Dead Certain - Mariah Stewart [53]
“Anyone walking out of the store with a rose would be a good place to start.”
“Most of the flowers leave the store in a bag. The cameras don’t come equipped with an X-ray function.”
“So that’s it?”
“Pretty much.”
“What are you doing to catch him? He’s been at her house—”
“But he’s never gone in,” Amanda pointed out.
“You don’t know that when you’re gone, he hasn’t been sneaking in and out,” Evan pointed out. “Did you ever get your security system straightened out?”
Amanda looked sheepish. “The electrician said the entire house would have to be rewired and the service upgraded before the alarm system could be activated again. It kept blowing fuses and going off at all odd hours, so I just left it inactive.”
“Amanda . . .” Evan pulled a hand through his hair.
“I thought it would be okay, Evan. The only person who ever bothered me is in prison. I didn’t expect to have to worry about anyone else.”
“Famous last words,” her brother muttered.
“We’ve been watching her house,” Sean said matter-of-factly. “No one’s been going in and out except Amanda.”
“You’ve been watching my house?” she asked.
He nodded. “Twenty-four/seven.”
“You were outside last night. Across the street.”
“All night,” he admitted.
“So you know that I didn’t leave my house all night.”
“That’s right.”
“Does this mean that she’s no longer a suspect in Derek’s murder?” Evan asked.
“The county forensic team found a black hair on the floor of Derek England’s car. Dyed black. Amanda’s hair is dark, but it’s not dyed black. Nor is Clark Lehmann’s. And according to him, the only thing the backseat of that car was used for was transporting bags and such from the store. No one ever sat back there.”
“Except for Derek’s killer,” Evan said.
“That’s how I see it.”
Evan nodded. “I’m assuming that you’re sending that hair out for a DNA analysis, and that you’re going to run the results through CODIS.”
“Well, hey, if that’s what you county detectives do, then I guess we should do that, too, huh?” Sean scowled and folded his arms over his chest. “Maybe you could walk me through the process so that I know how to do it.”
“Will you two please stop?” Amanda said wearily.
“Just because we’re a small town with a small force doesn’t mean that we don’t understand and utilize the national databases.”
“Sorry.” Evan backed down. “That was the big brother thinking out loud. Though you might be surprised at how many police departments still balk at anything outside their own little realm. I’m sorry if it sounded as if I was giving you instructions. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Apology accepted.”
“Now, what about this Archer Lowell, this guy who stalked Amanda last year? I know he’s still in prison, but do you think he might be behind all this? Maybe got someone to harass her?” Evan asked.
“I visited him yesterday. He swears he didn’t know anything about it. Says that he understands what it will mean if he contacts her in any way, shape, or form. That he hasn’t even had any visitors other than his mother and his sister.”
“And you believe him?”
“It checked out at the prison. No visitors except for Mom and one sister, and that’s been really sporadic. No outgoing mail. Only calls are to his mother’s house, so I don’t know how he could be pulling it off. And he seemed genuinely surprised when I asked him about it.” Sean shook his head. “On the other hand, there seemed to be something there, under the surface. Nothing I could put my finger on, but a sort of awareness of something.”
“Maybe I’ll pay him a little visit before I go—” Evan stopped midsentence.
“Before you go where?” Amanda asked.
“Before I go back to Lyndon.” He averted his eyes.
“That’s not what you were going to say.” Amanda poked her brother in the chest. “Where are you going?”
“You know how I left the Lyndon P.D. to work with the county?”
“Yeah, so you’re a big-time detective with the county CID now.” She nodded. “So?”
“So there was an opportunity to send someone down to Quantico for some intensive training, and—”
“You’re going to the FBI Academy?” Her eyes lit up. “Evan, you’ve been wanting