Page 46 of Trap ’N’ Trace

“I don’t know. Somewhere between California and New York.”

“Did you stop anywhere? A motel, gas station, or a convenience store?” Caldwell asked. “Got any receipts?”

“I’m not under arrest, so why should I tell you anything?”

“Because,” Caldwell countered, “if you don’t talk to us, and you can’t provide an alibi, we can hold you for twenty-four hours. Who knows what other reasons we can drum up to keep you longer? I’m sure you haven’t been a saint since you were released last week.”

A flicker of fear flashed in Donnelly’s eyes. The man had something to hide, but Dayne didn’t think he killed Becca.

Donnelly shifted in the chair then tugged a wallet from his rear pants pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper that he tossed to Caldwell. The agent unfolded the paper, reading out loud for the video recording. “This is a receipt for the Red Pump Inn in Missouri. It says you arrived last Tuesday night and checked out Wednesday morning.”

Donnelly nodded. “That sounds about right.”

Which meant there was no way he could have been in Tappan Tuesday afternoon. Stabbing Becca to death.

“We’ll check it out.”

The agents left the room, but the video remained on. Dayne and Paulson watched Donnelly picking dirt from under his nails. Ten minutes more into the video, and Donnelly stared directly at the camera then flipped the bird, mouthing the words “Fuck you.”

“He’s some piece of work,” Paulson said in a disgusted tone.

“Yeah.” More like, piece of shit.

When his phone vibrated, Dayne set down his coffee cup to take the call.

“Dayne, it’s Tommy Diaz.” He quickly recognized the other agent’s voice. “We sent two agents to the Red Pump Inn in Missouri. Not only did they confirm the receipt, but they also sent us the photocopy of Donnelly’s expired driver license. He used that as ID when he checked in. They also pulled the hotel’s video. Donnelly checked in Tuesday night around seven p.m. and left Wednesday morning about eight thirty. Looks like his alibi checks out.”

He exhaled a frustrated breath. “You sure it’s him in the video?”

“Yeah. The video system at the inn was brand spanking new. The images couldn’t be any clearer.”

“Any chance he could have snuck out a side or back door, then caught a plane to New York?”

“I don’t see how,” Tommy said. “Our guys reviewed footage from cameras at all the exits and they didn’t see him leaving until Wednesday morning.”

“Thanks, Tommy.” He ended the call then gave Paulson the bad news. “Donnelly was in Missouri Tuesday night through Wednesday morning. It’s not him.” He pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose.

Donnelly made no bones about wanting revenge against Becca. They had a history. But assuming Becca and Amy’s murders were committed by the same person, he couldn’t come up with a single reason why Donnelly would have needed to go to the Canine Haven or kill the Haven’s manager.

So far, they were ass-deep in nowhere-land. Except for his witness. Kat.

While he wouldn’t put her protection in anyone else’s hands, part of him itched for a more proactive role in the investigation. He texted one of the agents from his office who’d been reviewing Becca’s case files. A minute later, Special Agent Bart Danchuk came into the detectives’ squad room, holding a yellow pad.

Danchuk was still as skinny as Dayne remembered from their Quantico days, and his hair was still as orange as a pumpkin. The only thing new was the cheaters perched on top of his head.

After making quick introductions to Paulson, Dayne glanced at the pad in Bart’s hand. “What’ve you got?”

“For a PI in business just over a year, Becca had a lot of case files, and I do mean a lot.” He slid the cheaters onto his nose and focused on his notes. “We’ve still got five full boxes to go through. Philandering spouses, adopted people searching for their birth mothers, phony insurance claims. Nothing jumps out.”

“Which of those cases was she actively working?” Now that they’d eliminated Donnelly and his long sought-after revenge, maybe one of her current cases was connected to her death.

“Actually, she was only working one case, but there were multiple targets. An insurance fraud investigation. About three months ago, she scored a big contract with an insurance company. According to the contract, Becca was hired to investigate drivers intentionally causing accidents then faking injuries and threatening to file lawsuits. One of the company auditors figured out the number of these cases far exceeded what was normal for the industry.”

“So,” Dayne concluded, “in an effort to avoid drawn-out court battles and exorbitant legal fees, the company had been settling out of court and finally got sick and tired of having their bank account sucked dry.”

“Yep,” Bart confirmed.

“Was Becca successful in finding anyone committing insurance fraud?”