Part 8 (1/2)
Brody nodded, s.h.i.+fting his gaze back to her. ”So, what's up?”
She leaned forward. ”We're here to talk about Conrad Humphries.”
”Conrad,” Brody said with a sigh. ”Such a shame. He was a great guy.”
Her shoulders remained taut. ”I'm the one who found him.”
Brody clasped her hand. ”Oh, Kayd, I'm sorry. That sucks.”
Definitely wasn't pleasant, but she was used to death. ”We need to ask you some questions.”
Brody's face pinched. ”Like what?”
”We're checking on his activity leading up to his climb.” She glanced over her shoulder at Jake. ”Jake's a deputy with Yancey's Sheriff's Department. He's investigating Conrad's death.”
Brody sat on the only open edge of his desk. ”What's to investigate? Conrad had a climbing accident.”
Jake looked at Kayden, giving her the opportunity to respond, which she appreciated since she and Brody had a past-no matter how far in the past it actually was.
She took a steadying breath, knowing the news would affect everyone in the climbing community. It always stung when they lost one of their own, but murder was that much colder.
She cleared her throat. ”I'm afraid it wasn't an accident.”
Brody's eyes narrowed, his confused gaze s.h.i.+fting between her and Jake. ”What?”
”His chalk was tampered with.”
Brody s.h.i.+fted. ”What do you mean tampered with?”
”I mean someone compromised Conrad's chalk.”
”Let me get this straight. You're suggesting someone purposely compromised Conrad's chalk so he'd fall on his climb?”
”I'm not suggesting. Yancey's ME confirmed it this morning. An ingredient was added to Conrad's chalk that rendered it useless.” Actually, the Dodecanol went a step further, causing the opposite of the chalk's intended effect, but they didn't need to share such specifics to get the point across. As Jake had explained, it was better to keep their information close to the vest, at least at this juncture in the investigation.
Brody slumped back. ”I don't believe it. Who would do something like that?”
”That's why we're here. We need your help.”
”My help? I wasn't on the climb.”
”No,” Jake said, resting his hands on the back of her chair. ”But we've been told Conrad climbed here regularly.”
”Yeah, so?”
”So do you think anyone in the gym knew about his Stoneface climb ahead of time?” she asked.
”Of course. Conrad talked about it nonstop.” He lifted his chin at Kayden. ”You know how it is. When you have an upcoming climb, you're pumped to share.”
”When was the last time Conrad was in?”
”The day before his climb.”
So Vivienne had been telling the truth about that.
Kayden crossed her legs. ”Who had access to Conrad's equipment that day?”
”Conrad.”
”And?” she pressed. When he shook his head, she rolled her eyes. ”Oh, come on. Everyone knows people just shove their stuff in one of the open cubbies when they shower or use the facilities.”
”And . . . ?”
”And anyone in the building around the same time as Conrad could have tampered with his chalk.”
Brody's blue eyes narrowed. ”You're saying someone in my gym tampered with Conrad's stuff?”
Jake kept his voice calm and even. ”We need to explore all the possibilities.”
Brody shook his head. ”I don't believe this. Don't believe you of all people”-he pointed at Kayden-”would come in here and suggest one of our climbers would do such a thing. Man, I heard you turned cold after you lost your mom, but I didn't believe it until just now.”
Kayden ignored the painful barb from a guy she'd once cared for, and steeled herself, like always. ”This has nothing to do with me. In fact, I find it odd you'd s.h.i.+ft directly to outrage.”
Brody linked his muscular arms across his broad chest. ”What's that supposed to mean?”
”It means, if you really were Conrad's friend, you'd want to find his killer.”
”You've got to be kidding me. You don't actually think I had anything to do with this?”
”She never said that,” Jake said, ”but it's interesting you'd go there.”
”I didn't go anywhere. I'm ticked because this isn't how we handle things.”
”We?” Jake asked.
”The climbing community.”
”Are you suggesting people in the climbing community would cover for another?”
”Nah, man. I'm saying we're a tight-knit community. We watch each other's backs. We rely on each other. We don't hurt each other, or set them up to die.”
It was true, but it appeared someone within the community had lost sight of that and crossed a terrible line.
”So you can't think of anyone who may have wanted to hurt Conrad?” Jake asked.
”No, man.”