Page 59 of Crossing Lines

Chapter Thirty-Six

“Why would Thorne bury an incriminating piece of evidence on his own construction property?” Wyatt asked.

They were in Sam’s office, staring down at the glove laid out on his desk.

“And how would Kevin even know it was there?” Jo asked from the floor, where she was sitting next to Lucy under the window.

Sam scrubbed his hands over his face. “Those are good questions. Still, I can’t help but feel like this is important. And there’s no harm in sending it to the lab. I’ll visit Kevin later today and see if his memory has come back.”

Jo kissed Lucy on the top of the head and stood, wincing as she straightened. Clearly, her injury was hurting her.

“How is your injury?” Sam asked.

Jo waved his concern away. “It’s healing. I’m fine.”

Sam and Wyatt exchanged a glance, but before they could argue with her, Major skulked in, carrying the toy octopus in his mouth.

“Oh-oh, what’s he up to?” Wyatt asked.

“Probably sees an opportunity to torment Lucy while she’s injured and can’t fight back properly,” Sam said.

Major walked slowly toward Lucy. The dog appeared as if she didn’t know what to think either, her wary gaze flicking from Sam back to Major.

Major stopped a few feet from the dog, dropped the toy, and then batted it toward Lucy. It skittered to a stop against her cast.

Lucy looked as if she was expecting the gesture to be some kind of trick, but Major didn’t take any further action. He simply sat on his haunches and started washing behind his ears.

After a few beats, Lucy sniffed the toy and then tucked it under her chin.

“Did Major just give Lucy that toy?” Jo’s tone was incredulous.

“Looks that way.” Sam wasn’t sure what to make of it, but the cat didn’t seem to have an ulterior motive. He appeared more concerned with grooming than the toy. “Maybe he feels bad that Lucy got hurt.”

“Maybe.” Jo still sounded uncertain. “I guess we can take that as progress.”

“Speaking of progress.” Reese appeared in the doorway, stepping to the side to let Major exit. “The brown hair is a match to Bascomb, and the tire tracks at the abduction site match the tires on his van.”

“Good. More nails in Bascomb’s coffin,” Wyatt said.

“But what about Thorne?” Jo turned to Sam. “Did you ask Beryl about the shoes?”

Sam told them how Beryl had given them the shoes to protect her brother.

“She’s not to be trusted,” Jo warned. “She tried to make sure her own husband went down for a murder charge!”

“Bascomb was actually pretty clever,” Reese said. “Thorne had always said those shoes weren’t his, and Bascomb used that as an excuse for his case as well as an excuse to get them to the lab. He was afraid once the trial began that they’d be able to prove the shoes really weren’t Thorne’s and they might start looking for the real killer—him!”

“How do you think he got Thorne’s DNA on them, and how did he plan to explain how that had been missed before?” Wyatt asked.

“According to Bascomb, he managed to get Thorne’s DNA from visiting the construction site trailer where Thorne kept extra clothes. He was going to blame shoddy forensic analysis on why it wasn’t found prior.”

“It would’ve been quite diabolical if it had worked,” Jo said.

“And it might have if he had been able to refrain from killing,” Wyatt added.

“That’s why we need to make sure our case against Bascomb is solid. After this fiasco with the shoes, I’m sure everything we do is going to be scrutinized,” Sam said.

“We still have one witness that might be able to link Bascomb to the murders from five years ago. My sister Bridget.” Jo’s gaze met Sam’s. “Why don’t you bring Lucy by tonight, and we’ll show her a picture of Bascomb.”

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