Page 39 of In the Bones
Kenneth caught Claudia Patten before her knees gave out, and helped her to the edge of the bed.
The phrogger had a name. She’d known the victim.
And finding Molly Kranz was more crucial than ever.
THIRTY-THREE
Tim
“How was Syracuse?” Valerie Ott asked from her desk in the barracks. “You must be beat.”
The minute she said it, exhaustion crashed over Tim like a wave. The day had felt endless; he could hardly believe he’d been to both Watertown and Syracuse since leaving home that morning. Slumping into his own office chair, Tim said, “You don’t know the half of it. But I got an ID on our vic, Jenny Smith’s real name, their connection, and confirmation that they were together in the victim’s last known location, so all in all it was a good day’s work.”
When Shana emerged from her office and pulled over Sol’s empty chair, Tim told both women what he’d learned from Claudia Patten and Detective Kenneth Strada. “Whether Molly Kranz had any involvement in Angelica Patten’s death or not, she was in Cape Vincent with her on Labor Day weekend, which could mean she was one of the last people to see Angelica alive.”
That information had been surprisingly easy to come by. Tim and Kenneth had managed to meet with Molly’s manager at Wins, which had led them to her apartment and roommate. Molly had lived with Cara Lark for three years, and Cara had said they used to be close, but something changed after that Labor Day.
“Molly told the roommate she was going away for the holiday,” said Tim. “She didn’t mention Angelica or Cape Vincent, but Cara Lark says Molly was excited about seeing a lighthouse.”
“Tibbetts Point,” said Shana. “Gotta be.”
“That’s a stone’s throw from Helle’s place, right?” Valerie asked.
“Sure is. After that weekend,” Tim went on, “Molly started acting squirrely and became antisocial. More than once, Cara found her at home when she should have been working. Cara worried that she was depressed. She said Molly was there in body, but nobody was home.” That description had bothered Tim. It had sounded to him like Molly’s mental health had been failing.
“Come November,” he continued, “Molly asked if Cara could float her some cash for rent. Molly didn’t admit it, but Cara thought she might have lost her job—which she had. Apparently, Molly isn’t great with money. The manager at Wins confirmed he let her go in late October for missing too many shifts. He figured she was upset about Angelica disappearing, like most of the employees at the store. Then one day, right before Thanksgiving, Cara came home to find Molly had packed up her car and taken off. She never saw or heard from her again.”
Shana said, “Let’s get a bolo alert out on that vehicle.”
“On it,” Valerie said.
“I think we can assume she’s homeless. The roommate says Molly’s father moved out to Arizona,” Tim explained. “They’re not close anymore. Molly lost her mom and sister to a car accident a few years ago, and the dad remarried.”
“Ugh, really tough break.” Shana tapped a pen against her lower lip. “Why did it take this long to locate Angelica? Track her phone, and they could have found her in days.”
Tim said, “Ah. That’s a rotten hand. Kenneth Strada did track it, but her last known location wasn’t anywhere near Cape Vincent. It was in Canada. According to the mother, Angelica’s phone was older and didn’t hold a charge for long, and Kenneth determined that the phone had been turned off in Oswego County, well south of Watertown. You know how dicey cell service can be up here, some carriers in particular. Especially near the river. When her cell came back on and pinged a tower, it was in Ontario.” That was common along the St. Lawrence, with Canada being so close. “Kenneth did what he could,” Tim said, “liaising with the police up there, but the SPD’s short-staffed and underfunded, and crime rates are rising, so …”
“Here’s where I get confused,” Valerie put in. “If Molly was struggling so much with whatever happened up here that she lost her job and apartment, why come back?”
“If she’s homeless,” said Shana, “it explains a lot about the squatting. She has a car and knew Cape Vincent from last summer. She might have been aware that lots of homes there sit empty until May.”
“But how did she end up in Mikko Helle’s? She must have known where to look for Angelica,” Valerie said.
Tim hadn’t liked the phrogger for the crime from the start, and not just because of her reaction to finding the remains. He could see where his colleague was coming from, though. Why had Molly come back just to lay eyes on her dead friend? After so many months, why come back at all?
With her elbows propped on the arms of Sol’s desk chair, Shana tented her fingers against her temples. “We need to talk to Helle again, now that we’ve ID’d the body and Molly Kranz. Both of these girls were found in his house. I have a bad feeling he met them while they were in town.”
“I agree,” said Tim. He’d been thinking about possible connections between Molly, Angelica, and Mikko on the drive back from Syracuse. Now, he said, “OK, I’ve got a theory. It’s a little wild, but hear me out. We have two women, both mid-twenties, both attractive. One likes to have fun—that’s Angelica—and the other, Molly, takes risks. No other way to describe squatting in strangers’ houses, plus Angelica’s mother claims she stole some money from her purse. We don’t believe Angelica had a boyfriend, and the roommate doesn’t think Molly did either. So what I’m wondering,” he said, “is if this was a hook-up gone wrong.”
“Interesting,” Valerie said, pursing her burgundy lips.
It was the memory of Angelica’s collage that had given Tim the idea, the faces of those countless young men on her wall. “Lots of guys out and about on Labor Day weekend,” he went on, “including Mikko Helle. We know that he was in town. He’d just closed on his house.”
“And we know he likes to party,” Valerie said with a tilt of her sleek head. “The proof is in the online pics.”
Tim said, “Right. Maybe he and Angelica hooked up that weekend, and Molly has been trying to find out what happened after that. She could have suspected her missing friend was dead and wanted answers. Shana? Any thoughts?”
Next to Valerie, Tim’s wife had gone stock-still. After half a decade with her in his life, Tim could tell when she made a connection that might advance a case. It was the faraway look and pretzeled mouth that signaled a breakthrough was coming, and he saw both now. The depth of her observation skills still surprised him; Tim could always count on Shana to mine an investigation for insight that would otherwise go unnoticed.
