Never Tell by Alafair Burke

Author:Alafair Burke
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Suspense
ISBN: 9780061999161
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2012-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

Ellie and Rogan found Katherine Whitmire in the den on the second floor. Like the sitting room downstairs, this space was filled with stuffy, hard-edged furniture and ornate rugs. It had neither a television nor a bed, making it useless as far as Ellie was concerned.

Katherine immediately rose from her chair as Ellie and Rogan approached. Down the hall, they spotted her husband, Bill, on his BlackBerry in the kitchen. It struck Ellie as a strange moment for the two of them to be apart. If the appearance in their home of two teenagers claiming to know the identity of their daughter’s killer was not enough to bring the pair together, Ellie wondered whether the two were ever in the same room.

They all convened in the kitchen. “Have you put out a warrant for this Casey Heinz girl?”

She did not have the time to explain to a record producer the process that was required for obtaining an arrest warrant.

“We’re going to check out Heinz right now,” Rogan said. She noticed that her partner omitted the fact that they’d already spoken to Casey the previous night. “I’d suggest that you hold off on giving those two scroungers down there any money for now.”

“But Bill told them—”

Rogan shook his head. “Trust me. You give those kids ten grand, and they’ll be in Seattle by tomorrow night. Slip them a couple hundred bucks and tell them it’ll take time to pull the rest together? They’re not going anywhere.”

Bill Whitmire was pacing back and forth in the aisle between his kitchen island and cabinets. “Can’t you arrest them to make certain we don’t lose them?”

Ellie shook her head. “They haven’t done anything illegal.”

“They waited until a reward was announced to tell anyone they knew about a murderer!”

“I’m afraid the law doesn’t require people to come forward with knowledge about illegal activity, Mr. Whitmire.”

“But that’s ridicu—”

“Otherwise, you’d be required to call the police every time someone lit a joint in your recording studio. You see?”

“It’s not the same—”

“I’m just explaining why we can’t take these two into custody.”

“Aren’t they runaways?”

“Vonda is of age, and Brandon claims to be legally emancipated, in which case he’s also considered an adult.”

“But what about, what’s it called? Material witnesses, or something?”

“That’s only if they’re uncooperative. Like my partner, I’m quite sure they’ll stay exactly where we need to find them unless you suddenly give them enough money to leave.” She was getting sick of fielding Bill Whitmire’s legal questions. This wasn’t a citizen training academy. “We’ve had some other leads in the case as well. We need to ask you about your daughter’s relationship with Adrienne Langston.”

Bill Whitmire’s expression was completely blank. It was his wife who spoke up. “You know who she is, Bill. Ramona’s stepmother. You mention how youthful and natural she is every time you see her.” Her voice became slightly less bitter when she returned her attention to Ellie. “Julia was very fond of Adrienne. Always saying what a wonderful mother she was. The underlying message wasn’t lost on me,” she added sadly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.