Scene Of The Crime: Who Killed Shelly Sinclair?

She got out of the car and went around and grabbed the box from the passenger seat. She hadn’t even made it to the door when it opened and her mother smiled at her.

Rose Christie had been a godsend over the last couple of years. Olivia had always been close to her mother, but their relationship had deepened when Olivia’s father had died of an unexpected heart attack seven years ago.

Rose opened the door wider to allow Olivia to walk into the tiny living room that held the futon where Olivia slept, an upholstered rocking chair and a small television.

The kitchen area was little more than a row of the necessary appliances with room for a small round table and chairs.

Olivia had just set the box of files on the top of the table and taken off her gun belt, which went on the top of one of the kitchen cabinets, when a squeal came from one of the two bedrooms. Olivia crouched down and braced herself as a dark-haired, green-eyed four-year-old came barreling toward her.

“Mommy, you’re home!” She threw herself into Olivia’s awaiting arms.

Olivia pulled her daughter close enough that she could nuzzle her sweet little neck. “Ah, nothing smells better than my Lily flower.”

Lily giggled and hugged Olivia tight. “Silly Mommy, Nanny’s sugar cookies smell better than a flower.”

“Not better than my Lily flower,” Olivia said as the two broke apart. “Come sit and tell me what you did today.”

Olivia and Lily sat side by side on the futon while Rose bustled in the kitchen to prepare dinner. “I played dolls and then Nanny and I watched a movie.”

As Olivia watched and listened to her beautiful daughter relay the events of her day, her heart swelled with love.

Unexpected and unplanned, Lily had added a richness, a joy in Olivia’s life that she’d never expected to have. She was bright and more than a little precocious, and now Olivia couldn’t imagine her life without Lily.

By eight thirty dinner had been eaten, Lily’s bath was complete and she was in bed in one of the two bedrooms. Olivia’s mother had retired to the other bedroom, leaving Olivia alone with a box of files and conflicting thoughts she’d never believed she’d have to entertain.

She’d never thought the day would come when she’d meet the man who had fathered Lily. She’d never considered what she might do if she did run into him again.

Daniel.

She was his boss and he was the father of her child. Should she tell him about Lily or should she keep the secret to herself? What was the right thing to do for everyone involved?

She didn’t know the answer.

Hoping the right answer would eventually present itself to her, she opened the box of files and pulled out the first one.

Chapter Two (#ulink_a9a5963e-154d-554f-bc83-d420429930ae)

Daniel had spent a restless night plagued by dreams of New Orleans and the passionate woman who’d come with him back to his hotel room from the bar. He’d finally awakened before dawn and after a shower and two cups of coffee, he thought he was prepared to face the woman who was now his boss.

Lily had only been a dream, but Olivia Bradford had already shown herself to be a formidable figure. Daniel wasn’t afraid of her digging into his professional or personal life. He’d never even taken a free cup of coffee from the café in his position as deputy and as temporary sheriff. He had nothing to hide, but there were several deputies he knew who didn’t hold themselves to the same standards.

Olivia appeared to be the type who would leave no stone unturned both in her internal investigation and any others that might present themselves, due to Trey Walker’s dictatorial style and lack of real investigations during his reign as sheriff.

Daniel arrived at the station at six forty-five ready for roll call at seven o’clock. He was unsurprised that Olivia was already in the office. He had a feeling that she was the type of woman who wouldn’t abide anything but strict punctuality.

Apparently, the men knew that, too. Even the deputies who had often been stragglers to roll call were all present, uniforms neat and eyes clear.

Five deputies worked the day shift and then five worked the evening shift until midnight, then five more were on duty from midnight until eight in the morning. The extra four worked shifts when the others had days off.

Daniel had worked the night shift until he’d become sheriff and then had changed to the day shift. He assumed he would continue his day shift even now that Olivia was here.

At precisely seven the five men working the day shift were in the conference room and Olivia walked in. Today she was clad in a pair of black slacks, a crisp white short-sleeved blouse with her badge pinned to the blouse’s pocket and her gun belt around her waist.

Her hair was pulled back and her makeup minimal. She held a file in her hand. “Good morning,” she said. “The first thing I’d like for you to do is stand up one at a time and state your name.”

Daniel stood up first, followed by Josh Griffin, Wes Stiller, Ray McClure and Malcolm Appleton. Daniel and Josh were particularly close, having been friends for years, and they had worked together to bring down Trey and Jim.

Once they had all introduced themselves, Olivia held up the file in her hand into the air. “I spent most of the night going through criminal file records for the last five years and one in particular captured my attention.”

Daniel knew immediately which file she held in her hand. It was woefully thin and unsolved. Guilt immediately pooled in his gut as he and Josh exchanged a quick glance.

“Who killed Shelly Sinclair?” Olivia’s question hung in the air for a long, pregnant moment before she continued. “This is a two-year-old unsolved murder case and as far as I can tell, very little was done at the time of her murder in the way of an investigation.” She placed the file down on the table in front of her.

“That’s because at the time of the murder we knew who had committed it,” Ray said. “Bo McBride killed Shelly. He was her boyfriend at the time.”

Olivia frowned. “Then why isn’t the case closed?”

“We couldn’t find the evidence necessary to make the arrest,” Wes said.

“Is there another file someplace? What I have here surely doesn’t contain all of the interviews and statements of people who might have been involved in the case.” Olivia’s dark eyes radiated confusion as she looked at each of the men.

“A good solid investigation was never done,” Daniel said as the guilt knot in his gut twisted tighter.

“I don’t understand,” Olivia replied.

“That’s because you weren’t working for Trey Walker,” Josh added. Daniel knew Josh had suffered just as much guilt as Daniel had with the way the case had been shunted aside. “Trey had made up his mind that Bo was guilty and he made it clear that any of us who wanted to investigate further did so at the risk of our jobs.”

Olivia’s lush lips pressed together in a sign of obvious disapproval. “You have an unsolved murder that’s now become a cold case and a shoddy investigation at best at the time the murder occurred. We’re going to reopen this case and get it solved. Daniel, I’d like to see you in my office and the rest of you get back to your usual duties.”

“What a waste of time,” Ray grumbled when Olivia had left the room. “Everyone knows that Bo did it. It’s not our fault that we couldn’t prove it.”

“Not everyone is so certain that Bo was responsible,” Josh replied.

That’s the last of the conversation Daniel heard as he left the room to head to Olivia’s office. He was glad that she was being proactive in the case of Shelly’s murder. The unsolved case had been like a stain on Daniel’s soul for far too long.

He knocked on the door and then entered the office where she gestured him into one of the chairs in front of her desk.

“I read what little was in the file, but I want you to tell me about Shelly Sinclair and her death,” she said.

Daniel nodded and tried to school his thoughts. The scent of a lilac-based perfume filled the air. He hadn’t noticed it yesterday, but he remembered it from the night they had hooked up in New Orleans. He had found it dizzyingly intoxicating then and it still affected him on some primal level.

“Daniel?”

Her voice yanked him out of the past and to the present.

“Sorry...yes, about Shelly. She was found floating in the lagoon at the south end of town. She’d been strangled. The area has a bench and some bushes, and from the scene it appeared some kind of a struggle had ensued. Her purse and phone was found on the bench, but her engagement ring was missing and has never been found.”

“Now tell me about Bo McBride.”