Page 9 of Just Tonight

CHAPTER FIVE

“What’s wrong?” Cami could hear the same urgency in Connor’s voice as there had been in hers.

“I’m getting nothing here. No wifi at all. No cameras. Not even the phone. It’s like everything in this smart home was disabled. Why would that be?”

“Could this killer have sabotaged it?” Connor asked.

“I don’t know,” Cami replied.

Had this killer done such a thing? That was the first dark suspicion that lurked in Cami's mind. Had he somehow managed to wipe the entire system? But without the basic wifi, she couldn’t even see what was there.

“It would depend on his level of expertise,” she said. “It might just not be working, they might have disconnected it. Some control panels get put in and never used. But if it wasn’t working, then other people would know. And surely, she’d at least have the wifi working?”

She didn’t know how it had been disabled so completely. It hadn’t had wires cut. It had been wiped. Everything!

Even if people got angry with their home’s control systems, everyone used wifi. Didn’t they?

This killer might be somebody with expertise in tech. Cami now thought that was a strong possibility.

“I guess her daughter would know if the wifi had been operational?” Connor asked.

“Yes, I'm sure Harriet would know if she'd visited recently," Cami said.

Connor nodded. “I hope that she will have had a chance to calm down by now. Let’s see if she feels ready to talk.

***

Ten minutes later, Cami and Connor pulled up outside the apartment building where Harriet, Lisa’s daughter, lived.

The presence of a police car outside showed Cami that there was still an officer on site, and she felt glad that this traumatized woman hadn’t been left alone. Connor checked the address of the apartment, rang the bell, and in a few moments the policeman answered.

“Come on up,” he said.

The apartment was on the third floor, and the policeman, a kindly looking man in uniform, with a graying mustache, met them at the front door.

"I've been sitting with her this past hour," he briefed Connor quietly. "She's settled down a lot, but I haven't mentioned her mother at all. I haven't asked her anything. I thought it would be better to wait until you arrived."

“Appreciate it,” Connor said. “Yes, probably better.”

Walking in, Cami saw this apartment was a small but cozy place that reminded Cami a lot of the current place she shared with Kieran. A tiny hallway, a small living room with a kitchenette beyond, and a closed door that she guessed led to a single bedroom.

Thinking of Kieran, Cami couldn’t control her worry, and her own predicament surged into her mind again. The concerns about Bill Oertel rushed back, and with them, this time, came a flash of additional worry for Kieran.

Would he be okay? She must ask Connor if he thought there was a possibility Oertel might target him or try to. After all, he'd targeted Ethan – or, at any rate, Cami was sure he had. What if he went after his brother, too?

Worry was uppermost in her mind as she headed into the living room, which contained a few pieces of furniture that looked worn and very comfortable, and Cami guessed it was from a second-hand store. "So very sorry about this, Miss Court.”

Huddled on the couch, Harriet looked small and forlorn. She was a petite woman with shiny brown hair and narrow shoulders and a lean face that was tearstained and blotchy looking.

“This is just so – so unreal,” she stammered. “My mother? Why her? She was so gentle! She was a really good person. There’s nobody who would want to kill her, nobody.”

Cami sat down beside her. She wasn’t much of a physical person and didn’t feel comfortable with these gestures – usually. But right then she sensed that Harriet might need her hand held, so she clasped the other woman’s fingers in her own.

“When did you last see your mother?” Connor asked.

“The day before yesterday. I try to visit her a lot when my dad’s away.”

She gulped as if surprised she had managed to get all those words out.

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