Page 75 of Lost Lake
“Maybe, but death is final, no matter how it comes.” Feeling Kenna’s loss, he turned to the papers on his lap and started thumbing through them. “These are doctor’s reports and internet research about Small Cell Lung Cancer.”
“So he knew he was dying.” El grabbed another pile of papers.
“Mason highlighted lines that say it spreads fast and initially responds well to chemotherapy. Problem is, it quickly becomes resistant and returns. Survival rate is really low.”
“Exactly like Faye said.” El tapped the papers on her lap. “His will and a trust, recently signed. The cancer would explain why he set these up.”
“Those might not make the loss easier for his family to bear, but at least it’ll save a lot of hassles regarding his estate.” Gabe moved onto another pile. Surprised by the top page, he looked at El again. “You have to see this.” He handed her the document.
She studied it. “A Craigslist ad for his travel trailer.”
“Explains why it wasn’t at his lake house.”
Gabe fanned out the pages on his lap. “He listed many more items for sale.”
She continued to hold the travel trailer posting in her hand. “The cancer is a strong motivator for selling his possessions. Maybe he was getting ready to spend more time with his family instead of fishing, or he could’ve been getting rid of stuff to make it easier for Talia after he died.”
“This could also explain the large deposits in his checking account.” Gabe continued to flip through ads for other items and pulled one out to give to El. “For his boat. Maybe our killer responded to the ad and met Mason at his boathouse with the intent of stealing it. Maybe even killing him so he didn’t have to pay.”
“Or maybe the murder was a spur-of-the-moment thing and he took the nearest boat, killing Mason when he tried to defend it.”
“You could be right, but in that case, why go into the house and kill the dog?”
“I can’t explain that, other than he might not have done it. Could’ve been an accident and the dog jostled the bottom television, sending the stack tumbling. I’d much rather believe that than that we’re looking for a man who’d kill a defenseless dog.”
Gabe nodded and stood to look around the room, searching for any electronic devices, and failing. “If Mason kept emails he received for the boat sale, Hayden could potentially find the prospective buyers’ real identities.”
She waved the pages at him. “We need to get this info to him after we finish going through these piles and maybe that’ll be enough for him to go on.”
“I’ll start searching for Mason’s tablet.”
She set the papers on her lap. “I can request the data from Craigslist, too, but it’ll take a warrant, and companies like Craigslist are notoriously slow in providing users’ information.”
“No kidding, but we have to chase the lead down, no matter what it takes.” His gut said if they found the buyer for Mason’s boat, they’d find Kenna’s killer and Lucy’s abductor, but maybe he was oversimplifying things.
“I’ll do my best,” she said, “and I can be pretty persuasive.”
Something else she didn’t have to tell him. He’d witnessed it firsthand.
They separated, starting their house search in painstaking detail and in silence. Finally, finding nothing—including the tablet—they had to admit defeat and headed for the door.
El’s phone chimed. “Text from Sierra. She sent the new DNA results to my email.”
Gabe glanced at his watch. Nearly five. Time had slipped by while they were searching.
El quickly thumbed through a few screens, her hand trembling. “Here we go. She starts with Kenna’s toothbrush and compares it to the other DNA. It was found on her cell phone, Lucy’s pink sweatshirt, the car seat, the toy, and the shoe. At the ravine, it was all over the handle of the screwdriver and in her prints from the boat. And last, on the pregnancy test, the other DNA on that item is still processing.”
“Really nothing new. It’s only confirmation of what we suspected.”
El nodded. “Next, she lists Lucy’s DNA, also found on the sweatshirt, the car seat, the unicorn, the bracelet, the shoe, andher prints on the boat. But here’s a new one. It was in the small blood sample recovered from the dock by the nail.”
Important news, but… “That confirms Lucy was there, but did Sierra find any other suspect’s names?”
“They located Mason’s DNA on the boat, but not on the Zippo lighter. She says that belongs to an unidentified suspect whose DNA was also collected from the car seat, the child’s shoe, the blood outside Kenna’s van, and on her hand, plus on the screwdriver. No other unidentified DNA except on the boat.”
“So we’re looking for one suspect for all three crime scenes.”
“It also clearly tells us the boathouse is connected to Kenna’s murder and Lucy’s abduction.”
