11
Evan’s second suspect visit would have to wait.
Back in the conference room, he, Noelle, and Detective Maxine Nelson watched as Sophia entered the bank at :03 a.m. on Friday. Noelle had pulled up the video on a large monitor, and the image was crystal clear.
“Why isn’t all the footage we get this sharp?” muttered Maxine. She’d been a detective for nearly a decade. She was tall and thin with deep-set eyes. Evan knew her to be a good investigator. Her task that morning was going through the files from Rod’s home with a fine-tooth comb, searching for the elusive reason that Rod had decided to keep copies. Evan had taken a quick look through all of them with no success and then asked Maxine to dig deeper.
“It’s a big bank,” said Evan with a shrug. “They want to see absolutely everything and will pay for the best technology.” He leaned forward as Noelle froze the video. On-screen Sophia was stiff shouldered, and her mouth was tight. She wasn’t the easygoing woman he knew. “She looks stressed.”
Both women nodded in agreement, and Noelle started the video again. Three people were ahead of Sophia in line, and two tellers worked behind the counter. Sophia moved from foot to foot as she waited, constantly turning her head to look around the bank.
She’s scared.
Sophia finally reached a teller window, giving the camera a view of her back.
“Are there other angles?” asked Evan. He wanted to see her face.
“Yes. Hang on.” Noelle made a few clicks, and the video abruptly shifted to a view from above and behind a teller, which showed every movement of her hands. Noelle fast-forwarded until Sophia approached the teller. Her countenance had changed; now she was smiling and cheerful.
“She’s faking it,” said Evan. He knew what she looked like when she was happy; this wasn’t it. “Something is up.”
“Do you think the money is for her or for someone else?” asked Maxine.
“Not sure,” said Evan. “Either way, I suspect it’s related to her dad.”
“Blackmail?” suggested Noelle. “Maybe they asked for money to let him go?”
“It’s possible he was already dead when this was filmed,” said Evan.
“She probably wasn’t aware of that,” said Noelle.
Sophia continued to chat with the teller as she got her money. When she walked away, Evan asked for a different video angle, and Noelle found one that showed Sophia’s face as she walked to the door.
“She’s crying,” said Noelle. “This definitely has to be related to her dad.”
An outside angle showed Sophia getting into her missing car. Her car didn’t leave for a full three minutes, and no other outdoor cameras could show what she was doing inside.
“This tells us that the attack in her home happened after eleven a.m. on Friday,” said Evan. “Clearly she is physically okay in this video.”
“Or maybe they forced her to go to the bank to withdraw the money?” suggested Noelle.
“And had her drive her own vehicle? The bloody mess could have happened after she returned with the money.”
“Is she the type of woman who’d return?” asked Maxine. “Or would she just keep driving? If they forced her, why didn’t she slip a note to the teller or something?”
“Because they’re holding something over her head,” speculated Evan. “Most likely they’re threatening to kill her father. It doesn’t look like anyone else is in the vehicle.” He leaned closer to the screen. “But they could be hiding below the windows.”
“I bet she’s on her phone,” said Noelle with a frown. She turned from the big monitor to her laptop. “I still don’t have her cell phone records. I’ll call and light a fire under someone.”
“You got her credit cards and banking information already, right?” asked Evan.
“Yes. There were no big purchases on her credit cards in the last few months. The last charge was five days ago at Chevron. The bank account records I received didn’t show this big withdrawal,” said Noelle, “because she made it from the florist shop’s business account, which was under her partner’s name. Sophia is just an authorized signer on the account, but one of the bank employees who knows Sophia made the connection after I requested her records. Evan, you said Sophia was the shop’s owner, but it looks like everything is under her partner, Tara Tilson.”
“I thought Sophia owned it.” Evan frowned. “I swear she told me that. I’ve met Tara before.”
“She’s on my list to contact,” said Noelle. “Tara is the only name I have as far as Sophia’s friends, and there doesn’t appear to be any other family to question.”
“At least I know who a lot of Rod’s friends are.” He grimaced. “Or I used to. I haven’t contacted any of them yet.”
“Want me to contact Rod’s friends?” asked Maxine.
“I’ll get you a list.”
“I’ve got a phone number for Tara Tilson,” said Noelle. “Since you’ve met her, Evan, why don’t you call while I find out what the holdup is on the cell phone records?”
He punched the number into his phone, and Noelle stepped out of the room for her call, which he assumed would be rather loud and a bit heated if she didn’t get the answers she wanted. He put Tara’s call on speaker so Maxine could listen.
“Hello?”
“Tara? It’s Evan Bolton. I’m a friend of Sophia and Rod McLeod. We met at—”
“I remember you, Detective. We met a few times at Rod’s house when he barbecued. I think one time was for Zack’s tenth birthday. What can I do for you?”
“Tara, are you at home?” Evan hated to break bad news if she was out somewhere.
“I am.” Her tone grew cautious. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re on speaker with Detective Maxine Nelson and myself. I’m calling from the sheriff’s department. I’m sorry to tell you this, but Sophia is missing, and we’re in the middle of an investigation. Have you talked to her recently?”
I’ll tell her about Rod in a minute. One piece of horrible news at a time.
“What do you mean missing ? Rod doesn’t know where she is either?”
Evan avoided her second question. “Someone broke into her house Friday or Saturday. Her purse and cell phone are there, but her car is missing.”
“Oh my God.” She sucked in a breath. “What about Zack?”
“Zack is fine. He had spent a few nights at a friend’s.”
“Okay ... let me think ... she texted me on Thursday evening to say she was sick and asked if I could cover Friday on my own. Usually just one of us is in the store every day, but Friday and Saturday are too busy and we’re both needed.” Her words came fast, worry in her voice. “Where do you think she went? That’s not like her to leave her phone behind.”
“Tara, what time was that Thursday text?” asked Evan.
“Hang on ... 10:14 that evening.”
“When did you last speak to her in person?”
“I worked with her last Saturday. I’m checking my phone log, and I don’t have any calls from her since then. We texted a few times about work-related things last week. That’s it. Who do you think broke into her house?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Say, I could have sworn Sophia told me she was the owner of Blossom Bounty, but on paper it looks like you are. Do you have some sort of partnership?”
“We were both on all documents for a long time, but about six months ago Sophia asked if everything could be put in my name. She was worried about Zack’s father, I think. She didn’t want him getting out of prison and going after custody of Zack and some of her money.”
Sounds like she knew he was getting out early.
“She really trusted you.”
“We trust each other,” she said simply. “Her ex is out now; did you know that? He’d be the first person I’d contact about her.”
“We’ve already gone to see him,” said Evan.
“Good. He sounds like a real son of a bitch. Did you know she has cigarette burn scars from him?”
“I do know that.” An image of the burns clear in his head.
“Was it Rod who discovered the break-in at Sophia’s?” asked Tara. “He must be out of his mind with worry.”
Evan gripped his phone. He preferred to give this kind of news in person. “I’m sorry, Tara, but Rod was killed. His body was found Saturday morning. So you can understand why we’re searching hard for Sophia.”
The line was silent.
“Rod is dead?” she asked hesitantly. “Was he found at Sophia’s?”
“He wasn’t. Her break-in was discovered when we went to notify her.”
“This isn’t happening.” She was crying, her voice garbled and wet sounding.
“If you could give me the names, addresses, and phone numbers of your employees, I’d like to talk to them,” said Evan. “Can you think of any reason why Sophia would vanish? Or someone who’d want to hurt her? Or hurt Rod?”
“I’m sorry, Evan, I really don’t know. She isn’t the type of person that makes enemies.”
“Very true. Has there been any trouble at the store? Problem customers ... or employees?”
“No. It’s been going great. We had our best first quarter ever.”
The money.
“Tara, did you know that Sophia took ten thousand dollars in cash out of the business account on Friday?”
Her silence answered him.
“I don’t understand why she would do that,” Tara said slowly. “Especially without talking to me about it. We need that to make payroll.” Tara wasn’t angry. She was confused. “It must be related to her disappearance. Maybe someone forced her.”
“We’re looking into everything we can,” Evan said, staying vague.
Noelle came back in the room. “Evan, guess—oh! Sorry.” Maxine had indicated they were on a call.
“Tara, I need to go. Please let me know if you think of something.”
“I don’t want to tell my employees,” said Tara, her voice cracking. “We’re a tight family. I don’t want to upset them in case Sophia comes back.”
“You’ll find a way to tell them,” said Evan. “You should before we talk to them.” He glanced at Noelle, who was clearly struggling to stay quiet.
She has something.
Evan quickly ended the call. “What is it?” he asked Noelle.
“They’re emailing the cell records and location tracking in a minute, but I asked if he could tell me her last activity. He said she sent a few texts Thursday evening and made one phone call.”
“One of the texts will be to Tara,” said Evan. “She just told me. Let’s figure out who else she texted and then called.” He turned to his laptop.
“That’s not all.”
The suppressed excitement in her voice made him look back at her.
“This isn’t much help,” said Noelle, “but it definitely stands out. Besides her phone activity, I requested her location tracking too. He mentioned after she made the last call on Thursday, she turned off her phone. They don’t have any location tracking from Thursday evening until yesterday at her house. It was at the time I turned on her phone.”
Evan let that news digest. “She didn’t want to be tracked after Thursday evening?”
“Or she was told to turn it off,” said Maxine.
“How could she go so long with her phone off?” asked Evan. “What if Zack needed her? I can’t imagine that she would go to bed Thursday night with it off.”
“Are you suggesting she wasn’t alone at the house?” asked Noelle.
“It’s a good possibility. Why don’t we have the forensics report on her home yet?” He checked his email again but still hadn’t received it. “They should have at least run the fingerprints. We usually get that information pretty quickly.”
“It’ll come soon, I’m sure,” said Noelle. “Check these phone numbers he gave me.”
Evan typed in the phone numbers. “As I expected, one text is to Tara Tilson. There are a few to Zack ... and one to someone else.” He pulled up a record for the number. “Oh. This one is the friend’s mother where Zack spent the night. She must have been checking on him.” He typed in the number for the last phone call made Thursday night. “The call went to a burner phone.”
“Who would she call?” asked Noelle. “With what we saw on the cameras and now this news, I think it’s a very strong possibility that Sophia was being manipulated.”
Evan picked up the department phone and punched in the number of the prepaid phone. “A call is the easiest way to figure out whose number it is,” he said as he listened to it ring, mentally crossing his fingers. It went to a generic recording saying the person wasn’t available. “Good morning,” Evan said after the voicemail’s beep. “This is Detective Bolton with the Deschutes County sheriff. I’d appreciate a call back.” He left his work cell number.
Noelle didn’t look optimistic.
Evan shrugged. “Can’t hurt to try. Could be the person who manipulated Sophia.”
“And now knows the police are involved in her case,” said Maxine.
“It’s a burner. They used it because they knew we’d investigate.”
“Or it’s simply a friend who uses that type of phone,” said Noelle.
“Touché.” Noelle was right. “But unless someone calls back, I think we’ve taken that phone call lead as far as we can for the moment, so what’s next?” It was a rhetorical question. They all had a hundred things to do next .
“Any word from the explorers searching the grounds at the body shop?” asked Noelle.
“Nothing. It’s a little early, though.” Evan recalled the near-silent whiz past his ear yesterday. It still made the hair on his arms stand up. “I’m still not sure who was being shot at,” he said slowly. The question had haunted him since it happened.
“You can’t think they were shooting at you, Evan,” said Maxine, surprise on her face.
“I can’t ignore it,” said Evan.
Noelle leaned back in her chair. “Let’s hash it out a bit. There are three possibilities. They were shooting at Charlie Graham, you, or were just shooting for the hell of it.”
“Can’t rule out you or the shop owner,” Evan said.
“I’d say the odds are much lower. The shots weren’t anywhere near me or Lawson.” She gave him an appraising look. “Both came closest to you.”
My thoughts exactly.
He’d repeatedly told himself he wasn’t the target, but he knew he was lying. Noelle had stated it out loud and his gut agreed. The expression on Noelle’s face said she was simply waiting for him to realize it. “I don’t have time for this,” he told her. “Rod and Sophia are the priority.”
“Yes, but we were working on their case when it happened. It’s most likely connected to the whole mess.”
“It is a mess, isn’t it?” Evan had struggled to keep the threads of the investigations neat and orderly, but they kept crossing and tying themselves in knots.
“That’s only temporary,” said Noelle. “We’ll have everything lined up in neat rows soon.”
Evan snorted. “Have you ever had a case do that?”
“No. But I can dream.” She checked the time. “Didn’t you tell Bridget you’d be there this morning to interview Zack? I’ll dig into Sophia’s cell records. I’d like to know if she called that burner more than once.”
“Yep.” He stood and packed up his laptop. The second suspect he’d wanted to visit that morning would have to be pushed out again. “I’ll be back in an hour or two.”