"I don't know." He shook his head. "I'm loath to trust my instinct after-"

"Rebecca." She reached out, touching his arm.

He closed his eyes, resting his hand over hers.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He nodded, letting the moment pa.s.s silently.

18.

Jake wasn't sure if he was thankful for the interruption of his ringing phone or not. The moment he and Kayden had been sharing was one of the most profound of his life. She'd reached out to him in more ways than one, and his heart hadn't stopped hammering since.

"Cavanagh?" he said, the name becoming his own again.

"It's Booth."

"You got the results?"

"I could be calling to check up on you two kids," he said with humored pleasure.

"Kids? You aren't that old, old man."

"Old enough to be your father, but that's not why I'm calling."

"Tell me you've got good news."

"It's definitely good news for Natalie Adams."

"The sample was clean."

"Yes indeed."

"And you're sure it came from the same chalk block as Conrad Humphries'?"

"Exact match, minus the Dodecanol, of course."

"And you're positive?"

"Ran them twice."

It was good news for Natalie Adams, though who was to say she hadn't separated the chalk earlier than she claimed and added the Dodecanol? But what would her motive be?

Booth cleared his throat. "Thought you'd sound happier."

"Just not sure we've ruled anyone out." And the threats kept coming.

"Any luck with the suppliers?"

"No. Landon's still working that angle, trying to track any Dodecanol shipments made to Imnek in the last few months. At least we've been able to cross several off the list."

"How many more to go?"

Jake sighed. "A couple dozen."

"Landon's tenacious. He'll keep at it until he gets answers." Booth chuckled. "Reminds me of someone else I know."

As Jake hung up, Kayden said, "Samples were clean?"

"You got it."

"So where does that leave us?"

"We know the Dodecanol was added after arriving at Natalie's. I'm going to call Landon and get a warrant to search all areas of her shop and home, but I suspect we won't find anything."

"Then why go through it, and will you even be able to convince a judge to issue one now that the sample has come back clean?"

"Because we need to be positive, and it won't be easy." He smiled. "Actually, it might be a whole lot easier just to ask."

Jake had been right. Rather than insisting on being served a warrant in front of her staff or patrons as Brody had been, Natalie agreed to let Jake and Kayden search her work and home as long as she was present. Both had turned out clean-no sign of Dodecanol. Without its presence-or apparent motive-it was time to take Natalie Adams off their list of suspects.

"Where now?" she asked as Jake stepped to the driver's side door of their rental car.

"Back to Vivienne's."

"Any luck obtaining a warrant to pull her and Stuart's credit-card statements?"

"Landon went to the judge this morning."

"You really think if they did it, they'd be stupid enough to pay for Dodecanol with a credit card?"

"It's not something you can just walk into any store to get, and I doubt even if you could that the killer would go local. Imnek is too small a town for something like that. But just in case, Landon's running Dodecanol suppliers, searching for any deliveries to Imnek in the past six months, plus canva.s.sing any local businesses that might have carried it."

"I heard you telling Booth. So no luck so far?"

"Only in crossing half a dozen suppliers off the list."

"I know it's frustrating, but it's still progress-narrowing down the suppliers. Are you also checking for deliveries to Anchorage?"

"Yes, specifically to Stuart Anderson's home and business addresses. He could have easily brought it down with him."

"The killer would need a decent amount of time with Conrad's chalk. Time to effectively blend the Dodecanol in," she said.

"How long would you say?"

"Twenty minutes, maybe more."

"So the killer would need access to wherever Conrad kept the chalk at home."

"Or they tampered with the chalk somewhere along his route. If he left his car long enough, unlocked, they would have had access to the chalk sitting in his vehicle."

"Vivienne said he went back to the office, which we know isn't true according to his secretary." Jake pulled a U-turn. "On second thought, let's pay Patty a visit first, see if Conrad was with her that night."

Once again they found Patty's bungalow-style house empty and took the winding stone path around to her backyard. The sun lit her silhouette in the greenhouse, and they rapped on the open door.

She glanced up from her work. "Great."

Jake stepped inside. "We've got a couple more questions for you."

"Lucky me." She brushed soil from her hands. "What is it this time?"

"When did you last see Conrad?"

"The night before his climb."

"Where?"

"Here at the house."

"How long was he here?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Maybe an hour."

"How'd you spend the hour?" Kayden asked.

Patty tilted her head. "How do you think?"

Kayden felt her face flush and was thankful when Jake continued the questioning without apparent reaction.

"We're trying to determine a timeline for the day before Conrad's climb," he explained. "We know he worked most of the day but left a few hours early according to his secretary. He swung by Rocktrex for a couple practice runs, stopped by Natalie's for chalk, went home for dinner, and then according to Vivienne, went back to the office. But you said he came here instead."

"What time did he arrive?" Kayden asked.

"Around six."

"Six?" That wasn't right. Vivienne said Conrad had left after dinner. Around nine o'clock. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I invited him to join me and Shane for dinner afterward, but he had to go."

"Go where?"

"Home. Apparently Vivienne was making dinner for him and Stuart."

So he'd dropped by Patty's between buying his chalk at Natalie's shop and heading home for dinner with Stuart and Vivienne. "Did Conrad come back later?"

"Nope."

"His wife said he went out around nine for an hour or so. He claimed he was going to the office, but he didn't. We a.s.sumed he was with you."

"Afraid not."

"Any idea where he might have gone?"

"No clue."

Was it possible Conrad was seeing someone in addition to Patty Tate? Or had his work taken place someplace other than his office? And if so, why?

They were starting to lose traction. As questions were being answered, new ones were taking their place. The ex-employee-Kim angle had turned out to be a dead end. After losing her job with Conrad, she'd gotten a much higher-paying one over on Kodiak. She sounded thrilled and didn't express any ill will toward Conrad, according to the Kodiak deputy who had tracked her down and questioned her for them. When it came to Mrs. Humphries and ill will toward Conrad, Kayden had a feeling it was about to get much worse.

19.

"Back again," Vivienne said through clamped pearly white teeth. Clearly someone had been using whitening strips. Perhaps leaving them on for a tad too long, or perhaps the deep red lipstick she wore made them appear brighter.

She glared at Kayden. "And I bet with more questions?"

"I'm afraid so." Jake looked past Vivienne, expecting to see Stuart. "Is Stuart here?"

"He's in the shower."

Jake's brows heightened.

"In the guest shower," she said with an unmistakable edge. "He's staying in our guest suite until the funeral."

"How thoughtful of him." At least they'd be able to question Vivienne alone, without any protests from Stuart.

"I a.s.sume these pleasantries aren't the questions you were referring to?"

"No."

"Fine. Let's get this over with. I have a nail appointment in a half hour." She led them back into the parlor.

And her appointment would give them the opportunity to chat with Stuart alone. Perfect.

Jake decided the direct method was probably best. "We spoke with Patty Tate."

Vivienne glanced at her nails. "Oh?"