"Like I told you," Beck said, "it had lights on either side of the rear window."
"Did the vehicle have a high-centered profile?" Kerney asked.
"Not a real high one. Those subcompacts aren't really built for off-road use."
"Did it have a spare tire on the tailgate?"
"I don't remember seeing one."
"Are you sure it was a Honda SUV?"
"It looked like one to me."
"Were the back up lights below the rear window?"
"Yeah, I think they were." Beck paused. "Now that you mention it, maybe it was one of those Swedish Volvos yuppies like to drive. That's the only other car I know that has a similar setup. It sure wasn't a minivan."
At midnight, he stopped working on the search warrant affidavit for Linda Langsford's house and set it aside until morning. He needed to nail down a few more pieces of information without telegraphing his renewed interest in her alibi.
He called Lee Sedillo, woke him up, asked him to have all the agents meet at the Roswell district office in the morning, and then went looking for a motel. In the parking lot of the first decent-looking one along the strip, he cut the engine, rubbed his bleary eyes, and stared at the flashing neon VACANCY sign above the door to the dark office.
He got out and rang the bell, wondering if he'd taken the investigation far enough, hoping the planned searches would yield something more tangible. Without it, the district attorney might balk at prosecuting a case based purely on circumstantial evidence. He'd feel a hell of a lot better about the chances for conviction with clear-cut proof of Linda's guilt in hand.
In the morning, Kerney held back the Langsford affidavit and got approval for the other search warrants. He sent an agent by plane to Dallas to pick up Penelope Gibben, where she was attending a business meeting, and bring her home. He detailed another agent to pick up Kay Murray, who was sitting in jail pending her preliminary hearing on drug dealing and armed robbery, and take her to her town house. Two more went to the corporate offices to start the financial records search.
Surveillance on Linda Langsford had been ongoing all night. When she left her residence to make funeral arrangements for Eric, he sent Mary Margaret Lovato off to gather up Drew Randolph, bring him in to the district office, and conduct a follow-up interview. She carried with her a list of questions Kerney wanted answered.
Kerney waited in the small conference room, watching as Lee Sedillo went through the draft affidavit line by line.
"Jesus, what a mess," Lee said, as he turned over the last page. "But we still can't physically put her at any of the crime scenes, Chief."
"The DA can make a reasonable assumption about it from the witness statements we have. That gives him enough to establish opportunity."
"What about the murders of her mother and brother?"
"I'll put the Cold Case Unit to work on it."
A knock came at the door and Mary Margaret stepped inside.
"Randolph confirms he lent Linda his Volvo for her vacation, Chief," she said. "He had the car serviced just before her trip and then took it back for an oil change after she returned. The garage owner who did the work reports a good thousand miles more on the vehicle than one would expect, given the trip itinerary Linda gave you." Kerney smiled. "That tightens the noose."
"Randolph said Linda asked to borrow his car because her SUV needed an engine overhaul. I just got off the phone with the mechanic who works on her vehicle. He said it was in for a major tune-up, not an overhaul, and there wasn't anything wrong with the vehicle that would have kept it off the road. Linda asked him to store the SUV on his lot until she got back. The guy says she called him long distance on the day of her return and had him deliver the SUV to her house. She tipped him a hundred dollars to do it."
"When did she call him?" Kerney asked.
Mary Margaret smiled. "Right after she spoke to Lieutenant Sedillo to say she was in Taos and on her way to Roswell. She used a phone credit card, so I was able to verify the time."
"She had her moves carefully laid out," Kerney said, consulting his field notes. "There were only three cars at her house the night she returned home: Randolph's sports car, the minister's Chevy, and Linda's SUV. Where was the Volvo?"
"According to Randolph, Linda parked it in her garage so she could unload her camping and hiking gear."
"And hide it from view," Kerney said. "Knowing the cops were going to come knocking at her door soon after she got home."
"Too much planning can be a bad thing," Lee said.
Kerney thought about the five innocent people who had died in Linda's concocted killing spree. "A case of overkill, in this instance," he said, looking at Mary Margaret. "Keep Randolph entertained while I finish the paperwork and get it signed."
"Will do," Mary Margaret said, reaching for the doorknob. "Are you going for multiple murder counts, Chief?"
Kerney nodded. "Let's hope we can make them stick," he said, reaching for his pen and the unfinished affidavit.
After Mary Margaret left, Kerney twisted the pen in his fingers and gave Lee a long look.
"I want the agent who verified Linda Langsford's alibi sent back to Santa Fe," he said. "Tell him for me that until he learns to ask smarter questions, he can count rolls of toilet paper in central supply."
Lee swallowed hard and nodded.
Kerney hung back in his unit at the entrance to Linda Langsford's driveway watching Lee Sedillo and Agent Lovato serve the warrant. Even at a distance he could see Langsford freeze as she read the papers. She tried to bar the door, and Lee pushed past her while Mary Margaret took her by the arm and led her inside.
Kerney eyed the lines of the house that at first had looked contemporary yet out of place in its setting. Given what he now knew about the woman living inside, the structure presented a cold, barren feeling.
He'd staged the operation carefully. Lee Sedillo would spend thirty minutes creating as much disorder and noise as possible while he searched, while Mary Margaret kept Linda isolated and stonewalled any conversation. He wanted Linda to feel her safe haven had been breached and her crimes were about to unravel, in the hope that it would shake her up.
Kerney checked the time, adjusted his tie, and turned on the micro tape recorder inside his coat pocket. He'd dressed in a suit to establish an air of authority. He walked into the kitchen and found Linda sitting calmly at the table, seemingly impervious to the noise Lee was making in the back of the house. Mary Margaret gave him a slight head shake to signal that nothing of consequence had transpired.
He looked around for kitchen implements that could be used as weapons.
Nothing dangerous was in sight, and Linda sat too far from the drawers and cabinets to reach anything that could be used to mount an attack.
"Don't you look nice," Linda said with a derisive smile. "Did you dress up just for me?"
"We need to talk, Linda."
"There will be no talking."
Kerney didn't believe her. Killers, particularly successful ones who felt smug and superior, always wanted to talk or play a verbal game of hide and seek.
"Have you two had a good time?" Kerney asked Mary Margaret.
"Peachy, Chief. Ms. Langsford called a criminal defense attorney. She's on her way over."
"That's a very wise thing to do," Kerney said, as he turned to Linda. "You've read the warrant and the affidavit?"
"Every word," Linda said.
"You're quite the fiction writer, Chief Kerney-a born storyteller."
"All a prosecutor needs for a conviction are compelling facts that lead to convincing proof. In your case, we have that plus the added benefit of a motive."