Dead by Midnight - Beverly Barton [141]
On the short drive from the restaurant to the Powell Building, Derek didn’t try to carry on a mundane conversation with Maleah. Thank goodness. He parked his Vette in the underground garage and they showed their IDs to the guards on duty near the two elevators that rose from the basement level to the top floor of the restored 1928 structure. Griffin Powell’s private office covered the entire eighteenth floor, the penthouse suite, which gave him a spectacular nighttime view of the city lights.
Apparently she and Derek were the last to arrive, because almost everyone else had taken seats around the conference table and had been served drinks by Sanders, who was acting as bartender this evening.
“Come on in.” Griff motioned to them.
Nic smiled at Maleah when she chose the seat next to hers at the far end of the table. Derek declined Sanders’s offer for a drink and chose a seat on the opposite side from Maleah.
Glancing around the table, she took note of the others assembled here this evening. Griff at the head of the oval table and Nic at his side. Sanders stood while Barbara Jean sat in her wheelchair by the bar. Holt Keinan leaned back in one of the thickly padded leather chairs and hoisted a beer bottle to his lips. Michelle Allen and Ben Corbett sat on either side of him.
Dr. Yvette Meng, along with one of her protégés, Meredith Sinclair, stood by the wide expanse of windows overlooking the city below. The two were deep in conversation.
Maleah leaned over and whispered to Nic, “What’s Dr. Meng doing here?”
“Yvette and Meredith were allowed a few minutes alone with both Kristi and Shelley…before Kristi was embalmed and Shelley was cremated.”
Maleah rolled her eyes skeptically and kept her voice low. “And did either of them sense something? Any information that will actually help us figure out who killed Shelley and Kristi and why?”
“As I understand it, empaths usually can’t make a connection with the dead. Only mediums can do that,” Nic said softly, keeping their conversation as private as possible. “And as you know, empathy is Yvette’s talent.”
“And Meredith Sinclair—what’s her talent?”
“Yvette says that Meredith is multitalented.”
Before Maleah could respond, Griffin Powell called the meeting to order. “We have two separate issues to discuss this evening.” He motioned to Barbara Jean, who lifted a portable folder onto her lap, opened it, removed a stack of files, and returned the folder to the floor. “Barbara Jean will hand out updated information on the Midnight Killer case and all the info we have at present on the murders of Kristi Arians and Shelley Gilbert.”
While Barbara Jean distributed the stapled documents, Griffin continued. “Take a look at Derek Lawrence’s most recent profiles and you’ll see that he has somewhat narrowed the list of possible known suspects. His educated guess, as he himself calls it”—Griff glanced at Derek—“is that one of the following could be the Midnight Killer.”
Griff gave everyone a couple of minutes to locate Derek’s report before he said, “As you’ll note, Powell’s research data on the comings and goings of these suspects, along with all personal records that we could access, narrows down the list to Grant Leroy and his son Heath, to both Tyler and Ransom Owens, and to Casey Lloyd.”
“That’s still five suspects,” Michelle Allen said. “And those are only the known suspects.”
“Which is all we have to work with at the present,” Griff told her. “We concentrate on what we’ve got. As of this coming Monday, the last Monday in April, agents will be assigned to each of these suspects to keep track of where they go and what they do. And as added protection, we will offer to assign a Powell agent to each of the three remaining potential victims: Terri Owens, Jean Misner, and Lorie Hammonds.”
“What sort of problems can we expect to run into with Special Agent Wainwright and his task force?” Ben Corbett asked.
Griff looked at his wife. Nic said, “Unofficially,