“Well, watch yourself, dear. And keep the doors locked. What time are you going to the police station?” Mom said.
“Eleven. I’m meeting Oliver at ten. We’re going to the station together.”
“Jarret left me a message yesterday. I have a mind to return his call and tell him what I think about all the trouble he’s causing our family.”
“Don’t. Let’s not give him a reason to sic his lawyer on me again. I had dinner with Jarret last night. Get this, his apology for shifting suspicion on me came with an excuse that a scandal would ruin his career.”
“I suppose the team frowns on—” Mom clucked her tongue. “Never mind. The nerve. As if your career is less important than his.”
“Right? You’ll never guess who we ran into at the restaurant. Or literally, who ran into us.” I told her about our confrontation with Forrest.
“They should have let him at Jarret,” Mom said. “Just on principle.”
“Believe me, Forrest tried. I’d never seen him so uncontrollable. If he suspected something went on between Laycee and Jarret, he may have been after both of them that morning and only found Laycee. The problem is—”
“Forrest didn’t murder his wife,” Mom said. “After we talked to you yesterday afternoon, your father and I went to the Sportsmen’s Lodge and asked the bell captain and the desk clerk if Forrest left the hotel early Wednesday morning. The bellman saw him go into the Patio Café at eight.”
So Forrest had a solid alibi even if he had tracked Laycee to Jarret’s. I was left with drug-dealing Kyle Stanger, the untraceable Margaret Smith, a maybe jealous girlfriend in Gretchen, or a random intruder as possible suspects. As Oliver would say, I was sunk.
“Is Dad home?” I said.
“He’s right here.” Mom muffled the phone. “Walter, your daughter wants to speak with you.”
I parked at Nick’s curb as Dad came on the line. “Detective Cooper reporting for duty. How’s my girl?”
“I need your advice.” I got out and walked toward the house, relating my office caper at the gym. Nick opened the door in a black T-shirt and jeans. When he heard me tell Dad about the drugs in Kyle’s desk, Nick threw up his hands and went inside, shaking his head as I followed.
Dad exploded, blustering over the phone. “Stanger saw you?”
I perched on the sofa arm, waiting for Nick to stop pacing in front of me and for Dad to stop yelling in my ear. “What do I do now, Dad? Do I warn Jarret? Tell Carla about the drugs?”
“Screw Jarret,” Nick said.
“Stanger is Jarret’s partner,” Dad said over the phone. “If Jarret already knows about the steroids, you’ll put yourself in a very dangerous position. If he doesn’t, why do you want to help the fool?”
“I don’t know, Dad. That’s why I’m asking you. What’s the right thing to do?”
“The smart move is to take care of yourself. Jarret can solve his own problems,” Dad said. “Consider how the information will affect Carla’s investigation.”
“If Laycee threatened to tell Jarret about the steroids, Kyle had a motive to kill her. She made a snarky comment about Kyle’s income in front of Jarret the night before she died. We know Kyle had the garage door combination. Robin found proof connecting Kyle with the inverted pentagram.”
“Definitely enough for Carla to interrogate Stanger again,” Dad said. “What’s important is how you conduct yourself with Carla today. She’ll be softer on you if she views you as cooperative. Make sure Oliver has my number if he needs me.”
“I will. Thanks, Dad.”
Nick stood over me, arms crossed and frowning. “Stanger caught you in his office?”
“I had to find out what Kyle was up to. I found a chance to search his office and took it. Kyle didn’t see how long I was in there.” I started to get up. Nick stopped me.
“I don’t like you taking risks. At best, Kyle will move the drugs out of the office so he won’t be caught.”
“And ruin his business? I doubt it.” I tried to move around Nick. He wouldn’t let me.
“At worst, you made a killer suspicious of you.”
“Good. Let him show himself.” I faced Nick nose-to-nose, which in our case meant mine tilted up under his. “I’m not going to apologize for trying to clear myself. I got the information I wanted, and more. I had an odd conversation with Gretchen, Jarret’s old girlfriend from McHenry. If she stayed close to Jarret and his parents all these years as she claims, why was last night the first time I heard of it? I got the impression she’s trying to revive or relive a high school fling.”
Nick shrugged. “Doesn’t make her a bad person. Did you ask her about Margaret Smith?”
“I did. She didn’t know her. I can understand Jarret not knowing Margaret, but Gretchen lived in McHenry for years after he left. I wish Jarret’s mother would call me back.”