish what he was about to say. ‘You might as well hear it from me. The director of Sanctuary is Lindsay O’Neil. She’s my wife.’

Warwick frowned. ‘I didn’t realize you were married.’

‘I thought you were divorced,’ Ayden said.

‘Not officially,’ Zack said.

Warwick’s gaze sliced across him. ‘How long have you two been separated?’

The question reiterated how little the two men knew about each other. ‘About a year.’

‘You shouldn’t have taken the call,’ Warwick said.

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