“Good day, Mr. and Mrs. McKinley,” Adam said. He might wear his hair in a spiky ’do, but he was nothing if not a serious-minded professional—one who seemed to have an aversion to calling him and Sara by first name. “Old man,” he acknowledged Jimmy.
Then there was that…
“Very funny,” Jimmy groaned. “Give the man a medal.”
“Comedians don’t get medals. Do they get medals?”
“Adam,” Sean cut in. “What have you found out about Katie Carpenter?”
Adam looked at Jimmy. “I don’t want to show up the old man. Maybe you should ask him to leave the room.”
“Very funny, you little—”
“Enough. Let’s try to focus.” Sean was determined not to laugh, but the played-up sibling rivalry between the two was rather entertaining. He met Sara’s gaze, and she was smiling. She even held the expression for him. He hoped that she could read the message in his eyes: that he hadn’t meant to hurt her and loved her beyond words.
“I’ve found out a lot about Katie Carpenter. First of all, from what I can tell, she has no siblings, and her parents are alive. They live in Connecticut, but it’s possible they haven’t been in communication for years—at least from what I’m seeing, or not seeing, depending on how you look at it.”
“We can find out for sure by speaking with her boyfriend and friends.” Sean still couldn’t believe that he was going to meet the one and only Levi Bradley.
Adam went on. “Her social media has been helpful in learning more about her. Jimmy, social media is—”
“I know what social media is.” Jimmy clenched his jaw and shook his head.
“It’s where people post pictures and—”
“Feel the need to let everyone else know what they’re doing every living second,” Jimmy interrupted. “Yadda, yadda. When I was young—”
“Dinosaurs roamed the land. Nice paper and pen, by the way.” Adam’s pointing fingertip took center screen. “You know they have electronic—”
Jimmy glared at Adam. “Don’t you mean ‘BTW’?”
“Very good. Tell me where to send the gold star.”
“It’s a good thing you’re in New York, you little punk.”
Sean was laughing now. He couldn’t help it. For as much fuss as the two of them made, Sean could tell it was all in good fun.
Sara nudged his foot under the table, but she was smirking. Sean held up his hands as if to say, What? Do you blame me?
“Tell us what you found,” Sean prompted in all serious.
“She’s quite active and has a healthy-sized following. I had to wade through a few pages of condolences to get to Katie’s posted statuses. There were less than a handful of people who like and comment regularly on her posts.”
“Gather what you can about those people. Their interactions with Katie. The nature of their relationships,” Sara said. “If Katie was murdered, it’s likely someone who was close to her.”
“Or at least someone who followed her online,” Sean inserted. “Assuming she talked about her running routine.”
“She mentioned it sometimes,” Adam confirmed.
“I still think it’s more likely someone in her close circle.” Sara’s tone was a touch bitter.
“I’ll get to work on that next. Just to be clear, everyone who followed her or…”
“Let’s start with the ones who regularly interacted with her.” Sean made the executive decision.
“As you wish,” Adam said. “Now, from scanning her status updates, I’d say she was dating someone famous, though she never gave the person’s name, and when I Google Katie’s name, I don’t find any reference to a boyfriend or the like.”
“She was the girlfriend of Levi Bradley,” Sara said. “He’s the famous pitcher for the New York Mets.” She didn’t say it, but her tone did: whoop-de-do.
“Really?” Adam’s face lit for a brief moment before his lips fell in a straight line. “And we’re not a fan.”
“I’m not, but Sean is.” Sara gestured to him, and she might as well have aimed a gun at him and pulled the trigger. He needed to talk to Sara privately and sort all this out—the sooner, the better.
“Well, Katie loved running,” Adam said, swerving from the subject of Levi Bradley. “She runs in numerous marathons and always places well. She wasn’t always into fitness, though…” His voice petered out.
“Okay,” Sean prompted, not sure why Adam suddenly seemed uncomfortable.
“It’s hard to know how to put this without sounding like a jerk, but she went through a period when she was…how do you say…bigger.”
“Maybe that’s what got her going to Mirela’s fitness studio,” Sara suggested, and Sean nodded.
“We’ll have to speak with her some more,” he said.
“I figured we would,” Sara said. “Her and the other trainers there.”
“Did she lose a lot of weight?” Jimmy prompted.
“Enough, based on pictures anyway. I can forward them to you.”
There were a few key clicks, and Sean’s, Sara’s, and Jimmy’s phones all bleeped. Sean pulled out his phone and looked at what Adam had sent. The “Before” was an overweight Katie Carpenter dressed in baggy black clothing. The “After” was a slim Katie showcasing a fitted sky-blue shirt.
“Her weight loss made her more confident,” Sara said, looking up from her phone.
“And maybe someone didn’t like that,” Sean added.
“Maybe her boyfriend liked her better when she was heavier, possibly felt he could control their relationship more.”
Sean hated that she was making this suggestion of Levi Bradley and came to his defense. “That’s making some big assumptions.”
Sara shrugged. “But it’s possible. It wouldn’t be the first time someone lost weight and their partner wasn’t into it.”
Sean wasn’t going to point out that it often worked the other way around: a controlling partner demanded their overweight one shed the pounds. Actually, maybe he would. “You can’t think that a pro-athlete like Levi Bradley wouldn’t encourage her in self-care.”
“Okay, so maybe Katie let her newfound fitness go to her head and felt she was too good for Levi and was going to leave him. That wouldn’t be the first time, either.” Sara had this glint in her eye he didn’t care for.
“I guess that’s possible too.” He’d say and do whatever just to have her happy with him again—and to end story time. They were just flinging scenarios.
Sara slowly pried her eyes from him to the screen and Adam. “When did Katie start on her fitness journey?”
“Looks like about two years ago, maybe less.”
No doubt that was something they could ask Mirela about.
“We have encountered some questions when it comes to Katie’s phone,” Sara started.
“I’m all ears,” Adam said.
Sean bit back a snicker as Sara’s questions tied back to the existence of the problematic earbuds without a media source.
“We know that the boyfriend has her phone,” Sara began, “but we don’t know why or how he came into possession of it.”
“I wouldn’t be able to tell you.” Adam’s eyes shifted briefly to Sean. “But if you get your hands on it, I’d happily take a look at it and see what else I can find. Her laptop, too, if you can. Both are potential gold mines.”
Sean glanced at Sara, who wasn’t looking at him. “We’ll see what we can do in that regard. In the meantime, be sure to send us the list of those people you’d mentioned.”
“Straightaway. Is there anything else?”
“You mentioned condolences on her timeline. Do any stand out to you?”
“Nothing obvious.”
“Keep an eye on them.” Sean ended the connection
.
“If Katie became addicted to fitness, it’s easy to imagine that she might have found herself in a new circle of friends,” Jimmy ruminated. “Probably other people who were dedicated to running and fitness.”
“Did that make any of her old friends feel hurt and left out, enough to kill her?” Sara asked.
“Adam thinks Katie turned her life around two years ago, give or take. That’s a long time to hold on to a grudge.” Sean hated to contradict her again, but his point had merit.
“I suppose.” She worried her lip. “We should find out how long she and Levi were an item and the status of their relationship. How strong it was.”
Sara’s words hinted at her earlier accusation that Levi might be Katie’s killer, but Sean couldn’t imagine Levi murdering anyone.
“Hey, pro-athlete boyfriend, trim, fit, young… Jealousy is a strong motive, old as time,” Jimmy added.
“And you should know,” Sean teased.
Jimmy scowled at him. “Don’t feel you have to take over for the youngin’.”
Sean smiled at Jimmy but let his gaze drift to Sara, and his expression faded. She was staring at the table, tracing some imaginary pattern with her fingernail.
“Jimmy, could you leave Sara and me alone for a minute?”
“Sure can.” He tapped the table, groaned when he stood, and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Sean got up and sat in the chair Jimmy had vacated. Sara swiveled to face him, and he did the same. He took her hand in his. “I’m sorry if you feel like I held back from you. That was never my intention.”
Sara licked her lips and nodded. “I know you’d never hurt me on purpose, but that doesn’t mean I’m not. I just thought I knew you really well, and it turns out I don’t.”
“You do. You know me better than anyone.”
Her eyes narrowed a margin. “Yet, Jimmy knew you liked baseball.”
“Jimmy and I go way back. Besides, there are lots of things he doesn’t know about me, and you do.” He bobbed his eyebrows, his implication being it had something to do with activities in the bedroom.
“Mr. McKinley.” She swatted the air and shook her head.
“Seriously, though, you know me better than anyone,” he reassured her.
She met his eyes, and her face softened. “Maybe I should be the one apologizing to you. I obviously haven’t been paying enough attention.”
Leave it to his beautiful wife to shoulder the blame in a disagreement where there was really no wrong or right. He ran the back of his fingers tenderly along her jawline. “Nonsense. Maybe we just need to appreciate that we still have some secrets from one another— No, secrets isn’t the right word.”
“Spontaneity?”
“Close. I was thinking unpredictability. Surprises,” he kicked out.
“I like predictability.”
He angled his head, calling her out with no need for words.
“Fine. You do know me very well.” She laughed.
“Uh-huh, and you, me. So what? You didn’t know I liked baseball. You know everything about me that matters.”
She tapped a quick kiss on his lips.
“We all good?” he asked.
“Always were.”
His heart swelled with her confirmation. The last thing in the world he ever wanted was for something to tear them apart. And he knew too well from watching other couples that sometimes tiny cracks grew into fissures, and he planned to love Sara until the day he died.
-
Chapter 11
ON THE MAT
It was the next day, and Sara was getting ready to peruse what Adam had sent over on those who regularly interacted online with Katie. Thankfully, the list consisted of only four names. While she was in her office at the firm, Sean was getting pummeled by Alisha at the house.
Sara sat back, cradling her mug in her hands, inhaling the blissful and stimulating aroma of coffee, and balancing Adam’s reports on her lap. She let her mind drift to Sean and last night. After they’d made up, he’d whisked her off for a romantic candlelit dinner and wine. No chocolate cake for dessert in keeping with their fitness goals, but that didn’t stop them from indulging in some fragrant cognac served in a warm glass. There was something so succulent and delicious about drinking the alcohol warmed—the way it was intended to be enjoyed.
She took a sip of coffee and set it aside. Time to get to work, though she’d already flipped through to note two names were missing that she’d expected to see: Levi Bradley and Mirela Craciun. Mirela was obviously close with Katie, or she wouldn’t be footing the bill for the investigation into her death. Sara grabbed a journal off the side table and wrote, Ask Mirela about social media.
Regarding Levi, his life as a pro-athlete might have him too busy to spend time on social media. Though that was unlikely, as everyone was encouraged to build an online platform these days. Did he just keep his professional and personal lives separate? Adam had mentioned he couldn’t find anything about Katie and Levi being a couple. Sara made a note of that.
She started reading the first report. It was on Mitch Yates. He was a graphic artist employed by a sign company right there in Albany. Based on his profile picture, his love for design didn’t stop with his job. His arms were riddled with tattoos. He was twenty-seven, and his relationship status was “It’s Complicated.”
Sara paused to write in the margin, Find out what that means.
Returning to the report, Mitch always hit “Like” to Katie’s status updates and added brief, but encouraging comments to her posts about fitness and her weight-loss journey. Adam had concluded from his digging around that they went to high school together in Albany, but had fallen out of touch for years and were only more recently reunited. Adam hadn’t deciphered exactly when or where.
Sara wrote, High school friends or sweethearts? Reunited when, where, and how? Motive for murder? She paused, tapping her nails on the arm of the chair, but she had nada. If she’d been on a computer, she’d be hypnotized by a blinking cursor.
She put Mitch’s report to the back and continued with the next one. His name was David Lawson. He was in his fifties and worked as a full-time teacher at the school where Katie temped. David’s profile picture was of a cat held in front of—presumably—his face. The feline’s name was so originally Whiskers.
David’s status was “Single,” which might have to do with his obsession for cats and all things cat. One thing worthy of attention was while Katie actively interacted with the other three people Adam had compiled reports on, that didn’t hold true for David.
David’s comments to Katie’s updates managed to twist her happy news into self-deprecating diatribes. No wonder she hadn’t interacted with him. No one liked a Debbie Downer.
Sara wrote, Bitter she doesn’t pay attention to him? Has feelings for her that weren’t returned? Jealous perhaps of Katie’s successes—or Levi?
Sara lifted her pen from the page, and tapped the end against her chin, focused on the word jealous. It was apparent from online that Mitch and David were drawn to Katie, and surely there’d be other men, too. Maybe Katie did little to discourage their attention and Levi was driven into a blind rage? Or…it was possible that her obsession with Levi having Katie’s phone was affecting her objectivity.
She picked up her coffee cup and groaned when she realized it was empty. She did some of her best thinking while sipping on a fresh brew. She set her journal and paperwork aside and went for a refill.
A few minutes later, she was back, savoring her first sip and the glorious robust flavor. She briefly closed her eyes, then took a long, staggered breath. Now, she was ready to return to paperwork.
She set her cup down on the table and scooped up her journal and the reports.
Next was Nicki Player. She was twenty-s
ix and a trainer at Mirela’s gym.
Sara paused there, curious if Nicki had met Katie during her fitness journey or knew her otherwise, given their identical age.
Looking back at the report, it seemed Adam had anticipated that question and included the tidbit that Nicki, Mitch, and Katie had gone to the same high school.
Sara scribbled quickly, Did they all know each other, and if so, does that factor into Katie’s death?
Back to the report and examining provided screenshots, Nicki’s comments to Katie’s status updates were always encouraging and implied a shared social life offline.
Sara tapped the tip of her pen against the page, leaving behind little blue dots in its wake. Her mind was blank for any possible motive for murder. Probably a reach, but she wrote, Jealous of friend’s relationship with a star athlete?
And there was that word again: jealousy.
She shuffled Katie’s report to the back. The last report was on Lucy Fletcher—the Lucy Fletcher who’d found Katie’s body. Adam pointed out that her workplace listed on social media was the school where Katie had temped. Lucy was a full-time teacher.
Sara wrote, Played out to look like she found the body? Jealous or otherwise motivated to kill Katie?
Sara straightened the reports against her legs, then set them on the table and picked up her cup, intent on enjoying every last sip. But as much as she wanted to relax, she was eager to get some answers. Just where should they start? Last night, she’d been so sure it should be with Levi, but it would probably be a good idea to first see the location where Katie had died.
Sara looked out the window. The sun was shining brightly, though she suspected it was deceiving and the fall air was nippy. Regardless, it was a beautiful day to take a hike. Though Sean might not agree, given his heavy workout. But she wasn’t without her wiles in getting her way.
-
Chapter 12
Exercise Is Murder Page 5
