Page 64 of Dead Man's List

Connor set the large backpack on the floor in full view of the officer’s body cam. Crouching beside it, he unzipped the first compartment. “Underwear and a change of clothes,” he said for the camera. “One bottle of thyroid medication.” He unzipped the larger compartment. “Ohmy,” he said, echoing Kit. “What have we here?”

He pulled a stack of money from the backpack. “There’s quite a bit here. These are all fifties. If the rest of them are as well, I’m estimating she’s got at least a hundred grand in this backpack. Maybe more.”

“Veronica,” Kit chided. “Where did that money come from?”

Veronica glared at her and said nothing.

Kit pulled a passport from the handbag. “And the pièce de résistance. A passport in the name of Viola Feinstein but with your photo. At least you wouldn’t have to throw away yourmonogrammed items.” She pulled her handcuffs from her jacket pocket and slapped them on Veronica’s wrists with relish.That’s for trying to shake down Sam, you bitch.“Veronica Fitzgerald, you’re under arrest for extortion. The passport fraud is a federal offense, so we’ll leave that up to them.”

Veronica tried to yank out of Kit’s hold, but Kit tightened her grip. “I’m innocent.”

“Then you can explain where all this cash came from,” Connor said. “Let’s go.”

Still gripping Veronica’s arm, Kit dragged her into the elevator. “Officer, if you could stay with us until we get her in our car, I’d appreciate it.” She wanted every second of this arrest recorded.

San Diego PD, San Diego, California

Monday, January 9, 4:00 p.m.

“That was good work,” Navarro said as he settled into a chair in the observation room, Kit and Connor on either side of him. “If we hadn’t had eyes on Fitzgerald, we’d have lost her and she’d be God knows where by now.”

Veronica Fitzgerald sat at the interview table on the other side of the glass. They were waiting for her attorney to arrive before they began the interview, because Veronica had immediately lawyered up.

“On her way to Mexico City,” Kit said. “I don’t know where she’d have gone after that.”

“Marshall and Ashton picked up the pilot,” Connor went on. “They’re on their way in with him. We were able to triangulate Veronica’s last call with the towers. Steven Neal was waiting for Veronica at a small airfield near the prison we were atthis morning, ironically enough. He’d filed a flight plan and was still waiting for clearance.”

“She probably intended to bribe someone in customs with some of that money,” Navarro said. “She had plenty of it. The money, the gun, and the fake passport were the final nails in her coffin.” He looked around the small room. “I thought Sam would be here.”

Kit winced a little. “He took the afternoon off.”

“He was freaked out about talking to Ronald Tasker,” Connor said. “Had a few drinks afterward. But you never would have known he was nervous at all. The man was as cool as a cucumber.”

“Comic books,” Navarro said, shaking his head. “I never would have thought of that.”

Kit smiled, proud of Sam. “Neither would I. I’m glad Sam did. So who’s going to be the bad cop in there with her?”

“You should,” Connor said. “You already established that role this morning.”

“I brought Munro’s autopsy photos this time,” Kit said. “Sam thought I could have been harder on her this morning, so this time I thought I’d show her what was done to her lover.”

“Do we know for sure that they were lovers?” Navarro asked.

Kit shook her head. “Not confirmed yet, but the camera feed from her apartment building shows Munro entering Tuesday evening wearing one suit, then leaving at eight thirty the next morning in a different suit.”

“He spent the night,” Navarro said.

“Which Fitzgerald can claim was platonic or that he spent the night with someone else in the building. CSU is in her apartment now. They’ll take DNA samples from her sheets. If he was in her bed, hopefully we’ll find evidence. This does answer one of my earlier questions, though—about why the killer drove thetrailer to Munro’s house so early in the morning. I think he was hoping to catch Munro coming out of his house, but he was sleeping with Fitzgerald. So he had to wait until Munro came home.”

But that was still a very long time for the killer to sit idly, waiting. Her gut told her that there was something she was missing.

“That sounds right.” Then Navarro grimaced. “What was it about Munro that had the women lining up to sleep with him? Veronica, the widow, and the reporter.”

“Tamsin Kavanaugh,” Kit growled. “I can’t wait to talk to her.”

Navarro chuckled. “Maybe you should let Connor take that interview.”

“She makes me growl too, boss. Woman’s slimy.” Then Connor sat up straight, staring at the glass. “What the fuck?”

---