Page 80 of Last Seen Alive
“We can thumb through them again to be sure, but I don’t remember coming across it before.”
Amanda’s mind returned to the timing of Claire’s departure from Lux Suites. “So she left on Friday at four to empty the safe deposit box at four thirty—we know she was there then. And she’s killed three hours later. Did he just keep an eye on her for a while? He might have even known what her business was at Locked Up Tight. But why would she risk taking the box’s contents with him watching her?”
“She might not have known he was that close, or she could have felt there was a greater risk to leaving the letter in the box, and the gun too, assuming that’s where it was.”
“Okay, but what happened after she emptied the box? Did that man catch up with her then?” As Amanda asked the questions, she could surmise one answer. “She told her estate attorney there was a letter explaining everything for Logan. Did she find out where Logan lived somehow, go there, wait and see if he slipped out, then let herself in with the hide-a-key?”
“All right, I see where you’re headed with this. Then the man in the Camry, let’s say he’s the killer, goes into the house afterward thinking he’s got the perfect solution to get away with murder.”
“Yeah.” She bit her bottom lip. “The only thing that doesn’t fit is the lingerie. I highly doubt he was walking around with it in his pocket.”
“He could have seen her waiting to go into Logan’s. Then took time to concoct his entire plan, which ended up with him buying lingerie. He could have guessed her size or if he is Claire’s old heist partner, he might have known it.”
“Just insane. How did he even know she had the gun or proof against him?” Amanda shook her head. “Don’t know about you, but I look forward to having answers for a change.” She got off his desk and looked at his screen. “Let’s see if we can get some.”
“All right. Going back to Wednesday…” He scrolled down the document on his screen. “At one fifteen, via unit twenty-three fifty-two, she went to this address.” He wrote it down, then met Amanda’s gaze. “I think we both know where that is.”
“The Flynn house.”
“Claire paid Rita a visit Wednesday afternoon, and by Thursday night, Rita’s dead.” Trent paled. “Did Claire exact revenge and tamper with her car then?”
“Don’t know but even if she did, it doesn’t answer who killed Claire.”
Trent raised his eyebrows. “Someone who knows she took out Rita.”
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves. What’s the next ride Claire took?”
“Well, she returned to her hotel Wednesday afternoon at three thirty. The next afternoon, Thursday, and sticking with cab twenty-three fifty-two, she goes to Woodbridge Inn. Now, this specific cab didn’t return to Claire’s hotel, but she could have gotten a ride back in another unit.”
“And what about Thursday morning? She go anywhere?”
“Yep, unit fifteen ten. One second.” He opened another file and scrolled down. “Here it is. Looks like Claire was dropped off at—”
Amanda looked closely at the address on the screen. “Mona Lawson’s? What was Claire doing there?”
“I don’t have a clue.”
“Well, we’re going to find out. So much for Mona not recognizing Claire.”
“Playing devil’s advocate here, but that place is humongous. Could be Claire paid someone else there a visit. We also need to figure out what had Claire going to Woodbridge Inn. Was she visiting someone there too? And, if so, who?”
Amanda and Trent were buzzed through the front gate, but she had to bang on the door before it was opened. It was Mona Lawson herself, the picture of calm.
“Detectives? What is so urgent?” Mona let her gaze dance over the two of them, settling rather judgmentally on Amanda.
“We just have a couple of questions for you. Could we come in for a minute?” Amanda plastered on a smile, hoping it would translate as sincere but highly doubting it.
“Sure.” Mona opened the door wider and led the way to the sitting room they’d sat in before. “Just be a dear and get the door behind you.”
Trent got there before Amanda. She leaned in close to his ear and said, “We need to play nice here.” She didn’t know if the reminder was more for him or herself.
“No problem,” he mouthed to her.
They really had nothing on Mona except for her possibly lying about knowing Claire herself, but Mona could have paid someone to take Claire out. Not that they were anywhere close to having enough to justify warrants for her financials.
“Would you like a tea or coffee? I can get Ingrid,” Mona said, slipping onto a chair.
“Not necessary.” The offer felt superficial, and Amanda wanted no part of it. She brought up a photo of Claire again, the same one she’d shown Mona the other day. “Just confirming that you’ve never seen her before.”
