FIFTEEN
“Priscilla?” Myers’s voice brought Priscilla back to the present.
“Yes?” Her cheeks warmed at being caught not paying attention to the discussion. “I’m sorry. I was woolgathering, as my grandmother used to say.”
“I was saying that we need to go over the turn of events since the shooting three days ago. Let’s review it step by step.” Myers stood, brushing crumbs off his lap. “How about some fresh coffee to fuel our meeting? I know I could use another cup.”
Priscilla looked down at her half cup of coffee. “I’m good.” She didn’t want to finish her bagel, and stuffed it into the paper sack along with the used napkins and empty individual cream cheese containers.
The others agreed that more coffee would be welcomed. Myers stepped into the kitchen to brew more java.
“Hey, are you okay?” Luc touched her hand briefly as Aldrich gathered the remains of their breakfast and Laura checked her phone for messages.
“I think so.” She blew out a breath, not yet wanting to share her new memory of another man. It was probably her overactive imagination. Until she recalled the man more clearly, she would keep that “sighting” to herself. “I want to do something besides rehash everything. I hate feeling like a sitting duck, waiting for things to happen to me like some heroine of a fairy tale who reacts instead of acts.”
“What would you do?” Luc’s blue eyes were alight with interest.
“I’d start with motive.” Priscilla sipped her tepid coffee.
“Not to point out the obvious, but surely Culvert’s motive is that you’ll testify against him. Your testimony alone could put him behind bars for the rest of his life.”
She waved a hand at him. “I know that’s what the marshals think, but I keep circling back to why now. Like you pointed out, Culvert’s had years to track me down. But the thing is, I don’t think he even knew I existed until the grand jury indictment. I’m just listed as Witness Number Thirty.”
“I found you.” Luc sounded smug.
“Yeah, but it took you several years—and you had access to government databases.” Before she could explore her line of thought more, the marshals rejoined them in the living room, while Dr. Devins said he needed to return some phone calls and disappeared into one of the bedrooms.
Aldrich pulled out his notebook and read off the timeline. The map of events unfolded as everyone compared notes.
“When did Culvert kill Grammar?” Luc interjected.
Laura tapped her tablet. “It was the day of the fire at the safe house.”
Priscilla set her coffee cup on the table. “Could Culvert have killed Grammar and set the fire?”
“Let me check the distance.” Myers pulled up Google Maps on his phone to trace the route between Grammar’s house in Roanoke, Virginia, and the safe house near Petersburg, West Virginia. “It’s about a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Roanoke to the safe house. The medical examiner hasn’t narrowed down an exact time of death, but puts it between 11:00 p.m. Monday and 4:00 a.m. Tuesday.”
“Which means Culvert could have had time to kill Grammar, then slip over to the safe house and set the fire after midnight.” Priscilla played a staccato rhythm on the tabletop with her fingers as her thoughts raced from one possibility to another. “That would also explain how he was able to take that photo of me leaving the clinic.”
Myers looked up from his phone. “We’re exploring the possibilities that there’s an accomplice. We think someone at the hospital where Culvert had his appendix removed helped to facilitate his escape.”
Luc frowned. “How come this is the first time we’re hearing about a potential accomplice?”
Laura leveled a gaze at him. “Because you’re not officially part of this investigation.” She turned her attention to Priscilla. “And she’s a witness, therefore information is on a need-to-know basis.”
“And I didn’t need to know this.” Priscilla clasped her hands together to stop her fidgeting. Her restlessness had little to do with the caffeine boost and more to do with an unsettled mind. It was as if they were spinning their wheels and getting nowhere. Maybe another session with Dr. Devins would shake loose more concrete facts that would spur the marshals in a new direction, rather than covering the same ground over and over again.