Yep, it was definitely Slater. Knowing he stood outside the complex where Karina had been strangled only hours before turned her skin cold. She flinched and the magnify glass bumped against the surface of the table with a hollow thud as she recalled the note she’d received in her mailbox yesterday, and the conversation she’d overheard.
“Did you find something?”
Sunny jumped at the sound of Judson’s voice. She turned toward him. He stood in the same spot, still reading through the papers and writing notes on the dry erase board.
“I think I did.” She held out the picture. “Take a look.”
“Whatcha got?” He held the picture between his thumb and pointer finger, looking at it then her.
Excitement caused her to bounce up from her seat. “Right here.” Sunny tapped her finger on Slater’s image in the photo. “Do you know who that is?”
“Hmm, looks kinda familiar.” He grabbed the magnifier Sunny held out to him and looked again. “Is that Benny’s sidekick?”
“The one and only.” Her heart accelerated. Her skin heated up and she removed the robe and down vest, throwing them over the seat she vacated.
“Now this is an interesting twist.” Judson circled Slater’s image with a permanent black marker. He turned toward Sunny. “He has absolutely no reason to be there.”
“Exactly. I have to check my background info again, but I’m sure he didn’t live anywhere near there.” Sunny pulled out the storage box from beside the file cabinet and leafed through the files. “Aha!” She grabbed a neon green folder covered with doodles and drawings from the box and pulled it out.
Sunny licked her fingers, sorting through the papers spilling from the folder until she found what she needed. She separated it from the others, bumped her glasses up the front of her nose, and scanned it.
Judson looked over her shoulder. “Right there.” He pointed to Slater’s address listed on the bottom of the form. “His address is probably a good fifteen miles from her.”
“So, why would he just happen to be at the crime scene within hours of her being murdered?” Sunny looked at Judson. “It probably hadn’t even made the news yet. Between this, Slater and Tasha’s conversation yesterday and the note in my mailbox, we’re getting some good leads.”
“Whoa, slow down. What conversation, what note? You didn’t tell—”
“I know. I brought it with me last night hoping we’d have a moment alone so I could show you, but things got…how should I say it…sidetracked?” Sunny hurried from the office to get the paper from her carry-all, Judson hot on her heels. She pulled the letter from her purse and handed it to him. “It wasn’t sent through the post office. Whoever left it knows I’m working this case and they were daring enough to come right up to my front door.”
Judson unfolded the paper and grimaced. “Come here, I have to show you something.” He turned back toward her office and this time Sunny followed.
“This isn’t the first one I’ve received. Another was left a couple of weeks ago on the front seat of my car, along with a picture of Benny and Karina.” Sunny grabbed the note she’d tucked on a shelf and snatched the picture from the wall. “I also overheard an odd conversation between Tasha and Slater before I punched in last night.”
“And?”
Sunny relayed all she’d heard, but Judson didn’t seem as excited over it as she’d been.
“Interesting, but nothing concrete.”
“But enough to make me think we’re moving in the right direction.”
Judson opened the white letter sized envelope that had been tucked inside the larger brown one Glen DeVito had given her yesterday. He removed several sheets of paper. “Take a look at these. What do you make of them?”
Sunny plucked the sheets from his fingers and scanned through them in quick succession then handed him the note left on her front seat with the picture.
Her jaw tightened as she recognized the simplistic lettering of each short sentence written on the papers. Although she was no handwriting expert, it was obvious that all the printing matched. Upper case straight lined letters were used to print each word, no curves or slants and the backside of the paper indented outward from the pressure of the writer’s black marker. It looked like something a child had written.
“The writing looks the same, but the newer notes were written with a shaky hand. Did Glen mention anything to you about including any letters with the envelope?”
“Not one word. Maybe he didn’t even know they were there.” Sunny glanced at the clock resting on the shelf across the room. “I’m going to call him and see if he can shed some light on this.”
Judson grabbed his cell phone from the table and Sunny shook her head. “I don’t get reception in the back of the house. I’m going to use the land line.”
Sunny took the letters Judson offered. “You coming?” She stopped to glance at him over her shoulder.
“No, go ahead. I want to check a few things on line.”
She returned several minutes later to find Judson surfing the internet on her laptop, copying and pasting information from archived newspapers regarding Karina’s murder. He turned in his chair when she entered the room questioning her with the raise of his brow.
“Glen said he’d forgotten all about those letters, he didn’t even remember keeping them.” Sunny pulled out the chair next to Judson and sat. “I told him about the two I received and he stated none of his had been mailed either. They were either left in his mailbox or on the front seat of his car, just like the ones left for me. He said he never received any pictures though.” Sunny leafed through the notes sent to Mr. DeVito. “There’s only six here, but Mr. DeVito believes he was sent at least double that amount, but he’s not sure what happened to the others.”
“Did he turn them into the detective working the case?”
“By the time he started receiving the notes the case had already been closed, nobody would listen. He thought Benny sent the letters to throw him off. At first I agreed, but now I think it was someone else. Benny’s more confrontational, he’d see no need to sneak around and send anonymous letters.”
“I don’t like the fact someone involved in this knows you’re working the case and where you live.” Judson took the papers from Sunny, folded them, and tucked them back inside the envelope.
“Someone wants us to solve this.”
“Or they’re giving just enough clues now to trap you later on.”
Sunny shook her head. “Somebody knows something and wants to help without getting too involved. Or maybe they think they won’t be believed.”
“You can’t be sure.” The vein in Judson’s neck pulsed.
“Yesterday I doubted my instincts, but not anymore. Plus, I still believe in woman’s intuition. And right now mine’s telling me this is legit.”
Judson threw the envelope on the table. “I don’t like this. Not one bit.”
“Look at the notes. The older letters and the newer ones all say the same thing, just in different ways. Then I get one that narrows it down further and tells me to look at his
closest
friend. Who does that point at?” Sunny picked up the envelope Judson had just tossed on the table and tapped it against her palm. “His closest friend is Slater. One of us can talk to him, and maybe he’ll reveal something.”
“I admit Slater is someone to look at, but this just seems too easy. Something doesn’t feel right.”
Sunny stood, tapping the envelope against her thigh as she strolled toward the dry erase board. “It could be that someone is trying to tell us not only does Slater know more about this, but maybe he killed Karina.” She spun around to face Judson, frowning as he shook his head before she even finished her theory. “Benny was in love with Karina, they were spending more and more time together. That had to drive Slater crazy, Benny is his only true friend. He even acts like a scorned lover when Benny is too busy at the bar to pay him much attention. Imagine what a threat Karina would be to their friendship, at least in Slater’s mind.” She stepped in Judson’s direction, tossing the envelope on the table. “Slater got jealous. Him and Karina had a heated exchange and things got out of control and he strangled his competition to get rid of her.”
Judson stood then placed his hands on her shoulders. “Sounds like an episode of Law and Order. Here’s another possibility. Benny grew tired of Karina, they fought while he tried to break it off with her, things got heated, out of control, and he strangled her.”
“No way. Benny loved Karina. He still loves her.”
“This isn’t based off some book. This is real life.” Judson shook his head. “You can’t romanticize everything, and you can’t possibly know he still loves her.”
“I do. We’ve talked and even after all these years he misses her. Her picture is framed in his office and he visits her grave to bring her flowers.”
“Hmm. Bet I can guess why.” His voice was filled with skepticism.
Sunny glared at him, chin raised. “I went through his filing cabinet and found a folder filled with love letters and pictures. There is no way a man would keep all of that sentimental stuff after all of these years if he didn’t love her.” She shrugged his hand from her shoulders.
“Or maybe he kept everything out of guilt.”
“I’ll ignore that.” Sunny grinned. “We need to find more information on Slater, talk to him, his friends, family.”
“I agree.”
“Even you have to admit Slater is the perfect suspect. He not only looks guilty, he gives me the creeps.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s guilty, it just means he’s creepy,” Judson said. “Weren’t you just the one accusing me of convicting someone before they were proven guilty?”
Sunny grabbed a notebook from the shelf to scribble down information she wanted to verify. “The next time I work I have some questions for Slater. I also want to see if I can get Benny to talk some more about Karina. I need to finish going through the file cabinet in his office, and I want to try and go through his desk.” She glanced at Judson, pressing her lips together before she continued her list. “He also has a locked drawer in his desk. I either need to pick the lock—”
“Well, before you do all of that I’m going to head home and clean up.” Judson ran his fingers across the stubble on his chin and chuckled. “Then I’ll make my way to the precinct and search the database for info on Slater. I want to go over his history, arrests, family, friends, past charges, all of it. If I can find someone that he wronged, they might be willing to dish some dirt.”
“Can you drop me off at my car on your way?”
“Not a problem.”
“I’m going to check in with my dad, tell him where we’re at in the investigation and see if he has any suggestions.”
“Let’s meet back here later to compare notes. Four good for you?”
Sunny nodded as she walked toward the office door. “I still haven’t forgotten about last night. So be ready for a chat.”
“Oh, I’m ready for it. Are you?”
Judson pulled in front of Sunny’s as she approached her front door. The soft swing of her hips hypnotized him. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand. This morning she’d been cute dressed in all of her mismatched clothes, but now she looked downright sexy.
Her faded jeans hugged her rounded rear like a second skin, and her long hair flowed down her back. The heavy curls swished from side to side with her every step. Sunny’s black heeled boots gave her height and her legs appeared to go on forever. He closed his eyes and pictured them wrapped around his waist.
This is my boss’s daughter.
He jerked forward in his seat and opened his eyes. After unlatching the door, he jumped from the vehicle as if it were on fire.
A loud muffler from a passing car caught Sunny’s attention. Judson paused, waiting for another car speeding by. Their gazes connected and she waited. The darkened clouds overhead spewed tiny droplets of water. He sprinted across the road before the sky released the downpour it promised.
“Well, did you find out anything useful?” she asked.
“A few things, let’s discuss them inside before the rain hits.”
He moved his hand to the small of her back as they stepped onto the porch. Mistake. The heat from her body singed his palm. He snatched it away. Sunny turned to look at him. Her eyebrows drew together as she glanced from his face to the hand he rubbed down the side of his jeans.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, just thinking about the case,” he lied.
They entered her apartment and headed straight to her office. Judson flicked on the light when they walked through the door. Papers littered every available surface.
“What happened?” He walked toward a pile teetering on the edge of the file cabinet and pushed them into the center.
Sunny smiled. “Don’t worry, I know where everything is. After I talked with my dad, I came back here to sort through some papers, but I ended up doing more reading than organizing. So I went to the range to get my thoughts in order. Target practice is my stress reliever.”
“I heard you were a good shot.”
She grinned. “Better than most men.”
Sunny walked to the fax machine and lifted the papers Judson faxed from the precinct, skimming the contents. “I already have a lot of Slater’s demographics sorted into one of these piles.” She turned until she spotted the thin stack of papers and picked them up. “But it looks like you dug a little deeper.” She slid her thumb down the sides of the stack and they fluttered in her hand.
“That’s one of the perks of working with someone on the inside. I have access to all databases.” Judson moved several sheets of paper from the futon to sit. “I’ve read so much about Slater today that I could impersonate him on
This is Your Life
.”
Sunny rolled her eyes. “That show was before both of our times, but I’ve seen it.”
Judson chuckled. “I bet you have. Your dad is a huge fan and told me he has all the episodes on DVD. He’s constantly trying to push them on me.”
“Same here, I caved and watched one season to get him off my back.” Sunny’s cheeks turned a rosy hue from her soft chuckle, and he wished he could hear her laughter all night. “Anyway most of what I found out about Slater is current. Tell me what you learned.”
“He’s had a hard life. From past files, I found some great background information from one of his first arrests, even an interview with his mom. His dad took off when his mom was pregnant. She raised him alone working two, sometimes three jobs at a time.”