Page 102 of Montana Manhunt

“Not that I know of.”

“If you think of anything, contact me day or night. Noah?”

“Right here.”

“What did you think about Casey?”

He chuckled. “That woman is a barracuda. She impressed me and scared the Morrison police.”

“Always a good thing. Before I jump into the next task, do you need to report anything new?”

Noah glanced at Violet and gave her a nod.

She summarized the interview with Charity.

Zane whistled. “I assume you caught up with Lauren Gilmore. What did she have to say?”

“Not a lot. We found her in a pool of her own blood. She’d been stabbed several times.” She told the computer whiz the information they’d learned from Lauren, ending with, “Noah thinks our suspect might be a local cop.”

“Evidence to back that up, Noah?”

“Nothing yet. Just a gut feeling coupled with something Lauren said.”

“What was that?”

“The killer knew information no one should have known because at least one girl was underage.”

Their friend was silent for a moment. “Could be cops. Any cop in the Morrison PD could get access to the files. Could be the lawyers.”

“When you get me a copy of the case file, we’ll find out who represented both sides. Although I’ll talk to Melton soon, I want outside verification.”

“Trust but verify. Wise move. I’ll get on the file immediately. Any chance you’ll need Casey’s services again?”

“It’s possible.”

“I’ll let her know. Do you have other research I can assist with?”

“Dig deep into Lauren Gilmore. The killer ignored Lauren and Charity for years. Something set him off. I’m wondering if Lauren looked into Dana’s death recently.”

“I’ll see what I can find. Have you told Brent the latest? If you haven’t, you need to report to him. This could get ugly fast.”

Could get ugly? Violet grimaced. Looking at the situation from her perspective, it was ugly already and would be worse the longer the killer remained free to do as he pleased.

“He was my next call,” Noah said.

“I’ll transfer you. Hold.”

Seconds later, a gruff voice said, “Yeah, Maddox.”

“It’s Noah.”

“Sit rep.”

For the next few minutes, Noah updated their boss about the latest developments in the case.

“Someone is tying up loose ends.”

“Yes, sir.”

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