Page 31 of To Die For

“Could he be bought off to falsify the circumstances of the Odoms’ deaths?”

“Let me put it this way: I have good friends in WASPC, which is an organization of sheriffs and police chiefs in the state. And almost none of them are fans of Eric King.”

“If his reputation is that bad, why is he still in power?”

“Police chiefs are appointed, usually by the city council. I’ve also been told that no one out there is brave enough to take him on. And apparently no one has been able to prove anything criminal about the man. Cops are bad about taking on other cops no matter if they deserve it.”

“Youdid,” Devine pointed out.

“Yeah, and look what it cost me.”

“Okay, so anything on Rollins’s murder?” asked Devine.

“One witness thinks he saw a man come out of the men’s room shortly before Rollins staggered out bleeding. But he couldn’t give a good description primarily because he was drunk. And nothing has jumped out forensically so far.”

“Anything found on Rollins that might be helpful?”

“Keys to his apartment. We’ve been through it. If he had information to sell to you, it was either in his head only, or he kept it somewhere else. I’ve begun inquiries into his financial accounts, whether he had a safe-deposit box, that sort of thing.”

“Mind if I have a look at his place?”

“Why?”

“Second pair of eyes, and if his deathisconnected to Glass, then the feds are going to be involved at some point. Would you rather have me, or the FBI horning in from the get-go?”

Braddock gave him the address of Rollins’s apartment. “I’ll alert my people that you’ll be coming around. Anything occurs to you, I expect to be the first to be told.Aheadof the FBI.”

“You have my word on that.”

“Uh-huh.” Braddock stopped and stared at him. “So, whatever Rollins told you before he croaked? Has it become less garbled in your head?”

Devine decided to tell Braddock, but he couldn’t see how it would be helpful.

“He said what sounded likecuckoo, and something that sounded likegas.”

Devine looked at the detective in some embarrassment.

Braddock said, “Okay, either a bird or he was referring to a whack job, and fuel? Hell, that breaks the whole case wide open.”

CHAPTER

13

DEVINE RENTED A TOYOTA 4RUNNER.Google maps showed the Kittitas county line to be about 115 miles away, all on the interstate with passage over a section of the Cascade Mountains. Although with the directions he’d been given by Korey Rose, he would have to tack on more miles and time to get to the trailer and that would not be on an interstate. He figured he might need some extra oomph and four-wheel-drive capability once he got off the highway, especially if the weather unloaded on him.

He drove out of Seattle and headed east. The verdant wall of the Cascades ran from Northern California to British Columbia and continually filled his windshield the farther east he traveled. A herd of semis occupied all the lanes, which, during the trip, went up and down in number from four to three to two. Later, he got off I-90 and started following the directions that Rose had provided him. It was hilly, mountainous country. He became lost once but then figured out his mistake, backtracked, and pulled up to the Odoms’ home about twenty minutes later after traversing a single-lane unpaved road through some dense forest. It was darker and cooler here and he was glad he had worn his heavier jacket.

The trailer was a double-wide with white aluminum siding and a black-shingled roof planted on strategically placed short columns of cinderblocks. Knotted pressure-treated plank steps led up to the front door. Nate Shore had not been kidding about the Odoms living in the boonies. Devine wondered why they had chosen this location to literally set down their first home.

He parked, got out, and looked around.

Since the Odoms’ deaths had been ruled an accidental overdose, he supposed the police had not made a search here. The home was apparently just sitting empty.

He did a perimeter walk and in the rear yard saw an old blackened and dented fifty-gallon metal barrel that looked like it had been used to incinerate trash. A large propane tank was set next to the right side of the home. The back door was locked. Devine took out his lockpick gun and it made short work of this obstacle.

Devine found himself in the small kitchen, which occupied the middle of the structure. As he looked around, Devine saw that it was roomier inside than it had looked on the outside. There were three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen with a small dining room adjacent to it, and a tiny living room as an afterthought by the front entrance. Although only about nine hundred square feet, Devine thought it must have felt like a mansion of permanence to a family that had previously endured periods of homelessness.

He did a quick search of the largest bedroom at one end, which was clearly Dwayne and Alice’s space, and found nothing helpful. He also didn’t find any drug paraphernalia, which bolstered Odom and her friends’ claims about her parents not being users. The middle bedroom looked used, only he wasn’t initially sure by whom. But when he saw some of the items in it, he had a clearer idea of the occupants.

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