Page 21 of Blood Ledger
He continued, “Not that he couldn’t hire someone to do it, but nothing we’ve found convinces me he’s a part of those homicides. He inherits a portion of his brother’s estate, along with the sister and mother. He doesn’t have any major debts and is a decent enough boss, according to his coworkers. I dug deep on this, especially after the second home invasion. Even the neighbors like him. Dave Duvall is, by all accounts, a genuinely nice guy.”
“But…?” she prodded.
“But today, he clearly lied to us. What’s this Collective you mentioned?”
“Yesterday, I got called in to a third home invasion. There, I found a hidden notebook that listed the Duvalls, the Coatneys, and the Strands—our recent vics—as well as seven other names now on our radar. And in the book was mention of something called the Collective. I have no idea what it means yet, but Dave reacted to it.”
“He did, didn’t he?” A pause, then Ryan added, “Have you talked to the sister?”
“No. I plan to see her tomorrow.”
“Want company?”
Jane thought about it. “Yeah, that would work.”
“When are you meeting her?”
“Nine. How about I swing by the precinct to grab you at 08:30? Sherry Duvall lives in New Holly.” A half hour should give them enough time.
“That works. I’ll spring for donuts and coffee.”
“I knew I liked you.”
He chuckled and said, “See you then, Agent Cannon,” before hanging up.
With that plan in place, Jane made a few more notes on what toask Sherry Duvall the following day then moved back into the Coatney murders.
Nick Coatney had made his money in tech the old-fashioned way—coding. Unlike the Duvalls, the Coatneys worked together in their tech firm. Nick had founded the company and still coded on occasion, mostly because he liked it, according to those who knew him. His wife Kathy, however, still crafted algorithms and code.
They didn’t have any government contracts that Jane could see. But they were real movers in the world of large-scale data applications, with their fingers in everything from forecasting future trends in marketing and healthcare to customer behavior analysis.
She searched her emails and found information sent from the Tactical Specialist she’d been working with. TSs were skilled at maneuvering around social media, databases, and searches through networks to dig up buried communications.
Scrolling through the results TS Teri Chapman had recovered yielded little. Jane saw nothing suspicious in the correspondence. Most of it was work or family related. Kathy Coatney’s children had been heavily involved in sports.
Unfortunately, they’d never know what it felt like to play at a higher level, denied a chance at competition due to a sick killer with no morals.
Except he hadn’t killed the animals.
Jane picked up the phone. “Hey, Teri? It’s Jane. Yeah, I have a question about the folder you sent me on the Coatneys.”
Teri, an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, who subsisted on a diet of social media, pop music, and sugar, was never so happy as she was when pulling on a thread and tracing it to its end. Jane had also never seen the woman without a piece of gum in her mouth.
“Shoot.” Teri cracked her gum.
Jane grinned. “What flavor today?”
“Blueberry buzz. I think my tongue is turning blue.”
“Very professional.”
“Hey, I swap out with Wild Watermelon Waves to turn it back topink before I interact with people. I’m currently mushrooming in the dark while I glom through New Google, Facebook, and IG.”
“New Google?”
“TikTok.”
“Ah, okay. So the Coatneys. They had a black Labrador Retriever, correct?”
