Part 11 (1/2)
Jake held the door. and Kayden stepped inside. Jason Gellar, a fellow free climber, was working the front desk as they approached.
Jason glanced up from his work, and his smile faded.
Great. She grimaced. ”Hey, Jason.”
”Back to grill Brody some more? Well, you're out of luck. He's off for the night.”
Kayden rested her weight against the counter, making herself comfortable. ”No matter. You can help us.”
”And why would I want to go and do that?”
”Because a climber is dead.”
”And you actually think Brody had something to do with that?”
”We never said that.”
”No. You just came in here insinuating someone from our gym may have compromised Conrad's chalk. Please. I thought you knew us better than that.”
Jake stepped forward. ”It's our job to ask the questions.”
Jason rolled his eyes.
”Don't you care that a climber from this gym is dead?”
”Of course I do. But I wouldn't go around accusing his friends.”
”Sadly it had to be someone with access to Conrad's chalk, someone close enough to him to get the murder weapon mixed in his chalk.”
”I have no idea who'd do something like that, but I can tell you, it wasn't anyone here. We're family. We watch each others' backs.” He pinned his gaze on Kayden. ”We don't stab each other in them.”
Man, Brody must have painted an ugly picture of their earlier interaction.
Jake once again stepped forward to s.h.i.+eld her from Jason's ire. ”Look, we need to confirm what time Conrad was here the day before his death.”
Jason crossed his arms. ”You have a warrant?”
”Are you saying I need one?”
”That's an affirmative. Brody said not to talk to you or show you a thing without a warrant.”
”Very well. If that's how he wants to proceed, we'll be back with a warrant.”
Jason squared his shoulders. ”See you then.”
Jake tapped the counter. ”Those time logs better be unaltered when we get back, or you'll be charged with obstruction of justice. Got it?”
”Have a safe trip home,” Jason said with a smug smile that made Kayden really uncomfortable.
”What was that all about?” she said as they exited the gym and headed back for Natalie Adams' shop. ”I thought I knew him, but he just gave me the creeps.”
The night was cool, lower fifties, and clear. The walk would only take a few minutes, but Kayden was thankful for the fresh air. ”I'm surprised how hostile they're being. Don't they understand it makes them look like they are hiding something?”
”Brody and, clearly, Jason have an att.i.tude.”
”You don't mess with the climbing community.” She understood the sentiment, but this was murder.
”Bingo.”
”Don't they care that Conrad's dead?”
Jake rubbed his forehead. ”I've seen this play out plenty of times. They believe things should be handled in a certain way.”
”Hopefully, Natalie will continue to be helpful and we can find out what time Conrad was in her shop, then we can compare it with the gym logbooks when we come back with a warrant. I still can't believe Brody's insisting on one.”
”Do you think he's hiding something or just trying to make a point?”
”I don't know. Everyone we've talked to seems suspect to me.”
”That means you're doing it right.”
”Because I'm ticking everyone off?”
Jake winked. ”You got it, darling.”
Natalie Adams' shop was closed for the night.
”That's odd.” Kayden tapped the business-hours sign in the front window. ”She isn't supposed to close until nine.”
”Guess she decided to lock up early.”
”Maybe our visit shook her up.”
”She did seem awfully distracted after we took her chalk bag into evidence.”
”You think she's trying to hide something?”
”She shouldn't have given me her bag if she was.”
”But clearly she wouldn't have added the Dodecanol to her own chalk. That would be suicide. If anything, giving us her bag will make her look good. Her chalk, supposedly from the same batch, will come back clean, leading us to a.s.sume the Dodecanol was added later.”
”Maybe it was, but it still could have been added by her. She could have split the chalk up, added the Dodecanol to Conrad's portion, and kept the clean portion for herself.”
”But why kill Conrad? What would her motive be?”
”No idea. We'll have to dig a little deeper on Natalie Adams and her relations.h.i.+p with Conrad Humphries.”
Jake's stomach growled. ”Sorry,” he said sheepishly.
”It's well past dinnertime. We should grab a bite before we head home.”