“Mr. Rogers, I must advise you not to say another word.” Jenkins pulled a horrified expression. “You are in custody as a suspect in a girl’s murder. I suggest you refrain from uttering another word.”
“I’m talking to him. I didn’t murder a girl.” Rogers turned his back on his lawyer and lifted his scowling face to Kane. “I like to walk in the forest and Millicent believes I’m meeting women.” He let out a long sigh. “We argued and she left about ten minutes before you arrived. I was pissed, okay? I should have answered your questions. I haven’t killed any girls.”
Girls? Kane scanned the case file on his computer screen then turned his attention back to Rogers. “Do you take your dog for a walk with you?”
“I don’t own a dog.” Rogers gave him a quizzical stare.
“Did you see anyone or speak to anyone who can verify the time?”
“Yes, I spoke to Aimee Fox and Kate Bright at the traffic lights. It must have been around nine.” Rogers cleared his throat. “It’s not a crime to speak to my students.”
Kane smiled. He had caught him in a lie. “You told them you had been in the forest looking for your lost dog but you mentioned you don’t own a dog. Why did you need an excuse to be out for a walk?”
“I don’t know.” Rogers put his face in his hands and let out a mournful sigh.
“Can your wife verify what time you left yesterday morning?”
“No doubt.” Rogers lifted his pale face and grimaced. “She watches my every move. It was around eight, or maybe eight thirty, I guess.”
“It’s a big forest. Do you have a trail you prefer?” Kane glanced back at the computer screen.
The lawyer had not said another word and looked as if he might explode.
“I walked to the rock pool, stayed there for about half an hour, then walked back.”
Kane leaned back in his squeaky chair and bounced his pen on the desk between his fingers. If Rogers had told him the truth, he would have been at the rock pool at the same time as Lucky Briggs and Storm Crawley. “Did you see anyone in the forest or at the rock pool?”
“Maybe.” Rogers avoided his gaze.
Kane pushed on. “Who did you see?”
“Lucky and Storm.” Rogers looked down at his hands and appeared to wilt in the seat.
“They didn’t see you.” Kane cleared his throat. “Were you watching them skinny-dipping? Is this why you are being so defensive?” He glanced at Jenkins. “I suggest you explain to your client the difference between being charged with invasion of privacy and first-degree murder.”
“I want to speak to my client alone.” Jenkins placed one hand on Rogers’ shoulder.
“Not a problem.” Kane turned off his computer and walked to the coffee machine.
By the time he had poured the coffee into a mug, Jenkins waved him back to the desk. He returned and sat down, looking from one to the other. “Well?”
“My client was certainly not watching the cowboys at the rock pool nor is he interested in men in that way. He had an argument with his wife and took a walk to cool his temper. He was embarrassed seeing the two men swimming nude and didn’t want them to know he had seen them. When he returned home, he discovered his wife had packed a bag and left. Mrs. Rogers can verify this, I’m sure. She is probably staying with her sister but she is known to take off for days without informing anyone.” Jenkins dragged in a breath and wiped his damp brow. “Once you have spoken to Mrs. Rogers, I am sure you can release my client. You have not one shred of evidence to imply he was involved in a murder.”
“Very well, I will speak to his wife, but if your client is innocent, I would like him to give a DNA sample.” Kane reached into his desk drawer for a kit and raised a brow at the lawyer.
“No, I refuse.” Rogers turned to his lawyer. “That’s an invasion of privacy. I haven’t been charged with anything.”
“He doesn’t have to comply.” Jenkins bristled. “You’ll need a court order and you don’t have probable cause of any crime.”
Kane rubbed his chin. “I have him coming out of the forest at the time of death and two witnesses to say he was in a distressed state.”
“That’s hearsay and from a couple of kids.” Jenkins snorted in obvious disgust. “It won’t stand up in court. You have nothing.”
Kane pushed the notepad across the table. “I’ll need your wife’s cellphone number and your sister-in-law’s name and number and a statement of your whereabouts between the hours of eight and ten.” He waited for Rogers to write down the information then stood and walked to the kitchenette. As he turned his back to the counter, he noticed Jenna and Wolfe returning to the office and wondered what information they had extracted from Lionel Provine.
He pulled out his cellphone and found Mrs. Rogers at her sister’s house. She confirmed that she and her husband had argued and that he’d left the house before eight. She left soon after and could not confirm what time he arrived home as she had gone to her sister’s. “Did you see anyone walking along Stanton Road on your way to your sister’s? If so, can you describe them?”
“Yes, a girl, maybe sixteen or so, wearing pink cowboy boots and a blue outfit. She had long black hair and those earbuds the kids all seem to have growing from their heads of late. She ran right across the road in front of me. I nearly hit her.”
“Can you remember which direction she was heading?”
“Toward the forest.”
“Did you notice anyone else, any cars parked along the road or people out for a walk?”
“Not that I recall.”
“I’ll send a deputy out to take a statement, if that’s okay?” Kane leaned against the counter and stared at Mr. Rogers hunched at his desk writing a statement. “Thank you for your help.” He shut his cellphone.
He strolled into Jenna’s office and closed the door behind him. “What did you get from Lionel Provine?”
When Jenna explained, he nodded. “He does makes money out of the high-school kids visiting his shop, but would they go there without his bonus cards?”
“We can’t discount him as a suspect, although motive is a problem. We’ll need a background check on him and all the suspects in case anyone has priors.” Jenna sighed. “How did it go with the Rogers interview?”
“I have Mr. Rogers in my cubicle with his lawyer.” Kane pointed over his shoulder with one thumb. “I think he is guilty as hell and I have a problem cutting him loose but I don’t have enough evidence to charge him.”
“What have you got?”
“Apart from the fact he was seen walking out of the forest at approximately nine this morning and the witnesses mentioned he looked agitated, his lawyer made a point of saying the information was hearsay. And Rogers has refused a DNA test.” He shrugged. “Although at this stage it won’t make a difference. From what Wolfe examined at the autopsy, he doubts they collected any viable DNA traces from the crime scene or the body. He checked all the samples personally under a microscope and found zip.”
“Then we have to let him go.” She lifted her blue gaze to his face. “We’ll keep an eye on him, maybe park a cruiser near his house, so he’ll believe we’re watching him. He fits the age profile, arrived in town some months ago, but he is married. He was in the right place at the right time, and is on our suspect list.”
“Sure, and I have a sighting of a girl matching Felicity’s description heading toward the forest at approximately eight as well. I called Rogers’ wife, and she said the girl dashed across the road and she almost hit her with her car.” He raised both eyebrows. “So, we now know for sure she went to the forest alone. What we need to know is why.”
“Yeah, what would make a girl of her age change her mind and dash across the road and head into the forest?” Jenna stood and added the name “Mrs. Rogers” under the “Last people to see Felicity” list then returned to her seat. “You have a positive ID.”