Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
“You thought you had the real deal with Lisa Scot-ford,” Laurel returned, referring to a victim from their first case who had been dating Pastor John.
The pastor wiped his shaking hand across his forehead. “I’m just looking for somebody to love, and they keep getting killed.”
Laurel winced. That was an awful and yet true statement. Pastor John had actually been one of her suspects in Lisa’s death, but he’d been cleared. “Where were you Wednesday night into Thursday morning?”
Pastor John shifted in his chair. “I was home in the new cabin I bought.”
“Alone?”
Pastor John nodded. “Yes. Teri was supposed to come over late that night and then go on the snowmobile trip with me. She told her husband she’d planned a spa vacation in Seattle for a few days, but we’d made plans to be together instead.”
“What time did she arrive?” Laurel asked.
Pastor John shook his head. “She didn’t arrive. She never came. I called her several times, but she didn’t answer.” He looked down at his hands. “I figured maybe she’d changed her mind about the affair, and it wasn’t like I could call her husband. I can’t believe she was being killed at that time.”
“How do you know what time she was killed?” Laurel asked instantly, missing Walter. Interviews were easier when they could bounce their questions off each other.
Pastor John shrugged. “I heard that Teri’s body was found early in the morning, so I figured somebody murdered her that night. That also explains why she didn’t call me back.” He swallowed. “I had to leave very early Thursday on my snowmobile trip and just returned a couple of hours ago.”
Laurel studied him but couldn’t determine if he was lying.
His nostrils flared. “If you have Teri’s phone, I’m sure all my messages are on it, showing that I was looking for her.”
“Her phone wasn’t with the body. Neither was her handbag, if she had one,” Laurel said.
“What about her vehicle?” Pastor John asked.
Laurel couldn’t read his expression. “It was found abandoned by the side of the road after an apparent car accident. We’ve sent paint samples to the lab.” Unfortunately, the results would take more than a month to come back.
“That’s good.”
Laurel studied the pastor. “Did Mayor Bearing have any idea about your affair?”
Pastor John shook his head. “No, no. Saul had no idea that Teri and I had fallen in love.”
“In eight weeks?”
Pastor John flushed. “Yes. It was quick, but we had a lot in common—even with the age gap. We both were looking for . . . I don’t know, excitement and a good future. She was tired of just being the mayor’s wife.”
Laurel tuned into the inflection in Pastor John’s tone. “Would you clarify that statement? What did she want to be?”
Pastor John looked around and then back at Laurel, tears gathering in his eyes. “You know it was my work that got us national attention so we could take the church to a much wider congregation?”
“Yes,” Laurel said. “What does that have to do with Teri Bearing?”
Pastor John’s jaw tightened. “We were going to take the TV contract away from your father.”
“He’s not my father,” Laurel retorted instantly. “Please refer to him as Zeke Caine or Pastor Caine or Zeke.”
“I’m sorry,” Pastor John said. “I know he’s been a terrible father to you.”
“He hasn’t been a father to me at all,” Laurel said. “Please return to the topic at hand.”
Pastor John cleared his voice. “I’m sorry about that. Teri and I were going to arrange production of a series of sermons to pitch to the TV folks to show them that I am the charismatic leader who should represent our church across this vast land of ours. She was going to help me write and produce a proposal.”
“Did Pastor Caine know about this?”
Pastor John sighed. “I don’t know. He’s a smart man and might’ve put it together. But I don’t see him killing Teri.” He looked into the distance.
Laurel stiffened. “What are you thinking?”
He shrugged. “Nothing I should be. Zeke is a pastor. But there’s a darkness . . .” He shook his head. “Forget it.”
Laurel didn’t require suppositions. “Where were you last Sunday night into Monday morning?”
Pastor John jerked. “When the first victim was killed?”
“Yes,” Laurel said.
He cleared his throat. “At my cabin with Teri all night.” He sagged against the chair. “Who is now dead.”
“Do you know a woman by the name of Delta Rivers?”
Pastor John shook his head. “Never heard of her.”
She drew a picture of Delta from her file folder. It showed the woman on the autopsy table, a closeup of her face with her eyes closed. “This is she. Have you ever seen her before?”
Pastor John cocked his head. “Hm. No. I don’t think so.”
“Are you absolutely positive that the mayor didn’t know about your affair?”
Pastor John nodded. “Saul was planning an anniversary trip for the two of them to Thailand this coming spring. He had no idea.”