In The Quiet Night (A John Kincaid Crime Thriller Book 3) by Jack Dane

Author:Jack Dane [Dane, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Back Alley Press
Published: 2024-09-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter fourteen

“Wait, you think Nugenta did this?” Cassandra asked. “But I thought their products had all been tested and met safety standards.”

Kincaid nodded. “They have.”

“Well that throws a wrench in your theory, then,” Cassandra said.

“I know, I know. But just think about it–-what if Marvin Tate had somehow discovered that Nugenta’s products weren’t what they said they were? He stumbles across the dead animals and trees, realizes what’s going on. Tries to confront the company, and gets killed for it,” Kincaid said, his eyes flicking back and forth as his thoughts connected.

“But what about the Soda Pop Slayer? You were the one who found the can near his body. Where does that fit in?” Cassandra pressed.

“I don’t know,” Kincaid relented.

“We need to figure out who that land belongs to,” Kincaid said.

“You’re thinking that if we can connect it back to the company, it might show something,” Cassandra said, understanding his train of thought.

“Only problem with that is, we still have no proof. Some dead animals are sad, but they aren’t exactly proof positive,” she continued.

Spoken like a true investigative journalist. Kincaid bit his lip as he tried to figure out their next move. Even if they could test one of the animals, for instance, it would never hold up in court, as they would’ve had to remove it from private land by way of trespassing.

“I’ll call around and see if I know anyone who knows anyone who works in the Plain Dealing County Clerk’s office,” Cassandra said.

Kincaid nodded. “Okay. See you soon.”

The wait for Cassandra’s return was a tense one. He used the time to think it all through, trying to turn the puzzle pieces of the case over in his mind to see where they fit.

His theory predicated on Marvin Tate having some sort of relationship with Nugenta to begin with. While the business card showed he was aware of them, it didn’t conclusively prove much else. Kincaid spun back around, eyes dancing about the RV in search of his phone.

There it was, on the bed. Hurriedly he pulled up Tate’s cell phone records again. He scrolled to the inbound and outbound calls. While nothing had popped before, that had been because his initial pass had been looking for any number officially connected with Nugenta.

But what if… what if Tate had called the personal line of someone within the company?

Kincaid pulled out his notebook and set it on his knee with the phone on the table beside him. Tate had made nearly a hundred phone calls in the two weeks before his death–that was a lot of phone numbers.

Kincaid poured over the digits, looking for any repeats. As soon as he found one, he wrote the number down in his notebook. He continued to scroll through, blinking away a headache that was starting to form.

Pouring himself a glass of water, he sucked down an aspirin before getting back to work.

There were twelve numbers that Marvin Tate had called more than once over the time period. Of those twelve, three had been called four times, and one number received nine calls.

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