post and we can see the wound track, but I think it was most likely a
rifle shot. Not the sort of weapon a woman ordinarily carries in her
purse.”
“So another person waiting for them?” Massey ventured.
“And why would that person kill and then go inside the house?” Connie
asked.
“Maybe it was Newman and Lockhart who went in the house,” Massey
surmised.
Reynolds knew it had been years since Massey had worked a field
investigation, but he was still her ADIC and she couldn’t very well
ignore him. She didn’t have to agree with him, though.
Reynolds shook her head decisively. “If they had gone in the house,
Ken wouldn’t have been killed in the driveway. They’d still be in the
house. We interview Lockhart for at least two hours each time. We got
here a half hour after they would have, tops. And those weren’t Ken’s
boots. But they are men’s boots, about a size twelve. Odds are a big
guy.”
“If Newman and Lockhart didn’t go in the house, and there are no signs
of forced entry, then this third party had the pass-code to the alarm.”
Massey’s tone was clearly accusatory.
Reynolds looked miserable, but she had to keep going. “From where Ken
fell, it looked like he had just gotten out of the car. Then something
must have spooked Ken. He pulls his Glock and then takes the round.”
Reynolds led them over to the driveway. “Look at the rut marks here.
The ground around here is reasonably dry, but the tires really gouged
the dirt. I think somebody was getting out of here in a hurry. Hell,
fast enough that he ran out of his boots.”
“And Lockhart?”
“Maybe the shooter took her with him,” Connie said.
Reynolds thought about this. “It’s possible, but I don’t see why.
They’d want her dead too.”
“In the first place, how would a shooter know to come here?” Massey
asked, and then answered his own question. “A leak?”
Reynolds had been considering this possibility from the moment she had
seen Newman’s body. “With all due respect, sir, I don’t see how that
could be the case.”
Massey coldly ticked off the points on his fingers. “We’ve got one
dead man, a missing woman and a pair of boots. Put it all together and
I’m looking at a third party being involved. Tell me how that third
party got here without inside information.”
Reynolds spoke in a very low tone. “It could be a random thing. Lonely
place, possible armed robbery. It happens.” She took a quick breath.
“But if you’re right and there is a leak, it’s not complete.” They all
looked at her curiously. “The shooter obviously didn’t know about our
last-second change of plan. That Connie and I would be here tonight,”
Reynolds explained. “Ordinarily, I would’ve been with Faith, but I was
working another case. It didn’t pan out and I decided at the last
minute to hook up with Connie and come out here.”
Connie glanced over at the van. “You’re right, no one could have known
about that. Ken didn’t even know.”
“I tried to call Ken about twenty minutes before we got here. I didn’t
want to just suddenly appear. If he heard a car pull up to the safe
house without prior warning, he might have gotten spooked, shot first
and asked questions later. He must have already been dead when I tried
to reach him.”
Massey stepped toward her. “Agent Reynolds, I know you’ve been
handling this investigation from the beginning. I know that your use
of this safe house and the closed-circuit TV surveillance of Ms.
Lockhart were all approved by the appropriate parties. I understand
your difficulties in pursuing this case and gaining this witness’s
trust.” Massey paused for a moment, seeming to select his words with
great care. Newman’s death had stunned them all, although agents were
often in harm’s way. Still, there would be definite blame assessed in
this case, and everyone knew it.
Massey continued, “However, your approach was hardly textbook. And the
fact is, an agent is dead.”
Reynolds plunged right in. “We had to do this very quietly. We
couldn’t exactly have surrounded Lockhart with agents. Buchanan