knew Jane Thompson was the logical choice for Devon’s murder given her recent release from prison. Had her release set somebody else into motion? Tomorrow, she and Gundersund would start to fill in the blank spaces. She was going to need to be rested and clear-headed to figure out relationships and motives. She’d keep Jane as a possible suspect but not the only suspect.
“Time to head back.” She reached down and ruffled Taiku’s silky head. “No answers for us out here tonight.” The stew would be warm and she was suddenly hungry. Supper and a hot shower would hit the spot, and hopefully a dreamless sleep would find her soon afterward.
CHAPTER SIX
Gundersund slid into the front seat and handed Kala a travel mug, keeping a second one for himself. “My way of saying thanks for picking me up,” he said. “Did you get Rouleau’s email?”
She inhaled the smell of roasted coffee and took a sip before saying, “He’s going to speak with the Etons while Woodhouse and Bennett go door to door. You and I start with Jane Thompson’s sister, Sandra Salvo, before we carry out interviews at the school.”
“I take that as a yes.”
“Sorry. I meant yes.” She smiled and set the mug in the cup holder and began backing out of the driveway. She stopped the truck before backing onto the main road and looked over at him. He appeared to have had a rough night, the scar on his cheek redder than usual against his pale skin. He’d tried to tame his blond curls but not quite succeeded. Gundersund would have been a Viking back in the day — a giant man with unruly locks and scarred face. She forced herself back from an image of him on the prow of a dragon boat. “Did you get Sandra’s address?”
“She’s in a new subdivision in the east end on Rose Abbey Drive.”
“I wonder why Jane didn’t move in with her sister when she was released.”
“Good question. We’ll have to ask her.”
Sandra’s house was a taupe and brown two-storey with double garage on a street tightly lined with similar homes. A plump woman with grey-blond hair to her waist opened the door before they had a chance to knock. She looked past them as if searching for somebody before hustling them into the hallway. A black cat with frostbitten ears nearly made it through their legs and outside to freedom, but Sandra slammed the door shut in time.
“Popcorn tries to get out every chance he gets. You’d think he hates living here.” She laughed and held out her hand. “I’m Sandra. Thanks for coming by. Going into the station would have been problematic for me.” She led them into the kitchen, which fed into a family room. Kala blinked. Two babies were crawling around a penned-in area and three more pint-size children were eating cereal at the kitchen table.
Sandra jumped when the doorbell rang and a relieved smile crossed her face. “My helper just arrived. We can meet in the den once I let her in.”
Gundersund looked at Kala and mouthed, “Why Jane chose to live elsewhere.”
The den was a cramped room with a desk and office chair taking up half of the space, and two leather chairs in front of a window that looked into the neighbour’s kitchen, where Kala saw a man in a housecoat pouring a cup of coffee. Two walls of Sandra’s den were lined with bookcases overflowing with paperbacks. Kala and Gundersund squeezed past the desk and sat in the leather chairs to wait for Sandra.
“Doesn’t look much like her sister,” Gundersund said. “She appears to be a lot more wholesome. Do you want to take the lead on this one?”
“If you like.”
A baby’s crying filled the house but didn’t last long. Sandra appeared a moment later and shut the door. She took the desk chair and rolled it a few feet toward them. “Sorry about that. Luckily, two of the kids are home sick today and I get three more four-year-olds at lunch hour, and even though my second helper shows up at eleven thirty, as I explained to your sergeant, this really is the best time for us to meet. Now, I believe you have questions about my sister, Jane?”
Kala glanced at Gundersund and back at Sandra. “Are you aware that Devon Eton was murdered two nights ago?”
“Of course. I read the paper but I haven’t spoken to Jane about it, as you requested. I can assure you though that she didn’t do it.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“Jane didn’t hate him, although I must say that I would have in her shoes. I mean he was responsible for ruining her life.”
“You don’t agree that Devon was the victim?”
“Jane is not a child rapist nor is she a killer.”
“Did you speak with Jane by phone on Monday night?”
“Yes. I called at seven as I usually do. We, or I should say I, talked for half an hour. Jane never says very much. She’s been depressed since she got out because that prick Adam has been keeping the kids from her. Olivia is eight and Ben is twelve so they need their mother now more than ever especially since that tramp he’s dating isn’t much older than Ben. I imagine Adam will be using this kid’s death as another reason to keep them apart. I’m angry as hell about all this. The so called friends who just turned their backs. After all that Jane did for …”
Kala was beginning to understand why Jane let her sister do all of the talking on the phone. Sandra was like a nonstop wind-up toy without an apparent need for air. Kala cut in. “What kind of childhood did the two of you have?”
“What, me and Jane? Not great, but thanks for asking. Our mother was old school. She believed in beatings and God — not the usual combination, but we always got an earful of scripture after our punishment. Jane took the brunt of it being the oldest and the one who daydreamed when she should have been doing chores. Drove my mother half around the bend. You wouldn’t believe how wild my mother got when Jane discovered boys, or maybe it was the other way around. I mean, have you seen my sister? She had them lining up in grade school.” Sandra clamped a hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean that like it sounded,” she said through her fingers.
“Did you visit your sister in prison?”
“I tried to get there once a month. It’s hard with this daycare business I’m running. I take in kids most weekends too and a few of the parents work shifts.” Her head snapped toward the door. A child was screeching and shortly afterward a second child started screaming uncontrollably.
Kala raised her voice. “Just a few more questions. Have you seen Jane since she got out of prison?”
“I invited her for dinner a few times but she never came. As I said, she was depressed, hanging around her apartment after work, waiting for Adam to let her see her kids. Tragic how far she fell in life. Everything my mother said about Jane came true.”
“What would that be?”
“That she was living in a dream world. Getting above herself and heading for a fall. I’m just glad my mother’s in a home now with Alzheimer’s so she can’t yell ‘I told you so’ at Jane anymore. It was bad enough when Jane was found guilty of having sex with that kid.”
The screaming had grown louder and moved just outside the door. Gundersund spoke for the first time, raising his voice above the child’s. “For the record, where were you Monday night,
