Page 31 of Dead Man's List

“Because—” Kit stopped, a thought popping into her mind. “Because she got that email about Munro overdrawing their joint account. What if he did that on purpose?”

Connor’s eyes narrowed as he nodded. “You could be right. Let’s say whoever entered his home on Wednesday wanted money. He could have forced Munro to move the funds.”

“And Munro chose their joint account, knowing his wifewould raise a fuss,” Kit finished. “That suggests he was forced to move that money, and that his communication had somehow been cut off. No 911, no call to his admin, no shout for help. Not that any of his neighbors would have heard him. They’re all too far away. What if drawing Wilhelmina into this was his only way to call for help?”

“Or what if Wilhelmina planned it?” Connor squeezed his eyes shut. “We need to eliminate Wilhelmina as a suspect.”

Kit agreed. “Let’s go back to the Ferrari. It’s a big thing to steal and required a lot of preplanning. Why the Ferrari?”

“Did his killer take anything else?” Navarro asked.

“We asked Rafferty when he was showing us the garage,” Connor said. “So far, nothing obvious was taken, and Wilhelmina took her jewelry and valuables with her when she left him. We’ll have to figure out what else Munro owned that was valuable.”

Kit’s mind was still on the Ferrari and the logistics required to steal it. “I wonder what Munro’s killer offered Shelley in exchange for the trailer.”

Connor nodded. “Good point. She broke the rule by not getting the guy to pay for the trailer when he picked it up. She was an addict. Jennifer said she’d been clean, but Bran, the boyfriend, said that it had only been for a few weeks. Shelley could have been using without Jennifer knowing.”

“He might not have offered Shelley anything,” Navarro said. “He might have just taken the trailer at gunpoint.”

Kit shook her head. “But he killed her in her home. If he’d stolen the trailer at gunpoint, wouldn’t he have just killed her there at the shop? He let her go home.”

“He could have forced her at gunpoint or with his knife,” Navarro said, still playing devil’s advocate. “Could have made her go home and killed her there.”

“Maybe,” Kit allowed. “We’ll check it out. If he communicated with her beforehand, arranging for a pickup outside of the shop’s rules, we might be able to track him that way.”

“Whatever you do,” Navarro said, “do it—”

“Quickly,” Kit interrupted with a sigh. “We know, we know. We’ll add it to our list. That might be something Sam can find out for us. He developed a rapport with Jennifer and her boyfriend Bran while we were securing the scene.”

“Is the security guard on your list?” Navarro asked. “The one at the gate to Munro’s community?”

“He is,” Connor said. “His name is Marco Valdez. He and the other guards work a twelve-hour shift. He would have just arrived when the trailer passed through the gate, and he would have been off-duty fifteen minutes after its exit. So he was the only one who would have seen the trailer. He’s twenty-six years old and lives alone. We’d just knocked on his door when Dr.Batra called us to the morgue. He wasn’t home and his neighbors haven’t seen him in a few days, but he normally keeps to himself and they said that wasn’t unusual.”

“Still doesn’t sound good,” Navarro muttered. “Any sign of forced entry into his house?”

“Nope,” Kit said. “But on the bright side, we didn’t smell anything dead. He’s due back at work tomorrow morning, so hopefully he’ll show up.”

“Hopefully.” But Navarro sounded as grim as Kit felt because the guard was a loose end. “What else?”

“I’ve been thinking about how long that trailer was in front of Munro’s house,” she said. “He was there from six in the morning until almost six that evening. What did he do all that time? And why did he arrive so early?”

“Good questions. Figure it out. But do it—”

“Quickly,” Connor said with a sigh.

A knock on the door had the three of them turning. Sergeant Ryland of CSU stood at the door. Navarro motioned him in.

“Glad you’re all here,” Ryland said, taking a seat next to Navarro at the table. “We hit the jackpot at Munro’s house. Missing Persons didn’t know to look for recording equipment, but Munro had his office wired for audio and video.”

“Did he have bugs in other rooms?” Navarro asked. “Or just his home office?”

“Only the home office,” Ryland said. “And we did a very thorough check.”

“I wonder if Wilhelmina knew about the bugs?” Connor murmured.

Kit shook her head. “If she knew, I think she would have used that feed against Munro versus searching through his files for proof of his bribery. Did you find anything on the feed?” she asked Ryland.

“Oh yes. We made a copy of the recording from the day he disappeared. I uploaded it to the server. You’re going to want to see this.”

---