The ugly issue of jurisdiction had also resurfaced again. Tracy and Fields had crossed state lines to speak to a witness, who had led them to another witness. Without a court order, they did not have authority to arrest Andrea Strickland or to extradite her back to either Oregon or Washington, even if they decided they had a basis to do so.
Andrea Strickland had run because she was pregnant, her husband had planned to kill her, and she’d decided she could not risk him killing her baby, or raising a child with such a man. Inside, Tracy was applauding her decision.
“At the moment we just want to talk,” Tracy said. “If you prefer to have an attorney present, I’ll honor that request. It’s up to you.”
Orr looked to her niece, who glanced up but gave no indication of her desire. Orr reconsidered Tracy. “Can we have a minute?”
“Sure,” Tracy said.
Tracy nodded to Fields and the two of them stepped outside. Fields immediately reached for his pack of cigarettes and lighter, lighting up and blowing smoke into the air. In such a pristine location, it seemed a fundamental violation of the beauty of nature.
“What do you think?” Fields asked. “Personally, I think she’s nuts. The aunt might be too.”
Tracy bit her tongue. Fields was so predictable. “I think she’s a young woman who the world shit on who didn’t want the same thing for her child.”
“You’re a bleeding heart, Crosswhite.” He took a drag and blew smoke into the sky. “What do we do if she won’t talk? If we leave, she could run again. She’s got all that money hidden someplace, and the aunt had her bags packed and ready to go. I’m not buying the trip-to-Florida story.”
“We don’t have any basis to arrest her.”
“What are you talking about? At a minimum, she’s a suspect in Devin Chambers’s death. She had a clear motive, two actually—the money, and the fact that Chambers was sleeping with her husband.”
Tracy almost laughed. “Motive maybe, but not opportunity—not if she’s been living out here the whole time.”
“Who knows whether that’s true or not? She could have driven up to Washington, killed Chambers, and driven back.”
“Driven in what? That Jeep isn’t licensed and doesn’t look like it would make fifty miles.”
“She could’ve rented a car. She could have driven the aunt’s car.”
“How did she find Chambers?”
“She hired the PI. She drives down into Independence, sets up a guerilla account, gets on public Wi-Fi, and makes inquiries. You said there was a lag time in between her e-mails to the PI and the investigator’s responses. This could be why. She was living out here, off the grid. She had to go into town to get Wi-Fi.”
“Does she look to you like she wants to run anywhere?” Tracy said. “This is heaven for her. No one bothers her. She doesn’t have to deal with a world that has treated her like a doormat. She has her books to read. Mountains to hike. Why would she want to go anyplace else?”
“Because she’s got a kid on the way,” Fields said. “What, is she going to give birth in a cabin?”
It wasn’t a bad point.
“I’m sure Independence has a hospital,” Tracy said. “We don’t have enough to arrest her.”
Fields blew more smoke out the side of his mouth. “Yeah, well, if Strickland decides she’s not talking to us, I’m going to arrest her.”
“For what?” Tracy said, becoming irritated. “You have a missing persons case. Far as I can tell, you found her. There’s no crime in anything that we know that she’s done. Your case is closed. Devin Chambers is my case, and I can’t arrest Andrea Strickland without an arrest warrant, even if I believed I had sufficient cause.”
Footsteps sounded, someone approaching the door. Penny Orr stepped out onto the porch. “Andrea said she has something to tell you.”
Tracy stepped past Fields and followed Orr inside.
Andrea remained seated on the couch, but she no longer looked sullen. She looked shocked and saddened. Before Tracy could say a word, Andrea said, “I killed Devin.”
Tracy’s heart felt like it had leapt into her throat. She glanced quickly at Fields, uncertain what to say, or even if she could get the words out.
“So you killed her?” Fields said.
Tracy snapped back to reality. “Don’t answer that. Don’t say another word.”
“I didn’t mean to,” Strickland said. “I just wanted to punish them for what they did to me.”
“What did I say?” Fields said to Tracy. He removed handcuffs from the back of his belt.
“Andrea, I’m cautioning you not to say another word.” She turned to Fields and raised a hand. Fields stopped. Tracy nodded for him to step back outside.
On the porch, Fields wore a shit-eating I-told-you-so grin. “You see, Crosswhite, you just never know with people.”
“Nothing she says is admissible.”
“The hell it ain’t.”
“We haven’t read her her Miranda rights.”
“So I’ll read them and ask again.”