She glanced at Aidan.
“They’ll keep an eye on him. We’ll let J.J. get some sleep, and then Voorhaven and Van Camp will talk with him. We’ll talk with him again, too.”
“It doesn’t seem like he can help much. He didn’t see anything,” Mo said.
“But he might have heard something. He told us he smelled something sweet—obviously the chloroform. There might be other memories he hasn’t brought forward yet.”
Aidan didn’t stop to talk to the officer on duty; they just nodded to each other.
Heading out to the parking lot, Mo saw that the sun was up, strong and bright on a beautiful fall morning.
It was a beautiful morning. They’d found J.J. alive.
Jane and Sloan were waiting in the parking lot with the dog. Rollo rushed to greet her—and Aidan.
Mo realized that Aidan’s coworkers were waiting for a report, but they didn’t ask questions. They knew he’d fill them in.
“We’re going back to the convention center,” Aidan said. “J.J. told us they’d arrived there, gotten out of the car and then they were taken. He didn’t see anything. Whoever grabbed them slipped something, probably a cloth saturated with chloroform, over their heads.”
“That would suggest two people. Even when it’s a woman and a child, how do you take them by surprise?” Jane said. It was a statement more than a question.
“What’s the story at the station?” Aidan asked.
“They’re going to arraign Jillian Durfey this morning. As for the others,” Sloan said, “we’ve got nothing else to hold them on. They’ve been released. But we’ll be watching them now. Logan Raintree is heading up here with one of our best men as far as video, film and what-have-you goes. Will Chan can set up cameras where you’d never suspect them. And Logan...Logan can track anything. Oh, yeah, we’ll keep our eyes on Taylor Branch and those three security guys.”
Mo was quiet. She looked at Aidan and noticed for the first time that they were both covered in soot, grime and grass stains. They were still bearing traces of spiderwebs, too.
She figured they were probably lucky the hospital had let them in at all.
“We should catch a few hours’ sleep,” Jane suggested.
“When Logan gets here with Will.”
“The cops are on this, too, Aidan,” Sloan reminded him.
“I know. I just don’t think I’ll sleep well until we’ve got some reinforcements. Mo, I’ll take you and Rollo home.”
She said good-night—or good morning—to Jane and Sloan, and took Rollo’s leash from Jane. He hopped into the backseat of Aidan’s car as if he belonged there. She slid into the passenger seat, and in a few minutes they were on their way to her place.
“You think you might have it solved?” she asked him. “So J.J.’s explanation helped you?”
“Yes,” he said. “Although someone went for the bizarre in displaying the bodies, I believe that it was someone close to Richard. He was taken from the convention center with the use of chloroform, and chloroform was found in Jillian Durfey’s room. She still claims it was planted. If it was, that definitely points to an inside job.”
“So you believe Highsmith was targeted,” Mo said. “Possibly by his own people.”
“Yeah. But what I can’t understand is this—why J.J.’s mother, Wendy Appleby? And she was killed, but the boy—thank God—was not.”
“What will happen to J.J. now? Debbie is a good person. Is she going to be allowed to adopt him? She says Wendy stipulated that in her will. ”
“It’s complicated. The state will have to make that decision. It depends, too, on the exact provisions in Wendy’s will. At any rate, he appears to care deeply for Debbie, and vice versa, so I hope it works out for them,” Aidan said.
“Poor kid. His dad dead and now his mother,” Mo said. “Thank God she left a will.”
Aidan nodded.
“You knew Debbie...before?”
“I met her at the club where she works, Mystic Magic. I was following a lead—the matchbook in Richard’s pocket. I still can’t help wondering what Lizzie grave meant.” He flashed her a quick smile. “Lizzie might have been Major Andre’s love, but even if she was, what did she have to do with Richard?”
“I don’t know. We don’t know where her grave is, either,” Mo said. “What I do know is that I’m so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open.”
She hadn’t been aware that they’d driven the length of the road and reached her cottage until he stopped the car. Rollo barked from the backseat.
“Uh, would you like to come in? Would you like coffee or something?”
“You just told me how tired you are,” he said.
“Yes, but I have to shower, I’m hungry and I’ll still be up for a while.”
“All right,” he agreed. “I could use some coffee.”
Once inside, Mo started the coffee and dug through the refrigerator and cabinets. “Omelets, grilled cheese or peanut butter and jelly?” He was standing by the end of the counter, watching her, a smile on his face.