Once Jessie had gotten a good look at who’d been following her, she recognized him. But the night she’d chased him on foot, he was in civilian clothes, and she hadn’t seen his face. Nothing fit until she saw him tonight, after she’d pulled a fast one on him.
She’d run a red light and left Tyrell pinned between two cars. And after she turned a corner and flipped off her headlights, she played cat and mouse with him in the dark. It didn’t take much for her to lose him and flip the tables, tailing him for a change. After he gave up, he pulled into a parking lot to use his cell phone. That was when she walked up to his car and showed him the business end of her Colt Python.
When she aimed the muzzle square between his eyes, she had one question.
“What are you . . . a boxers or briefs kind of guy?”
Now she had Chief Cook’s full attention, even with one of his deputies half-naked in the trunk of her car, all bug-eyed and whining.
“Like I said, I have a pretty good idea who killed Angela, but you and me gotta talk before we go inside. I figure if I give you what you want, maybe you’ll give me what I need.”
After the chief nodded, she asked, “What do we do with him?”
Chief Cook grimaced and looked down at his deputy, saying, “Tyrell? You’re an idiot.”
He slammed the trunk closed, with Tyrell yelling and pounding his fists as they talked.
“Why did you lie about there being two DNA samples? Mine wasn’t the only one.”
The chief’s face was dimly lit from Sophia Tanner’s porch light, but even in the dark, she saw that she’d surprised him.
“And that other sample had a 95 percent probability of matching mine. Do you have any idea how scared I was that the sample belonged to Danny Ray Millstone? After all he did to me, the idea that he could have been my father tore me up. And you kept your mouth shut even after you admitted checking into the Millstone investigation. Why did you lie about all that?”
“Look . . . you don’t understand.”
“Apparently, I don’t. Explain it to me.”
Tyrell had been banging on the trunk until they started talking. When he got quiet, Jessie knew he was listening, too. The jerk!
“I did look into the Millstone case. And when I made the connection to you, I wanted . . .” Cook stalled and avoided her eyes.
“Wanted what, Tobias?”
“I wanted to be sure before I said anything. I knew that wasn’t something you’d want to hear. And speculating about something like that would give you some sleepless nights. I didn’t want that for you, but I guess that happened anyway.” Cook heaved a sigh. “I reran that unidentified sample through CODIS and NCIC again, but came up dry. That’s when I went back to the source. The Chicago PD had the case files, so I put in a request to search for Millstone’s DNA the day you got here. I haven’t heard back yet, but wait a minute.” Cook narrowed his eyes. “You used the word ‘scared,’ as in past tense. You said you were scared that DNA belonged to Millstone. Do you know something about that DNA I don’t?”
“Well, yeah. When I had the same hunch you did, I had Detective Cooper pull the records and check Millstone’s DNA, compare it to mine. I found out about that today.”
“Guess I don’t have your clout with the Chicago PD. I’m still waiting for word.” Cook shook his head. “I knew that detective was a friend of yours.”
“Okay, I pushed to get that done. And I may have some influence with CPD, but why did you lie about that interview being missing from your murder book? What were you covering up? And why are you protecting that woman in there?”
Jessie pointed toward the Tanner house. With their voices carrying in the night, she saw Sophia Tanner at her window, peeking through the drapes. And when Chief Cook saw her, too, he raised his hands and tried to calm Jessie down.
“Keep your voice down. Please.” He shook his head and glanced back at the Tanner house. “I don’t know how that interview got misplaced, I swear. I didn’t lie when I said I’d seen it. And I wouldn’t have marked it on my case map unless we had that interview in hand.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you. You don’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to telling me the truth.”
“Guess I can understand why you’d think that, but what I’ve told you is the honest-to-God truth,” he said. “And if that unidentified DNA wasn’t a match to Millstone, then you’ve got a brother to find.”
“Yeah, I guess I do, but where do I start looking?”
“Let’s see if Sophia can help us with that. Maybe all she needs is the right motivation.”
When Cook turned toward the house, Jessie stopped him. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
She nudged her head toward the trunk of her car and dangled her keys in front of him. Without a word to her, he grabbed them and liberated Tyrell Hinman. He pulled his half-naked deputy from the trunk and cut him loose with a pocketknife.
“Get in my squad car and stay there until we’re done with Sophia.”
“Yes, sir.” Tyrell had his head down and didn’t look up at either of them. He headed for the passenger seat in the front.
“Oh, hell no. You’re ridin’ in the back. That’s where criminals go, Tyrell.”
Jessie couldn’t help it. A smile tugged at her lips when she got a glimpse of Tyrell tiptoeing toward the chief’s patrol car in his bare feet, but Tobias didn’t see any humor in it. He walked with her in silence to the front door of Sophia Tanner’s place.
She had a pretty good notion that Chief Cook would finally be honest with her. And if he did that, she might clue him in on who killed Angela DeSalvo.
Chapter 19
“What’s this about, Tobias? It’s kinda late. Can we do this tomorrow at a more civilized hour? I’m having my dinner.”
Sophia Tanner stood in her front door, blocking the way into her home. And she was hurling every reason she could think of to avoid what was coming. Tomorrow morning might be more civil, Jessie thought, but nothing about this case would even remotely resemble civilized.
“Sorry, Sophia. This can’t wait. May we come in?” Chief Cook didn’t wait for her answer but took a step into her home, and she backed away.
“But I . . . I’d really rather not . . .”
When Cook didn’t take no for an answer, Jessie was close on his heels and stood by him in the living room as the police chief took charge.
“Do you know any reason why Tyrell Hinman was following Ms. Beckett?”
“Tyrell? I don’t know. Why would he? And why are you asking me?” The woman’s face looked all pious and indignant, but she had a nervous twitch to her eyes that contradicted everything out of her mouth.
“I’m just gonna say this, so we can cut to the chase.” Cook pointed Sophia Tanner to a chair, and said, “You better sit.”
“Tobias, you’re scaring me. What’s this about?” Her voice cracked, and she fanned her face like she was about to faint.
“I asked you this before, but now I’ve got to know the truth.”
“Are you insinuating that I . . .”
“Stop this, Sophia.” Cook raised his voice and glared at her. When her eyes grew wide, Jessie knew the chief had her attention. “Just so you know, Tyrell has told me everything. But I told him I wanted to hear your side of it before I pressed charges against the two of you.”
Jessie had to admit that Cook had a real folksy way of interrogating that reminded her of old Columbo reruns. He laid on a liberal dose of small-town cop and mixed it with street smarts that came from years of experience. He pretended that he knew more than he did to get her to open up. And from what she saw on Sophia Tanner’s face, his tactic was working.