Chapter Five #2
Grace launched right into that news. “I just got off the phone with the lab guys, and they ID’d the blood found in Trevor Cateses’ house. It belongs to a social worker, Courtney Mora.”
Addie gasped, and with her eyes wide, she snapped toward Judson. She obviously remembered that was the woman who’d called them earlier when they were searching for Yvette and the twins.
“She’s the person who told us that Yvette was probably the one who’d taken the babies,” Addie said.
Grace nodded. “Yes, I read that in Judson’s preliminary report. I’m getting her phone records, but can you tell me where Miss Mora was when she made that call to you?”
Judson mentally went back through the conversation and had to shake his head. “She didn’t say, and she sure as hell didn’t mention she was on her way to the Cateses’ house.”
“She didn’t say anything about that to anyone in her office, either,” Grace replied. “In fact, she didn’t show up for work today, and her boss was getting concerned. It was definitely out of the norm for her.”
Hell. She must have taken it on herself to go to the house, looking for Yvette, and then…what? Yvette had killed her and left the knife behind for Jennifer to find and pick up?
Maybe.
Courtney had mentioned that Yvette hated her and had tried to ruin her life because she had been the social worker who’d removed Yvette’s kids and placed them in foster care.
So, maybe Yvette had returned from her canceled kidnapping plot to find a woman she hated in her home.
But if that’s what had happened, then where the heck was the body?
And where were Yvette and Trevor?
“What about Courtney’s vehicle?” Addie asked. “Was it at the Cateses’ house?”
“No,” Grace answered. “There were no vehicles in the garage, and the one in front of the house belongs to Jennifer.”
Then, that was another question that needed to be answered. It was possible someone had dropped Courtney off, or, heck, maybe she had even managed to get an Uber or a taxi to take her that far. But if she’d taken those particular forms of transportation, there should be a record of it.
“Along with finding the blood and Jennifer at the Cateses’ house,” Grace went on several seconds later, “the CSIs also found some drugs. Rohypnol and Valium.”
“That’s a strange combination.” Judson shook his head. “The date rape drug and anxiety meds. Any idea who was taking them? Or who was giving them to someone else?”
“Don’t have a clue yet, but they were in the nightstand drawer of the main bedroom, so the CSIs might be able to determine through prints who used that drawer the most. Or whose prints are on the actual plastic bags that contained them.
” Grace checked her watch. “It’s going to take an hour or two to get those phone records or any other info from the CSIs and ME.
Let’s get moving with interviewing Jennifer so you two can get back to the Horseshoe. How are the twins doing, by the way?”
“They’re fine,” Addie assured her. “They don’t seem to be experiencing any kind of trauma.”
They weren’t, and Judson hoped it stayed that way. He had no idea what babies that young could experience, but he hoped they never sensed or remembered any part of that ordeal.
“The Bulverde cops are on the way to Miss Mora’s next of kin to tell them about the blood that was found,” Grace went on.
“So, I don’t want to specifically mention the social worker by name until I’m certain her family knows.
But I do intend to bring her up in a roundabout way to Jennifer, just to see what she has to say.
” She paused. “Because it’s possible Jennifer killed her, and I want to know why. ”
It was indeed possible, since Jennifer had been found at the scene with a knife and blood on her hands.
And Jennifer might have had motive to commit that murder if she also blamed Courtney for Shane and her being taken from Yvette’s custody.
The one problem with the theory was that during their earlier phone conversation with Jennifer, the only animosity she’d shown was toward Yvette.
So why would she be so upset about being removed from her home all those years ago?
“Does Jennifer know her brother is here?” Judson asked.
Grace shook her head. “I don’t want the two of them speaking until after their interviews. She has asked for him,” Grace added. “For her boyfriend, too.”
“Elijah Banks,” Livvy provided. “He’s a personal trainer at a gym in San Antonio, and an amateur boxer. We’re trying to get in touch with him now.”
Good. Maybe the boyfriend would be able to give them some insight into all of this.
“If Jennifer says something you want me to press her on, just send me a text. I’ll see what I can do,” Grace told Addie and him, and then she and Livvy went into the interview room.
Judson led Addie to the small area next to interview.
It wasn’t much bigger than a closet, but it had some chairs and a small table with a laptop.
The screen was blank at first, but when Grace engaged recording, the feed from the interview popped up.
Judson could see Jennifer pacing. And seemingly ready to jump out of her skin.
“I didn’t kill anyone,” Jennifer immediately blurted.
Grace motioned for the woman to sit, and Livvy and she took the seats across from her. Judson and Addie sat as well. Side by side. Or rather hip by hip, since that was all the space they had.
“I didn’t kill anyone,” Jennifer repeated, but again Grace motioned for her to hold off while she recited the case number, time, date and those present.
“Jennifer, Deputy Walsh has already read your Miranda rights, but could you state for the record if you understand them or if you want them repeated?” Grace instructed.
“I understand them and don’t need to hear them again.” Once more, Jennifer’s words were rushed, running together and filled with her heavy breaths. “I just want you to put down in your record that I didn’t kill anyone. I was framed.”
Grace eased back in her chair. “I’m listening.”
Jennifer nodded and seemed to mentally throttle back a little.
“I, uh…” she began but then stopped. “I guess I should start with the phone call I got from one of your deputies. Docherty, I think, was his name. He asked where my mother was. I didn’t know,” she insisted.
“But as soon as I got off the phone with him, I started driving out to her house. Or rather, Trevor’s house. ”
Judson noted that like Shane, there was some venom in Jennifer’s voice when she mentioned the man’s name. It made him want to dig harder and deeper to find this Trevor. Then again, he could say the same for Yvette. It was possible the two had fled together and were in hiding.
“Since no one knew where Shane was,” Jennifer went on, “I was worried that Yvette had done something to him.”
“Like what?” Grace pressed when Jennifer fell silent.
Jennifer sighed and pushed some strands of long blond hair from her face.
“I don’t know.” But it didn’t take her but a couple of seconds to amend that.
“All right, I thought she’d convinced him to do something that could get him hurt.
Shane can be…gullible sometimes. I thought maybe Yvette had talked him into helping her take those babies.
” She paused again, looked at Grace. “Is that what happened? Did Shane help her?”
As Judson expected, Grace didn’t respond to that question. Nor did she mention anything about Shane being seen in the area around the time of the abductions. Instead, Grace flipped through her notes as if checking some kind of details.
“So, you went to the house looking for Shane and Yvette. What happened then?” Grace pressed.
“Not especially looking for Yvette,” Jennifer corrected.
“But my brother, yes. When I got there, there were no cars in the driveway, and that’s where Shane would have parked had he been there.
Still, I wanted to check for myself, so I went to knock on the front door.
That’s when I saw the door was slightly ajar.
I eased it open a little more and called out for Shane. ”
Jennifer stopped, and she pressed her fingers to her mouth. Probably to stop the sob that made it past her lips anyway.
“I saw some blood on the floor,” the woman continued.
Both she and her voice were now shaking.
“Blood on the walls, too. God, it was everywhere,” she added on another sob.
“I thought it was Shane’s, that Yvette had done something to him, so I ran through the house, screaming out his name.
No one answered. No one was there. Just all that blood. ”
“How did the knife get in your hands?” Grace asked.
“I, uh, picked it up,” Jennifer admitted. “I thought maybe if it was Shane’s blood, then Yvette, or if not her, someone else could be hiding in the house. I wanted to look for them. Wanted to look for Shane. And that’s what I was doing when you and the deputies showed up.”
Judson was nowhere near convinced Jennifer was telling the truth.
But it was possible Jennifer had killed Courtney because she’d mistaken her for Yvette.
Though that felt like a huge stretch. After all, it was broad daylight, so both women would be easy to recognize. Still, it could have happened that way.
Maybe.
But if Jennifer was a killer, then why hadn’t she disposed of the knife at the same time she had the body?
“Is Yvette dead?” Jennifer came out and asked. “Was that her blood all over the house?”
“We’re looking into that,” Grace settled for saying. “Who do you think might have had the motive to do that?”
Jennifer laughed, a single burst of air, but there was no humor in it. “Yvette was a ‘recovering’ drug addict and alcoholic.” She put recovering in air quotes. “I’m sure she’s made a lot of enemies over the years.”
“Including you?” Livvy asked.
“Including me,” Jennifer verified. She paused for what seemed like a full minute. “And Shane.”
“Shane?” Grace immediately questioned.
Both Judson and Addie moved closer to the monitor. Obviously, neither of them had expected Jennifer to admit that.
Jennifer dragged in a long breath before she said anything else.
“Shane didn’t want Yvette involved with Trevor.
He thought Trevor was only after Yvette’s money.
I agree with that, by the way. But Yvette couldn’t seem to see that, and she refused to have him sign a prenup or try to protect her assets in any kind of way.
” Another pause. “She and Shane argued about that.”
“Did you actually hear any of these arguments, or is this something Shane told you?” Grace asked.
“I heard two phone conversations he had with her. Shane made those calls when he was pleading with her to do the prenup or else sign over half of her estate to him so that he could keep the money safe from Trevor. We’re talking nearly a half million dollars,” she explained.
“But Yvette flat-out refused, and Shane was furious.”
“Furious enough to threaten her?” Livvy pressed.
Jennifer didn’t jump to deny that, and she finally nodded. “Shane said some harsh things to her. Things she deserved.”
Then Grace asked the question that was flashing through Judson’s head. “Did he threaten to kill her?”
Jennifer groaned and shook her head, but the headshake didn’t seem to be a denial. “Yes. But he didn’t mean it,” she was quick to add. “I know he didn’t.”
The woman didn’t seem at all convinced of that last part. And neither was Judson. Money was always a powerful motive. But that was a motive for murdering Yvette, not Courtney. Unless…
“If Shane helped his mother set up the twins’ abduction, maybe Courtney found out about that,” Judson muttered.
Addie’s immediate sound of agreement let him know she was thinking the same thing. “Shane and Yvette could have been talking about it, or arguing about it, when Courtney showed up. If she heard something they hadn’t wanted her to hear, they might have killed her.”
She stopped, her forehead bunching up, and made a sigh of frustration as something else seemed to occur to her.
“It could have played out a different way,” Addie concluded. “If Courtney had indeed heard that Shane had had a part in taking the twins, then Jennifer might have wanted to silence her to protect her brother.”
Yeah, Judson could see that happening, too. And that meant they were essentially back to square one in this investigation.
“I really need to see Shane now,” Jennifer pleaded. “And Elijah. He’ll be worried about me.”
At the mention of the boyfriend, Judson was reminded they possibly had another key player in this case.
One who wasn’t responding to attempts to contact him.
Was that because he had something to hide?
Of course, it could also be that he didn’t care enough about Jennifer to want to get caught up in this.
Grace’s phone made a sound dinging sound, and when she glanced at the screen, she immediately got to her feet. “Interview paused,” Grace said, heading toward the door.
“Sheriff Granger is exiting the room,” Livvy added for the benefit of the recording.
Addie and Judson stood, too, and came out of observation just as Grace was stepping into the hall.
“The search team found Courtney in her car about a half mile from the Cateses’,” Grace let them know. “She’s alive.”
“Alive,” Addie said through a rush of breath.
“Barely,” Grace qualified. “The EMTs are rushing her to the hospital now, and that’s where I’m heading. I want her to tell me who left her for dead.”