Stonechild and Rouleau Mysteries 5-Book Bundle. Brenda Chapman

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      “Of course. I’ve got it.” She handed the jacket and ski pants to Charlotte and smiled. “Let me know if you need help tying up your scarf.”

      “I can do it myself.” Charlotte stood motionless in front of her, eyes solemn. “Daddy’s not here to help me anymore and Mommy’s tired. She told me that I need to learn to do more things for myself. We’re going to move away soon.”

      “Oh?” Kala leaned forward.

      “Mommy doesn’t like our big house. Daddy didn’t like it either. He was going to move away too.”

      “He told you that?”

      Charlotte nodded. “He said he would always love me even if he and Mommy didn’t live together.”

      “When did he tell you this, Charlotte?”

      “When we went out with the lady he was going to live with. I wasn’t to tell Mommy.”

      “You kept the secret.”

      “I promised.”

      “Was he going to move in with Pauline?”

      Charlotte’s forehead scrunched up in a frown. “Who’s Pauline again?”

      Kala looked up. Hunter was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. “All set to go, Charlotte?” he asked. “We don’t want to keep Officer Stonechild from her work.”

      Kala straightened. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.”

      She smiled at Charlotte and opened the door, noticing for the first time a milder wind blowing in from the south. The deep freeze was on its last legs as a mid-winter thaw began stealing into the Ottawa Valley. Kala stepped outside, happy to feel the shifting wind on her face as she thought about Tom Underwood and the woman he was prepared to leave home for.

      31

      Saturday, December 31, 3:00 p.m.

      They gathered mid-afternoon in Rouleau’s office. The sunlight poured like weak tea through slats in the venetian blind. It was the dead of winter, but the rising temperature was giving a brief respite from the frigid temperatures. The warmer air mass wouldn’t last long, but it was enough to raise their spirits.

      Kala took the chair near the wall away from the others. She was overheated in her turtleneck sweater and thermal undershirt and felt sweat dampening her armpits. She took a sip of coffee and let the mug rest on her knee. The coffee was bitter and had likely been made just after lunch. No wonder she was the only one with a cup. Grayson and Malik were going through their notes and commenting to each other. She half-listened to Bennett and Gage’s animated discussion on whether or not to trade the Senators’ goalie. Rouleau appeared a few minutes later from a meeting with Vermette.

      “Right,” he said, slapping a couple of files on the desk and dropping into his battered leather chair. “One bit of good news in this miserable week. We can stop looking for Annie Littlewolf. Her partner died of natural causes, a heart attack to be exact. He wasn’t murdered, so Annie has no reason to be in hiding because we have no reason to believe she’s in danger.”

      “Shouldn’t we still be trying to locate her though?” asked Kala. If they didn’t locate Annie, her lead to Dawn and Rosie would be lost.

      “Social Services is on the lookout now. They’ll look after her when she turns up.” Rouleau looked at each of them in turn. “Initial forensics is in on Benny Goldstone. He was hit repeatedly with a blunt object from behind, which I can now confirm is the Inuit art sculpture from the showcase in the lobby. He was then dragged into the closet where most of the bleeding took place. It’s likely death occurred on the second blow, which crushed the back of his skull. He was standing near the exit door when struck. Whoever did it, superficially wiped up the blood in the hallway and dumped the paper towels into the trash inside the closet. The security camera in the parking lot didn’t record anybody coming or going around the time he was killed, but someone could have gotten around it if they knew how it’s angled. There were no prints so the killer likely wore gloves. Goldstone was a small man. Five seven and one hundred and thirty-five pounds; a man or woman could have moved him easily enough. He’d been with the firm five years, the last two as Max Oliver’s assistant. What have you found out about Goldstone’s home life, Malik?”

      Malik flicked open his notebook. “Lived in a one bedroom in Hintonburg near Wellington for the last ten years. Graduated from Algonquin College with a business degree and worked for a high-tech company for several years before it went belly up. Took a job with Underwood and company a few years ago. Mother lives in Sandy Hill. Father deceased. No siblings. Never married.” Malik looked up and paused. “Benny curled in the rainbow league at the Ottawa Curling Club.”

      “He’s gay?” asked Grayson.

      “Looks that way.”

      “Boyfriends?” asked Rouleau.

      “Officially, no. However, there are rumours that he and Max Oliver had something going on. He frequented gay bars on Elgin and in the ByWard Market.”

      Kala kept silent even though it was validating to know she’d pegged Max correctly.

      “It can’t be a coincidence that both Oliver and Underwood were working on the same project. I still say all this has something to do with work,” Grayson said.

      Rouleau looked at Kala. “Thoughts?”

      “Work is a possible reason. The family connection is another.”

      “Can you narrow that down?”

      “Not yet.”

      “Great,” said Grayson, letting them know it was not. “I say we pull in Oliver and Belliveau. The link has to be there.”

      “Okay,” said Rouleau. “Malik and Grayson, you start redoing the interviews in their office, although most of the employees will have gone home by now since it’s New Year’s Eve. It’ll mean some driving around to find them, but see what you can do. Start with Max and J.P. and do the rest tomorrow. You might need to go back to Montreal to talk to Archambault. Bennett and Gage, start going through Benny Goldstone’s files and computer. Stonechild, stick with the family angle. Whelan will be back in January to give you a hand.”

      They nodded and stood. Rouleau held up a hand. “One more thing. We have until January fifth before Major Crimes takes over the cases. We’ll move back into the supporting role.”

      “That means we’ll still be doing the legwork but without the credit,” said Grayson.

      Kala looked more closely at Rouleau. The tiredness in his eyes went deeper than this case. She’d noticed his suit in the dry cleaning bag hanging on the hook next to the door. Whatever New Year’s Eve party he was supposed to attend would likely be a miss. She wondered if it was important to him. “We should be wrapping this up before Major Crimes gets involved,” she said.

      Rouleau smiled. “I’m not organizing a parade yet.”

      Grayson said something under his breath to Malik. They sent Kala darting, sideways looks. Bennett and Gage exchanged СКАЧАТЬ