Chapter 30
THIRTY
Listening intently to her deputies’ reports, Jenna sucked in a relieved breath when Rio announced that everything was fine.
They’d reached the school by the time Raven came over the com to give her a brief rundown on what happened.
“Okay, Raven, thanks for letting me know. We’ll definitely keep Jones on our suspects list. We’ve just arrived at the school and we’re heading inside to speak to the janitor.
Get on back to the office and patch up Jo and then write up your report.
” She tapped her com to close it and collected her things.
She looked at Kane. “Maybe Jones is our man. The problem is not finding any prints at the crime scenes. We can’t haul him into the office and lock him up without evidence. ”
“There have been many people convicted on circumstantial evidence. There are four possibles. All we can do is collect the evidence for the DA and let him decide.” Kane pushed his Stetson down lower on his head and slid out from behind the wheel.
“Watch your step, Jenna. It’s very slippery.
It seems that now the students are on vacation, the upkeep to the pathways is falling a little behind.
” He held out his hand for her. “Take my hand.”
Jenna slid a few inches away from the Beast, and Kane gathered her up closer to his body. He just spread his feet and became stable. She clung to him. “Thanks.”
As the icy wind buffeted them all the way to the front door, Jenna looked at him. “I hope this guy is close by. The school is massive, finding him if he doesn’t want to be found will be difficult.”
“Maybe not.” Kane pushed open the front door and they stepped inside into blissful warm air. “They need to use their cards as they move around. We should be able to track him via the office.”
Jenna’s phone chimed. It was Maggie. “I’m just at the school now.”
“A call came in on the hotline. I have all the details here. The main thing is that a college student driving his younger brother to school noticed the janitor hanging around the teacher’s SUV over the week before she claimed to be abducted.
He mentioned seeing him twice and figured it was unusual.
The student knew Ellie McBride’s vehicle as he’d helped her carry some things to her vehicle previously. ”
Nodding, Jenna met Kane’s inquisitive stare. “Thanks, Maggie, that’s very interesting.” She disconnected. “I wonder what he was up to.”
“Well, we know he’s often in the building after hours.” Kane shrugged. “He has a criminal record for trespassing and a history of mental health issues. I would imagine his mental health issues are resolved or the school would never have employed him.”
Leading the way to the front counter, Jenna smiled at Ms. Bell. “We’re here to interview Caleb Dorsey, the janitor. Can you point us in the direction where we might find him?”
“Yes, of course. Just let me get you a set of visitor cards.” Ms. Bell opened a drawer and pulled out two lanyards with cards attached and pushed them under the glass partition at the front of the counter.
“Do you keep a record of who you give the visitor lanyards to?” Kane leaned on the counter peering at her through the glass.
“Not usually, because they’re often contractors organized by the principal or expected visitors.” Ms. Bell frowned. “We don’t just give them out to anyone. I work from a list of approved people, but I don’t keep a record of the dates and times they were here.”
“It would be in the school’s best interest if you did.” Kane drummed his fingers on the counter. “Heaven forbid anything like this happens again, but if it did, the more people we can look at the better.”
“That won’t be a problem. I’ll start a book today.
” Ms. Bell typed on her keyboard. “Mr. Dorsey has been moving around today. He mentioned something about checking for leaks in the classrooms. He used his card to enter section three about fifteen minutes ago. It’s where his office is located, so he could have gone back there to take a break.
” She printed up a floor plan of the school and using a highlighter marked the areas where Dorsey had been working.
She handed the map to Jenna. “Your cards are all access. You won’t have a problem getting through doors. ”
Staring down at the map, Jenna nodded. “Thanks, that’s good to know.”
“Are you aware that Dorsey had a few mental issues prior to working here?” Kane gave her a long look. “I’m wondering how he obtained a job working close to children.”
“I am aware that Caleb suffered PTSD after a traumatic incident in his childhood, but as far as I’m aware, that has been resolved over the years. He did discuss it with me but I’m not at liberty to divulge a private conversation to you. I hope you understand.”
“I do indeed.” Kane’s lips curled slightly at the corners. “We’ll get at it.”
As they let themselves through the door into the main building, Kane’s boots clattered on the tile.
Jenna peered into the darkened classrooms. Without the chatter of students bustling through the hallways, an eerie quiet descended on the school as if all the life had been sucked out of it.
She glanced up at Kane as they walked. “You used a very subtle way to extract information from her.”
“I gathered if she’d been working here the same time as him, they would become comfortable with each other.
My only reservation about Dorsey is, if his psychopathic tendencies have been lying dormant, what triggered him to kill?
As far as we’re aware, Dorsey hasn’t been involved in any other murders—although he could have been running riot in any other county and we just don’t know about it.
We know darn well that often psychopaths keep their kills away from their homes. ”
Using the cards to obtain access, they easily found the way to the correct section. The heating had been turned off in most of the vacant parts of the school, and Jenna’s breath came out in puffs of steam as they walked. She spotted an open door. “That’s the janitor’s room over there.”
The door with janitor written on a metal plaque stood open.
Inside, the shelves were packed with an assortment of items, including tools and cleaning products.
A desk in the middle held a computer and behind the desk were shelves with small labeled boxes.
A sink and a small kitchen area ran along one side.
A coffee pot bubbled and hissed beside a crumpled brown paper bag that Jenna assumed held the remains of Dorsey’s lunch.
She approached the desk and two things immediately caught her attention.
The first being copies of school photographs.
She lifted the pile out and noted that they went back a long time.
Beside her, Kane examined a box that contained old report cards and held them out for her.
She frowned. “Images of kids and report cards from way back. Who keeps this type of thing?” She pulled out her phone and, spreading the images and report cards across the desk, took photographs.
“We have Dorsey in the building around the time Ellie discovered the message, and also when Ellie McBride was murdered.” Kane scrolled through his phone. “According to the records, he didn’t start work until ten on the day that Laney Prescott died.”
Jenna opened her mouth to reply but the sound of footsteps in the hallway made her glance at Kane and raise both eyebrows. The next moment, Caleb Dorsey stopped in the doorway his eyes round with shock. “Ah, there you are, Mr. Dorsey. We were waiting for you. We’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“I assume this is about Ms. McBride’s murder?” He let out a long sigh and dropped into his office chair, making it moan. “Terrible thing, terrible thing. Have you found the person who hurt her?”
“Not yet but we’re getting close.” Kane pulled up a chair for Jenna and then one for himself before sitting in front of the desk.
He set his phone on record and pushed it into the middle of the table.
“We’ll be recording this conversation so we don’t have to come back and ask you the same questions again. ”
“Am I in trouble?” Dorsey moved around restlessly in his seat. “Do I need a lawyer present?”
Finding his defensive attitude a little unusual, Jenna stared at the man.
“That needs to be determined and the reason why we’re here to question you.
My deputy will read you your rights. You are under no obligation to answer our questions, but if you refuse, we will take you to my office and hold you until your lawyer arrives. ”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.” Dorsey’s eyes moved shiftily. “Okay, fine, ask me the questions.”
Jenna waited for Kane to read him his rights and looked at Dorsey. “You’ve been working here for some time, I believe?”
“Yeah, about ten years.” Dorsey blew out a long sigh and his shoulders relaxed.
“You’ll be aware that we have a list of your movements during the time that Ellie McBride discovered a disturbing message on her whiteboard, and at the time she was murdered?” Kane leaned forward in his chair. “Why were you in her classroom before school started on both days?”
“I checked to see if there are any leaks. Often when we have heavy snowfall, the doors to the playground leak water over the floor and it’s dangerous if anyone slips in it.” Dorsey shrugged. “I know the classrooms prone to leakage and always check them before the teachers arrive.”
Indicating toward boxes on his desk, Jenna lifted both eyebrows as she peered at him. “Why do you keep photographs of past students and old report cards?”
“Memories.” Dorsey indicated to the boxes. “I’m not trying to hide anything, am I? They’re out for everyone to see. I knew a lot of these kids from the time that I came here, is all. I often wonder what they’re doing now and if they succeeded in life.”
“You were seen hanging around Ellie McBride’s vehicle on more than one occasion.” Kane’s eyes bored into him. “What reason did you have to be in the teachers’ parking lot? You park your truck round back, don’t you?”
“I don’t recall being in the teachers’ parking lot. You’re mistaken.” Agitated, Dorsey gripped his hands together tightly on the table in front of him. His eyes flashed with unmistakable anger. “Someone is telling lies about me. Who said that?”
Ignoring his outburst, Jenna leaned back in her chair.
The hairs on the back of her neck prickled in warning.
The man’s sudden change of demeanor concerned her.
He went from placid to aggressive in a split second and she’d seen the change in his eyes before in mentally disturbed people.
“Can you confirm your whereabouts between the hours of eleven and one on Friday evening?”
“I was at home.” Dorsey shook his head slowly. “Before you ask, no, I had no one there to verify that.”
“What about Monday and Tuesday mornings?” Kane cleared his throat. “I can see on both these days you didn’t arrive until eight. Yet some days you arrive at the school at seven. Is there any reason for the varied start times?”
“I don’t recall what time I got to work on Monday and Tuesday mornings.
” Dorsey picked at his short dirty fingernails.
“My shift is variable as I’m often needed to fix things early in the morning and sometimes needed to come back here late in the evening, after everyone has gone home.
Sometimes clubs use the classrooms and they need to be cleaned, which means I need to be here at nine at night sometimes.
It is part of the job. I don’t mind because I have no one waiting for me at home and I’d rather keep busy. ”
The shift in the man’s demeanor had changed again in seconds. Seeing this and knowing that this unstable man worked at a school sent shivers down Jenna’s spine. “Do you know a woman by the name of Laney Prescott?”
“I don’t know her personally, but I do know she has visited the school from time to time because I needed to have a room ready for her to interview students at one time.
” Dorsey opened his hands wide. “I also know she was murdered because it’s been all over the news.
Are you going to blame me for her murder as well?
I figure next time we speak I want a lawyer present. ”
Unable to continue with the questioning, Jenna stood. “Very well, that’s all for now, Mr. Dorsey. Thank you for your time.”
Jenna waited until they’d moved through two doors and headed along the hallway back to the office, before she turned to Kane.
“That guy scares the hell out of me. I want to know why he’s working close to children.
If he is not involved in these murders, he needs to be investigated.
It seems that right now we have two viable suspects on our list.”