Page 20 of Say Nothing
The figure hung up the phone and stood by it for a second before going back to the pictures on the wall.
"Two down," they whispered."So, so, so many more to go.
CHAPTER NINE
Alison and Derek headed for the door while Alison looked for the address of Jason Weber's company.They would try there first, and find his home address if they couldn’t find him there.They were almost through the bullpen when Alison’s phone rang: Detective Moore.
"Hello?"Alison answered.
"Dr.Payne, I wanted to run something by you," Samantha said.
"Go ahead," Alison said.
"I think we have him on CCTV.Franklin Howard."
Alison gestured for Derek to keep going while she was on the phone, and she followed after him.
"What do you have?"Alison asked.
"We don't see him at the bar on the night Margaret was murdered, but we did find security footage from behind a liquor store of him at two am, looking a little worse for wear.The liquor store is two blocks from the bar where he claims he was drinking."
Alison and Derek got outside and headed for his car.
"Now, it looks like he was being straight with us about drinking at the bar, but there’s still enough time for him to get to Margaret's house, then to the bar, and then to where he was caught on CCTV."
"What do you think?"Alison asked as she got into Derek’s vehicle.
"I’m inclined to believe him.It’s a shaky alibi if it’s one he tried to create, then he could have been seen on the CCTV at the bar if he wanted to be, although if he did kill Margaret, maybe he didn't want to be seen there from so late in the night so he could claim to have been off camera the entire time."
"We know he didn't commit the second murder, and they are almost identical," Alison said."Both victims died slowly with a similar bag put over their heads.Unless someone associated with the case leaked that information or took matters into their own hands, it couldn’t have been copied."
"Yeah, I know," Samantha said."I just want to cover all bases."
"That’s a good idea always," Alison said."The ball’s in your court.He’s your suspect, and if you want to keep him and question him again, there’s nothing wrong with that."
"No, I think it’s time to cut him loose," Samantha admitted.
"All right," Alison said."Listen, I have to go.We’re following up on a lead on another suspect.I’ll keep you updated as we go."
"Good luck," Samantha said.
"Sorry," Alison said to Derek once the call was over."Looks like they’re cutting Franklin loose."She switched back to her browser and gave Derek the address of the security company.
As soon as he had it, he pulled out of the parking lot, and they were on their way.
While they drove, she checked out the company page to get more information about what they did.
"Okay, so they primarily deal in commercial businesses, but they are expanding into residential, too.Obviously, they weren’t one of the companies that installed the systems at both crime scenes, but Weber will know his way around them.Does that mean he could bypass them so well?"
"Someone did," Derek reminded her."It might as well be him."
"The stuff the company installs does look state of the art, but does that mean anything?"Alison asked.
"We’ll hopefully know more when we talk with him," Derek said."So, we know he was fired from his job for some shady behavior, but that behavior hasn’t held him back.How about the guys he started the business with?Are they ex-prison guards, too?"
"I don't know," Alison admitted."Does a leopard ever change its spots?"
"Not often," Derek confirmed.
