Last Seen Alive

Chapter Seven

Kelsey called Daniel immediately after, bouncing impatiently on her chair until he answered. He'd barely said "Hello" when she squealed excitedly. "I've found your first suspect in Louis' murder!"

"What?"

"Okay, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. But I found out Louis did actually have a cellphone so his neighbours lied to you!"

"How did you find out about the cellphone?"

"I remembered that Louis called in about Jane Doe, so I asked some guys at Dispatch to look through their records and see what number he used. Turns out it was a cellphone. I called it and the voicemail message confirmed it was his. I think we should talk to the neighbours again. See why they lied. Are you at the station?"

"I'm actually patrolling Louis' neighbourhood right now, so I'll just drop by and question them again."

"Oh. Crazy coincidence. I can be there in ten to fifteen minutes depending on the cab service," Kelsey said already packing up the few things she'd taken out of her backpack.

"No, don't worry about that. I'll speak to them alone."

"What, why?"

"They'll feel cornered if we question them together. I'll just go alone and assure them they aren't in any kind of trouble so they won't clam up. Besides, I don't want to put you in a position where you have to choose between ratting your favourite detective out for messing up, or lying to your boss and risking your job."

"I wouldn't rat you out, Daniel."

"I wouldn't want you to lie either. Plausible deniability and all that. I'll talk to the neighbours, then I'll tell Michael everything. Thanks for finding out about the phone."

Kelsey slumped back in her seat. "Will you at least let me know how it goes?"

"Of course! You found the clue after all."

After she hung up, Adam offered her a sympathetic smile. "That didn't go the way you hoped, huh?"

"Not even a little bit," she sighed, checking the time on her phone. "I should get going if I'm going to make it to class on time." She sprang up again and swung her backpack onto her back.

"What class?"

"I'm studying for a Masters in Forensic Psychology, on top of everything else."

"Busy lady," Adam said, sounding impressed. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow in the evening?"

"Sure. Have fun saving cats, Adam."

***

Kelsey usually enjoyed her lectures, but today she could barely focus. After several futile attempts to forget about Daniel, she gave up trying to listen to the lecture and resolved to download the class notes and go through them later that night. As soon as class was dismissed, she took a cab back to the station, texting back and forth with Liam along the way. Daniel still hadn't called or texted her.

Michael was already in the gym, doing some warm-up stretches so she joined him. They went through the basic blocks again and had a little sparring session, during which Kelsey attempted to block Michael's punches.