Alex Barclay - Harm's Reach

‘Yes, I can do that.’

‘Eleanor, has a woman called Laura Flynn ever been in touch with you?’ said Ren.

‘I couldn’t say off the top of my head, but I can check my emails and talk to the others, see if they heard from her. I don’t handle the website — there may have been some contact that way.’

‘Do you think we could get a hold of any inquiries people made about the abbey in the past six months?’ said Ren.

‘Absolutely,’ said Eleanor. ‘I can have that emailed through to you by tonight.’

Ren handed her a business card. ‘Thank you. And could we also get a list of anyone who carries out work here at the abbey... landscapers, carpenters, etc.’

‘Yes,’ said Eleanor. ‘But we’re pretty self-sufficient, we take care of most of the work...’

‘Good for you,’ said Ren.

Gary came back into the room, but stood just inside the door.

‘Ms Jensen, thank you for your time,’ he said.

‘That’s my cue,’ said Ren. ‘Thank you again.’

Ren and Gary walked down the steps of the abbey. She talked him through the rest of her conversation with Eleanor.

‘I’d like to find out if anyone saw the car before it went on fire, though. It’s a little too coincidental...’

‘Because of the robbery?’ said Gary.

‘Yes,’ said Ren, ‘but also I’m wondering about how close it was to Delores Ward’s cabin.’

Gary nodded. ‘That call I got? It was Eli Baer in New York.’

Eli Baer was Safe Streets’ favorite contact in the New York office. He was a short, perfectly-groomed nerd who threw himself into all tasks with an intensity and efficiency that had clearly been with him from birth. It was easy to imagine him in kindergarten with a pristine shirt buttoned up to his neck, slim pants that were maybe an inch too short and shiny, shiny shoes.

‘This is going to be a big one,’ said Gary. ‘The victim’s employer reported her missing this morning. These are big shots. Let’s just say we’ll be “assisting” JeffCo more. His name is Robert Prince — he’s a multi-millionaire, married to an ex-model. Laura Flynn was their housekeeper. She was six months pregnant. They live in New York, but have been going back and forth to Golden since January.’

‘OK,’ said Ren. ‘Why Golden?’

‘You can ask Mrs Prince,’ said Gary. ‘She’s there now — at their rental. I’ve mailed you the address. You and Janine can take care of the notification.’

‘And what about the victim’s actual family?’ said Ren.

‘We’ve got nothing on that yet,’ said Gary. ‘All I know is that Mr Prince was very concerned when he called this in, so whether this housekeeper is family or not, they seem to really care... According to the Princes, the victim was going to stay with a friend in Chicago, but we’ve no confirmation on that yet. No one could get hold of the friend.’

Janine Hooks had arrived at the scene by the time Ren and Gary got back from the abbey.

‘Hey, girl,’ said Janine. She gestured to the body. ‘Well, this is terrible.’

‘Ugh.’

‘Anything from the abbey?’ said Janine.

‘Not yet,’ said Ren. ‘We’re waiting on the director to get back to us on a few things. There’s certainly a nice view of the area close to the vehicle fire. I’m wondering did anyone see anything... I’d like to be armed with something concrete before I talk to the owners.’

Janine nodded. ‘Oh, yes.’ She took out her notebook. ‘OK... as I was driving here, Logan Teale — who I now sit opposite, nice guy — got more lowdown on our victim: Laura Flynn from Waterford, Ireland, been living in New York for the past five years — just got her citizenship this year. She flew from Denver to Chicago last Thursday on a return ticket, due back last night, but obviously didn’t take the flight. She rented the Hyundai at nine thirty p.m. Thursday at O’Hare. She filled out the form saying the drop-off would be there too. So she was either lying on the form or she made a last-minute decision to come here.’

‘So,’ said Gary, ‘she drives from Chicago to here, that’s what — a fourteen-hour drive?’

‘I guess so,’ said Janine.

‘When was the flight due in?’ said Ren.

‘Last night,’ said Janine.

‘So, when did she set out?’ said Ren. ‘Did she stop anywhere along the way? Did she stay somewhere overnight? She couldn’t have slept in the car with that bump...’

‘No,’ said Janine.

‘So — any idea which case she had information for you on?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Janine. ‘I have a few with New York links, but I just can’t see how a young Irish woman in New York five years could know a thing about them. Or about a 1963 homicide in a Colorado girl scout camp. Like I said, hundreds of people were interviewed — who knows how far and wide they scattered? A lot of the people were young and could still be alive. Too many for now to narrow it down. But obviously, anyone can show up from anywhere at any time about any case... even still, though, why would she come all the way to Colorado?’

‘Oh, we got more info on that,’ said Ren. She filled her in on the Princes.

‘Ah,’ said Janine. ‘So she wasn’t staying too far away.’

‘Maybe she had some old relative ’fess up on his deathbed,’ said Ren. ‘An old Irish drunken uncle comes clean.’

‘Not to be racist...’ said Janine.

‘Noo,’ said Ren. ‘So, was our victim a pregnant runaway heading for shelter in the abbey, or was she doing some poking around at The Darned Heart Ranch, or none of the above?’

‘Did she get here yesterday, do some poking around, come to a conclusion, then call me?’ said Janine. ‘If she was coming to me because of information she had on a case, and the wrong person knew about it...’ She shrugged. ‘But what I don’t understand is how long she’s had this information... like, why would she decide only now to bring it to my attention... when she’s six months pregnant?’

‘I know,’ said Ren, ‘it doesn’t make sense.’

‘It had to have been something that was, if not more important, certainly as important as her baby. It’s not like my cases are time-sensitive...’

‘Unless she suspects someone who hasn’t got long to live...’

‘Or she thinks someone is about to destroy evidence...’

‘It’s all so strange,’ said Ren.

‘There could have been another reason why she was here.’

‘Sex, love, money, drugs...’

‘Well, we can safely say that sex has taken place,’ said Janine.

‘Unsafely...’ said Ren. ‘So, is this a screwed-up love story? Was she running toward a man she loved? Was it the same man as the father of her baby?’

Kohler came up to them. ‘The Sheriff’s been in touch,’ he said. ‘The news is already filtering out. We need to notify the victim’s employers ASAP.’

‘Janine and Ren are going to take care of it, if that works for you,’ said Gary.

‘Sure,’ said Kohler. ‘We’re going to take away the burnt-out car from the ranch.’

Gary nodded.

‘So, you’re all done?’ said Kohler.

‘Yes,’ said Janine.

‘Nothing more to see here,’ said Ren.

‘Well, be on your way,’ said Kohler. ‘Do you know where you’re going?’

‘I do,’ said Ren.

‘See you back at the office,’ said Gary.

Ren got into Janine’s SUV. ‘I have been chauffeured all day,’ she said. ‘I’m getting to know what it’s like to have a revoked license.’

‘It suits you,’ said Janine.

‘It doesn’t,’ said Ren. ‘You have no idea how much stress I release while driving.’

As Janine drove, Ren kept checking her phone for coverage.