Page 47 of In Cold Blood
“We have a history. I heard you were assigned to work with him. Be careful. Keep your eyes peeled. You might think he has an interest in getting to the bottom of this case but he’s more likely to let it fall by the wayside the first chance he gets.”
“Is there something I should know?”
“All I’m saying is that if you expect him to cross his t’s and dot his i’s, check his work, as he has a habit of forgetting, or using whiteout if you get my drift. His attention to detail isn’t good.”
“And yours is?”
“Based on what I’ve told you so far, you tell me.”
She smiled and glanced back into the office before meeting his gaze.
A deputy walked in through the main doors, and Callie glanced away while Noah stared into a glass cabinet at the front of the lobby that showcased the Sheriff's Office’s involvement with sponsoring local Little League teams. The deputy made a comment to Callie and walked on.
Noah narrowed his eyes. “What leads do you have so far?”
“It’s too early right now,” she replied.
“Not concerning my brother’s death. I’m referring to theleads that Luke was following up on regarding the Graysons, Cyrus Keller, Keith Erikson, and drugs being found over on Hawk Island. A property that is owned by Harry Carter. Did Luke interview him?”
“I can’t answer that.”
“You won’t or you can’t?”
“Noah. You need to understand something. Everyone liked Luke around here. He was one hell of an officer and an even better human being, but don’t go digging up old cases or bothering Harry. That’s a recipe for disaster. Now I have a lot of things to do.” She turned to leave. She was trying to bring it to a close without sounding rude.
“All right. But one last thing. Do you think Cyrus was responsible?”
“For Erikson’s disappearance or your brother’s death?”
“Both.”
She shrugged. “That’s what we intend to find out. Until then…”
“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Right,” Noah said, assuming that was what she was about to say but it wasn’t.
“I was going to say until then I can’t speculate and from what I heard about the Alman case, neither should you.” That was like a nail being driven back in. He’d done everything he could on that case. There were so many elements and people involved but that didn’t seem to matter when it was his face that was attached to the case.
No wonder she was treading carefully.
13
Solving the case was going to be an uphill battle. It pained him to admit, but if he wanted to know anything about what had happened to Luke, he would have to speak with his father again. His former position as sheriff and friendship with Roberts was likely to be the only way he was going to get any information. Noah was aware of the protocol. He anticipated they would turn him away empty-handed. That’s exactly what any sheriff’s office would do under the circumstances.
Although Roberts had said Thorne would be helping, he knew that would be kept to a minimum. Police shootings were solely handled by State unless they requested assistance. In some ways he was grateful that Parish had requested assistance from the Sheriff’s Office, otherwise, he wouldn’t have stood a chance in hell of finding out what Parish discovered, if anything at all.
The State investigator in him wanted to dig in and find out the truth, the other part felt it was best to let Parish deal with it. He had to believe that he could change, that he had changed, and that Parish would work the case as hard as he could, butdeep down, he didn’t have that confidence. His track record told another story.
Axel was curled up in a ball on the passenger side when he peered in. “Glad to see one of us is getting some shuteye.”
As Noah made his way back to the cabin, he thought about what Alicia and Dax had said about Keith Erikson. If Luke had been looking into him and he’d gone missing ten months ago, there had to be some local articles on it along with reports that Luke would have gathered. Whatever Erikson had stumbled on, it had to have something to do with Cyrus enough to convince Luke to bring charges.
The question was what?
If he could speak with Cyrus directly, it might provide a better picture, but if everything was to be believed about this man, he wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.
If he had anything to do with Luke’s death, he wouldn’t admit it. And if Luke had been shot because of Cyrus’ arrest and near incarceration, he probably wouldn’t be too pleased to see someone strolling up to his property who looked like Luke. But what if he knew something? What if he had given Luke what he wanted already — information that could break wide the case that Luke was investigating before he died?
At least now he had a better picture of some of those involved and their possible connection to his brother.
