Rough Justice by Kelley Armstrong

Author:Kelley Armstrong [Armstrong, Kelley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Published: 2018-06-02T18:30:00+00:00

Fourteen

Olivia

“It’s the perfect recipe for murder,” I said as Gabriel drove back to the office.

“Is it?”

“Hell, yeah. Stage a break-in where the only thing grabbed is your purse, conveniently containing your phone. Stage two more attempted break-ins. Convince hubby that you don’t need him to stay home—you just need a gun. Then, text him in a panic, luring him home. Shoot him. Delete the texts, and if they’re discovered, well, they obviously came from your missing phone.”

“Hmm.”

I glanced over at him. “You disagree.”

“I take issue with the descriptor ‘perfect,’ which I know you meant as hyperbole, but as murders go, it’s far from perfect.”

I considered and then thumped back in my seat. “Agreed. There are too many ways this could have gone wrong. All it would have taken was for Alan to call the police himself. Or send someone else to check on her. It’s clumsy. The type of murder that seems clever only because it worked out as planned.”

“Which describes ninety-five percent of murders committed by amateurs…and far too many committed by professionals. It’s only when the plot fails that we see the flaws.”

“And then we say ‘well, that was a stupid idea.’ Okay, so if Heather did this, she’s no mastermind. She’s just lucky.”

“Yes.” Gabriel turned a corner. “However, I don’t believe our prime objective is to prove she did it, not as her defense team…or Ioan’s prosecution team.”

“Right. We know the Cŵn Annwn think Keith Johnson is responsible. That gives us a head start on an alternate suspect. Which would be a lot more useful if I could find any possible motive for him killing Alan Nansen.”

“Hmm.”

I glanced at him. “That noise means you’re avoiding stating the obvious. That motivation isn’t the starting point. Not even the ending point. I need means and opportunity. Could Johnson have done it, rather than why he would.”

“Not him specifically. Step back to the general.”

“Could anyone else have done it? Pulling the trigger, no. Heather admits she did that. If anyone else is responsible, it’s the person who set this in motion. The one who staged the break-ins. The one who presumably sent the texts.”

“Yes.”

“I know texts—like phone calls—can be spoofed to look like they came from another number. I don’t know whether that would explain the delay in showing up on Heather’s phone… Wait. We need access to all her past messages. I can analyze her texting patterns. That won’t prove conclusively that she didn’t send them but—”

Gabriel handed me the folder. I opened it to find transcripts from Alan’s cell phone, specifically the thread of his regular text conversations with his wife. I only had to skim through a few elements—word choice, abbreviations, emojis—to let out a curse.

“Yes, they match,” he said.

“But this might be the real reason her cell phone was taken. To imitate her texting patterns, to convince Alan that it was her.”

“That is more likely.”

I returned the pages to his folder. “Three scenarios. First, no one ever tried breaking in, and Heather staged it all. Second, someone did try breaking in, and Heather took advantage of the setup.

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