Still Life

  “What are you thinking?” Avery asked.

  “Fort Howard has a number of wooded areas and abandoned buildings and it’s Sebastian’s studio.”

  “Plus,” Avery said, “it’s just across the water from where Megan’s body was found.”

  Parker nodded. “K9 Sergeant Warren,” he hollered to the officer a few desks away in the main hub area of the precinct.

  “Yes, sir?” Warren stood.

  “Take your cadaver dog and K9 search team out to Fort Howard. We’re looking for Skylar Pierce’s body.”

  Warren nodded, and he and his K9 team were rolling in ten.

  Connor had been absolutely no help in pinpointing the location of his roommate. Griffin had momentarily considered hauling him in just to shake his flippant attitude away, but he remained focused.

  It had taken a little sweet-talking of the Easons’ housekeeper, Rosaria, to discover Kyle Eason and his lovely girlfriend, Amanda King, were at the neighborhood country club having an early breakfast with his parents.

  Jason smiled as they entered. “This is going to be fun.”

  The hostess attempted to stop them, but they strode past her and headed straight for the Easons’ table.

  Dr. Eason spotted them and stood, his face reddening. “This is a private club.”

  “We need to bring your son into the police station for questioning in the murder of Skylar Pierce.”

  Dr. Eason’s face turned a shocking shade of crimson. “This is an outrage.”

  “It’s your choice if you want to cause a scene,” Jason said, “but we’re taking Kyle in. We have a warrant for his arrest.” He handed the warrant to Dr. Eason.

  Kyle stood. “I didn’t kill Skylar, Dad. They’ll have to let me go.”

  “I’m calling our lawyer,” Dr. Eason fumed. “You’re all going to be sued for harassment and defamation of character.”

  Griffin had figured that was coming. “See you at the station.”

  “Miss King,” Jason said, “we’re going to need you to accompany us as well.”

  She tucked her neck in. “Excuse me?”

  “We have some questions for you.” About as many as they had for Kyle.

  Everyone stared as they escorted the pair out to Griffin’s vehicle and secured them in the backseat, reading them their Miranda rights.

  Dr. Eason was already ranting on his phone as he strutted for his car, a black Mercedes—the one Parker and Avery had seen in the Easons’ drive the day of the block party.

  “I can’t believe you think I killed somebody,” Kyle said as Griffin started the engine.

  “We know Skylar Pierce was blackmailing you for cheating on your MCATs.”

  “Okay, but I didn’t kill her over it.”

  “Then what did you do?”

  “I was going to pay her off.”

  “Going to?” Griffin arched a brow.

  “I told her I needed a little time to get the money together without my parents noticing. I called her after I got the money. Her phone went straight to voicemail. I left a message asking when and where she wanted to meet, but I never heard back.”

  “And you didn’t find that odd?”

  “Sure I did, but I certainly wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

  “So Skylar’s death alleviated all your problems?”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t kill her. I’m a college student, not some murderer.”

  “Where were you last night, say around midnight?” Jason asked.

  “Last night?” Kyle frowned. “You said Skylar’s been dead longer than that.”

  “Just answer the question,” Jason said.

  “At home playing cards.”

  Easy enough alibi to check, but Connor would most likely vouch for him, regardless of the truth.

  “Didn’t slip out for a midnight stroll?” Griffin pressed.

  “No,” Amanda said.

  “What about you, Kyle?” Jason said.

  “What about me?”

  “You always have to let your girlfriend do the talking for you?”

  “You asked. Mandy answered. What’s the diff?”

  “So you both were at your place all night?” Griffin said.

  “No,” Kyle said. “At my home. We had dinner with my parents and decided to crash there. Glad we did. Dad had to leave, and Mom hates being alone in the house, so we played cards late, keeping her company until she was ready for bed.”

  Griffin glanced over at Jason.

  “Your dad left?” Jason said.

  “He was called away for an emergency surgery.”

  “How long was he gone?”

  “I dunno. Several hours.”

  Griffin cleared his throat. “Do either of you know Megan Kent?”

  “Who?” Kyle asked.

  That answered his question, at least for Kyle.

  “I’ll take that as a no.” He glanced at Amanda. “And do you know Megan Kent?”

  “Never heard of her.” She looked confused and at the same time calculating, like she was trying to figure out what angle they were playing or if they were trying to trick them into confessing. “Who is she?”

  “Sebastian Chadwyck’s girlfriend. She was found dead last night.”

  Kyle’s eyes widened. “Sebastian killed another one?”

  “Wait a minute.” Griffin’s gaze narrowed. “How did you know Sebastian Chadwyck was under suspicion for killing anyone?”

  “After your colleagues showed up at my parents’ suggesting I killed Skylar, my dad had our lawyer do some digging, and he has a good friend on the force who told him a photographer named Sebastian Chadwyck was also under investigation—that they found some real sick stuff at his place.”

  His dad had enough concern to look into the investigation. He clearly feared his son capable of murder—otherwise, why bother looking into it?

  “Sebastian Chadwyck could not have killed Megan Kent, as he was with us at the time of her murder and body disposal, but whoever did do it staged it to look like Sebastian had.”

  “What does any of this have to do with us?”

  “Sebastian saw the man who killed Skylar. Saw the car that drove her body to the dumpsite, gave us a license plate number.”

  “So?” Kyle scoffed.

  “It was your car.”

  49

  They placed Amanda and Kyle in separate interrogation rooms, Jason taking Amanda, while Griffin took Kyle.

  Parker stood in the viewing booth, leaning against the wall, watching Griffin do his thing, while Avery watched from the adjacent viewing room as Jason interrogated Amanda.

  “Look, I don’t know who told you my car was involved in a crime, but I can assure you it was not,” Kyle insisted. “I had nothing to do with anything you’re saying.”

  “We reviewed your phone records. Did you know that even when you erase texts they can be recovered?”

  “Okay . . . ?”

  “We recovered yours from the night Skylar was murdered. . . .” Griff paused for dramatic effect. Parker had seen him use it countless times. “And you texted her, asking her to meet you at the Hampton Inn in Glen Burnie.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Yes, you did. You texted her the room number and told her to use the side entrance. That was the last text you sent her.”

  “No. It wasn’t. Look, I don’t know where you’re getting your information, but someone is trying to set me up.”

  “Funny. That’s just what Sebastian said.”

  There was a rap on the door, and an officer popped his head in. “Kid’s lawyer is here along with his dad, who is threatening to sue the entire department for defamation of character.”

  Griffin joined Parker in the viewing booth until after the lawyer finished with Kyle, but when the lawyer stepped from the room, Griffin and Parker met him at the door.

  “My client is done answering questions.”

  “Fine,” Griffin said. “We’ll book him and he can talk to a judge.”


  “Based on what grounds?”

  “On the fact that an eyewitness placed the victim’s body in the trunk of Kyle’s car, that texts were sent from your client on the night of the murder to the deceased asking her to meet him, and the fact that the deceased was blackmailing your client. Which provides pretty good motive, don’t you think?”

  “I never saw her that night,” Kyle called from the room.

  “My client is innocent and believes someone is setting him up.”

  “Then he won’t mind participating in a lineup.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “The eyewitness saw your client that night. If Kyle didn’t do it, then have him stand in a lineup.”

  “Fine,” Kyle said. “Let’s get this over with.”

  The lawyer agreed to wait in the interrogation room with Kyle while Griffin pulled together a lineup. As he closed the door, Griffin looked to Parker. “That was easier than I expected, but he knows it was dark and that our eyewitness couldn’t have gotten a good look at him. If Sebastian can’t identify Kyle, it’ll blow a huge hole in our case. Our best hope will be finding physical evidence in Kyle’s car or on one of the bodies to tie the murders to him, but a positive ID would go a long way in convincing a jury.”

  It took a while to pull together men for the lineup, as most of the officers on duty looked quite a bit older than Kyle, but they grabbed two younger ones and a few prisoners from lockup.

  Parker prayed as the “suspects” filed into the lineup room. He and Griffin watched as Sebastian studied the men through the one-way glass.

  “Any the man you saw that night?” Griffin asked.

  Sebastian shook his head. “No.”

  Parker’s heart dropped.

  “You’re certain?” Griffin said.

  “Number three looks familiar. Same sideburns. Same facial features, height, and build, but . . .”

  “But?”

  “The dude I saw that night was about twenty years older.”

  Parker looked to Griffin in utter shock. “Dr. Eason?”

  “Who’s Dr. Eason?” Sebastian asked as the officer led him back to his interrogation room.

  Parker waited until he was gone before speaking. “This is insane. I gotta grab Avery.”

  They moved into the viewing room with her and explained what had happened thus far.

  “You really think a man would set up his own son?” Avery asked.

  “No. I think he was hoping to set up Sebastian by killing Megan.”

  “But he had to have purposely used Kyle’s car, Kyle’s phone.”

  “It’s how he lured Skylar to the hotel that night. He must have pretended he was Kyle, and she thought she was getting her payoff. Instead, he killed her and dumped her body.”

  “And Sebastian retrieved Skylar’s body and photographed it.”

  “Kyle said his dad left for several hours last night, for emergency surgery.”

  “That should be easy enough to confirm,” Griffin said. “I’ll call Johns Hopkins.”

  He returned ten minutes later.

  “Well?” Parker asked, rocking forward on his heels.

  “There were several emergency surgeries at Johns Hopkins last night, but Dr. Eason didn’t perform any of them.”

  “So he snuck out to kill Megan and move Sky’s body?” Avery asked.

  “That’s what my gut says,” Griffin said. “Now we just need to prove it.”

  50

  You want to do what?” Griffin’s captain nearly roared.

  “Put Dr. Eason in a lineup for Sebastian,” Jason said.

  “You have no grounds.”

  “Sebastian identified Kyle as looking twenty years younger than the man he saw. That indicates his father,” Griffin said, praying they could convince their captain.

  “He left his home last night, claiming participation in an emergency surgery, which he was not involved in.”

  “Kyle told us his dad had someone looking into Skylar’s case after we showed up at their home.”

  “And the motive?”

  “Protect his son from a blackmailer,” Jason said.

  “Protect any risk to his own reputation. If Kyle was caught, can you imagine the backlash on his father? He’s the chief of neurosurgery at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the world. His son, guilty of cheating on his MCATs, lets it slip while in bed with a con woman, and then attempts to pay her off,” Griffin argued. “A man like Eason is going to keep close tabs on his son. He saw his son gathering funds behind his back and put it together. He could have used Kyle’s car when Kyle was out with Amanda. I bet you money, Kyle will say he’d left his phone home that night or he couldn’t find it. Then his dad thought he’d erased the texts he’d made with Skylar and slipped Kyle’s phone back someplace he’d find it.”

  “This is all hearsay. I can’t put a prominent doctor in a lineup without substantial proof.”

  “Fine. He’s in the hub waiting for Kyle to be released. Let’s move Sebastian to a cell. Walk him by Dr. Eason. See if Sebastian notices or recognizes him,” Griffin said.

  Captain Mulroney inhaled, then exhaled. “You two better be right on this. But even if Sebastian IDs him, you’re still going to need a whole lot more to convince a judge to pursue a conviction.”

  They’d have to build an entire case, but they had a good start.

  As Jason led Sebastian through the hub, Parker followed to read Dr. Eason’s face, and Griffin led Kyle Eason from the other direction to watch Sebastian’s reaction upon seeing him.

  Sebastian struggled against Jason’s hold, fighting and purporting his innocence—until his gaze swung in Dr. Eason’s direction. “That’s him.”

  Jason halted and Dr. Eason froze.

  “That’s the dude I saw at the hotel and dumping Skylar’s body.”

  Dr. Eason’s face turned plum as he stood to his feet. “This is ridiculous.”

  “It’s him. I’m telling you,” Sebastian said.

  Jason handed Sebastian off to another officer. “Go ahead and put him in a holding cell for now.”

  Dr. Eason sat back down, frantic relief washing over his face.

  Jason stood over him. “You might want to tell your lawyer you’re about to be questioned in the murders of Skylar Pierce and Megan Kent.”

  “You have nothing to hold me on.”

  “An eyewitness just put you at the scene of the crime.”

  “An eyewitness who is clearly trying to save his own hide. Besides,” he said, standing and getting into Jason’s face, “I have alibis.”

  “For when?”

  “When those women died.”

  “That’s interesting.”

  “Why is that interesting?”

  “Because I never said when they were killed.”

  Dr. Eason’s face paled. “I want my lawyer.”

  “I bet you do.”

  “McCray?” an officer said.

  Griff turned. “Yeah.”

  “Cadaver dogs just found a body in a garment bag out by Fort Howard.”

  Griffin looked back at Dr. Eason. “What do you want to bet that’s Skylar Pierce?”

  Parker pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing what this would do to Avery. Her friend’s body.

  He stepped into the break room, where she was sipping a cup of coffee.

  She looked up and immediately asked, “What’s wrong? Sebastian didn’t ID Dr. Eason?”

  “He did, but . . .” He swallowed hard, aching to not cause the woman he loved any pain.

  “They found Skylar’s body,” she said, taking the blow like a champ. “I knew it was only a matter of time.”

  “I’m so sorry.” He stepped to her and enveloped her in his arms, not giving her any choice in the matter, and she folded into his embrace.

  She rested her head in the crook of his neck. “So am I. Sky deserved better. Everyone does.”

  “Why don’t you wait here? There’s no need for you to see her . . . in that state.” He tried to say it
in the most delicate way, but after being dead several days, several warm ones . . . That wouldn’t be the way Avery would want to remember her friend.

  “I appreciate your concern, but I need to be there for her.”

  “We’ll get this guy.”

  “We already have him,” Avery said, her brows furrowing.

  “Sebastian’s ID is not enough.” Even his alibi comment wouldn’t do it as he hadn’t even been read his rights yet. It wouldn’t be admissible in court, and Dr. Eason would have the best defense attorney in the state. “We need physical evidence tying him to the crime to seal this away.”

  “Then let’s go get it.”

  51

  Parker reached over and took hold of Avery’s hand as they made the drive to Fort Howard. Before they left he’d tried again to talk her into waiting at the station, but she’d insisted on coming along.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to wait in the car?” he asked, pleading one last time for her not to see her friend in such a deteriorated condition. He’d seen Jenna on that beach, what remained of the young girl he’d loved, and that image could never be erased from his mind. It was his to carry into eternity, until he saw her again. Only his faith that Jenna was in heaven with their Savior—whole, beautiful, and forever safe—got him through the torture of those months and years following her death.

  He wanted Avery to remember her friend as she’d looked the last time she’d seen her, hopefully laughing or smiling. He’d tried explaining that in the car, but she was determined and stepped from the vehicle before he could stop her.

  They moved past the patrol car and the ME’s van, which had made remarkable time. Avery paused at the edge of the woods, taking a deep breath, and headed for the focal point of attention, her shoulders taut.

  The pungent odor of stagnant water hung thick like a blanket of smog in the afternoon air, the ground beneath them mucky, mud and ground cover sticking to their shoes with each gooey step. He’d dumped her in a swampy area, which would leave footprints—some dry enough for potential identification—and Parker prayed the officers and techs on site had taken care to protect those.

  “Dr. Mitchell,” Officer Warren greeted him.