He said quietly, “What did you hear, Emma?”
“She was talkin’ to somebody on her phone. In her bedroom.”
“So how could you hear?” asked Reel sharply.
“Because I was hidin’ in her closet.”
“Do you do that often?” asked Robie.
“I went in there to steal some of her pot, but then I heard her comin’. So I jumped in the closet to hide.”
>
“Go on,” said Robie. “What did you hear?”
“She was talkin’ to somebody.”
“Do you know who?”
Emma shook her head. “She never said a name. But I did hear what she said. They were talkin’ about meetin’ somewhere. Tonight.”
“Where and when exactly?” asked Reel.
“Where they used to go. I mean her and Janet.”
“Near where Sherman Clancy’s body was discovered?” asked Robie.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“What time?”
“Midnight.”
“What was the meeting about?” asked Reel.
“Sara wanted money, in exchange for somethin’ she had. Somethin’ I guess the person wanted.”
“Do you know what that was?” asked Robie.
“No.”
Robie and Reel exchanged glances.
Robie said to Emma, “How much money?”
“Enough money to go somewhere else.”
“Smart girl,” said Robie.
Chapter
46
WELL, AT LEAST our ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine worked,” said Reel as she drove herself and Robie away from the Chisums. “But what a piece of work. I just wanted to slap her face.”
“She’s screwed up,” said Robie. “But then lots of people are screwed up.”
“Present company definitely included?” said Reel, eyeing him.
“Definitely included.”
“If Sara took a call from this person, the cops may be able to trace the call,” said Reel.
Robie pulled out his phone, called Taggert, and relayed this information without telling her about what Emma had told them of the meeting planned for that night.
“She’s checking it,” said Robie.
“We have a lot of time between now and midnight. Where to now?”
Robie pulled out a card. “I need to call them first.”
“Who?”
“The FBI.”
* * *
They met about ten miles east of Cantrell.
Special Agent Wurtzburger was there with two of his men.
Robie introduced Reel to the agents.
Wurtzburger eyed her. “So you work with Robie here?”
“I have the privilege, yes.”
“That’s right,” replied Wurtzburger.
“So the four-year gap might be significant,” she said.
“It might be, yes. There could have been an intervening event. The person might have been in prison, that actually happens quite a bit.”
“If so, he got out and is now killing again?” said Robie.
“Presumably, yes.”