Page 71 of Every Deadly Suspicion

“Obviously they didn’t search hard enough.”

Hanna asked the county team to do one more thorough search of the lake.

“It’s unlikely that we’ll find a body if it wasn’t placed in a barrel like the first two,” the head diver told her. “Or wrapped andweighted. Sonar picks up those objects more reliably. We’ll do our best.”

Hanna thanked them, and after the Mustang was loaded up on a flatbed, it was time to head back to the office to deal with the press. The PD itself didn’t have a press office; that was handled by the county. She had to put something together for them.

“I wish there was something I could do for you, Hanna,” Jared said. “This is a circus, isn’t it?”

“It is. You’ve wasted your day off here at the lake.”

“Hey, you know me; I always enjoyed the circus.”

Hanna relaxed, thankful for the distraction and the lightness of the moment. “Enjoy your time off.” She smiled. “Maybe I should have been a firefighter.”

He laughed. “No, Hanna, you’re right where you should be. In the circus there is always one great lion tamer; that’s you. Go get ’em.”

It was her turn to laugh. “That conjures up an image of a whip and a chair. Sometimes I wish the press could be handled that way.” She turned from Jared, a little bit of the stress gone. Yes, she could handle this. It was what she’d signed up for.

“I promise to have a statement for you all in the next couple of hours,” she said as she made her way back to her car. “I’ll issue a statement from city hall.” She got in her car and eased away from the crowds.

Back on the road, Nathan came to mind. He’d not yet discovered where Edda’s vehicle was, but now they knew it wasn’t in the lake. The jealousy situation with Nathan still bugged her. In spite of everything going on around her, she hoped there was a way they could straighten out things between them.

She called him using hands-free and the call went to voicemail.

“It’s just me, wondering how your investigation is going. Call me when you have a chance.”

At the station, the preliminary autopsy report on the bodies from the barrel was in her e-mail. Both Carsons died from gunshot wounds to the head with a 9mm caliber weapon. Both wounds were through and through, there were no slugs or bullet fragments in the barrels. Death would have been quick. They were likely killed elsewhere and then placed in barrels to be concealed. As best as the coroner could estimate, the bodies had been in the barrels, in the water, for at least thirty-five years.

Hanna wished that there was one law enforcement person she could talk to from that time who’d been involved in the investigation. If there had been a PD here when the murders happened, she might have more information. But the Carsons were killed in a different time on a different watch. Nothing was even computerized back then.

The sparseness of the reports still bothered her, though. She could think of no reliable resource from that time, save Everett Buckley and—her father.

Fatigue enveloped Hanna, and she stepped up to the coffee station to make a fresh pot.

“Knock, knock.”

Turning, she saw Mayor Milton. “I’ve come to help you with the press release. There sure are a lot of news outlets in town. My phone has been ringing off the hook.”

“Yep. We’ve stepped on a hornet’s nest, haven’t we?”

“Maybe not. Maybe we’re just closing the books on some old mysteries.”

“Yeah, but there will still be a lot of questions.”

“I don’t think so. We know who murdered the Carsons; now we can guess that he killed Gilly as well.”

“Can we?” Hanna stared at Mayor Milton. She was certainly confident. “Joe confessed so easily and quickly to the Carson murders. Don’t you think that if he had killed Gilly, he would have confessed to that as well?”

“Not necessarily. Killing a federal agent would have likely made him eligible for the federal death penalty. Joe’s confession was self-serving, so he would not face the state death penalty. If they could have pinned Gilly’s murder on him, he would not have avoided a federal death sentence.”

Hanna considered this. The mayor wasn’t wrong. Joe confessing to local crimes kept everything local. But so much of this was bothersome. The timing, how did Joe get the Carsons into barrels and into the water before his arrest? He was picked up at the hospital right after the fire was put out. The tip was anonymous; the tipster never deposed or identified. When did Joe drive the car into the lake?

“Are you okay, Hanna?” Mayor Milton looked worried.

“Yeah, yeah, mind’s wandering, I’m tired. Coffee is ready. Would you like a cup?”

“Sure. Then let’s hammer out this press release.”

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