“Can we start with Bernard Crighton?” The light in Todd’s eyes suggested he’d found something.
Bree rolled a hand in the air. “Sure.”
Matt checked his notes. “Bernard doesn’t have an alibi.”
“Any recent purchases of black nylon paracord?” Bree asked.
Todd opened a file. “Not on his credit card statements.”
“Motive?” Bree asked.
Todd opened his laptop and scrolled. “Money. He says he doesn’t need any, but he’s not exactly rolling in cash. His house is mortgaged, and he took out a second mortgage to send his youngest daughter to law school. Plus, the neighbor, Homer, said Bernard asked Camilla for money recently and she turned him down.”
Bree looked thoughtful. “I saw no sign of extravagance in his home. Where does he spend his money?”
“For the last few months, he’s paid two large sums of money to his son-in-law, Leonard Holmes,” Todd said. “Leonard is married to Bernard’s oldest daughter, Shannon.”
Matt leaned back in his chair. “Do we know what the money was for?”
“No.” Todd checked his papers. “The payments are significant. Over two hundred thousand in total. He depleted what was left of his savings.”
Bree frowned. “We need more information.”
“Does Bernard have any handguns registered to him?” Matt asked.
“No,” Todd said.
Bree added, “But as a family member, he might know where Oscar kept his personal firearm.”
“There’s more.” Todd tapped a paper.
Matt straightened.
Todd gestured toward Bree. “Your interview report said Bernard claimed to have last talked to his sister a few weeks ago. But his cell phone records show he called Camilla four days before the murders.” He held up a hand. “Annnnnd Oscar’s traffic app shows Bernard’s house as the last address entered, three days before the murders.”
“Bernard is quite the liar,” Matt said.
“Lying puts him on the top of my suspect list,” Bree said. “I wonder if he knew about the offer on Camilla’s farm. We need to talk to him again.”
Matt stroked his stubbled jaw. “I’d like to search his house. Oscar’s gun is still missing.”
Bree flattened a palm on the table. “Let’s try to get a search warrant ASAP. We can bring him in for questioning while we serve it.”
Todd nodded. “Here’s one more interesting bit of info. Oscar’s financial records also show he paid a large sum of money to Leonard Holmes last year.”
“That’s where his money went?” Bree asked.
“Yes.” Todd shuffled his pages. “I researched Leonard Holmes. The SEC froze his assets two months ago. There’s an ongoing investigation into a Ponzi scheme. He wasn’t in charge, but he’s named in the filing.”
Bree frowned. “Let’s see if we can get that warrant today.”
“I’ll prepare the affidavit as soon as we’re done here,” Todd said.
Matt made a note. “Who’s next?”
“Heather Oscar, the ex-wife.” Todd spoke quickly. “Her record is clean, except for a few tickets issued in the year after she divorced Oscar, which seems to corroborate her claims of harassment. Again, no purchases of the paracord on her credit card statements.”
Bree’s brow furrowed. “The killer would probably have used cash.”
“Heather has motive,” Matt said. “He lied to her for years.”
“In her mind, he completely betrayed her,” Bree added.
Matt remembered her passion and loss, and he could imagine her pressing the gun to Oscar’s head. “And she also had no alibi.”
Todd shrugged. “I suspect most people are home on a Sunday night. I am if I’m not covering a shift. Stores tend to close early. Bars are mostly empty. Folks are getting ready for the upcoming work or school week.”
Bree nodded. “Who’s up next?”
Todd flipped the page. “Kenny McPherson. Like the others, he has no alibi. He hasn’t been out of prison long enough to have much financial history, but he is employed, and his landlady clearly supported him.”
Matt checked his notes. “He also has plenty of motive. He has a record of drug use, resisting arrest, assaulting an officer, and fighting in prison.”
Bree waggled a hand. “But how much of that history was caused or fabricated by Oscar?”
Matt wondered if he’d ever worked a case where so many people had a good reason to want the victim dead. “Kenny ran from us.”