Nate scribbled notes, processing the story. It was feasible, and as far as he knew, nothing had yet been done about disposing of the woman’s assets. The money should still be in the freezer if Tyler was telling the truth. Easy to verify as soon as this meeting ended.

“Did you see anything suspicious while you were at the house?” He directed his question to Tyler. “Any evidence someone else had been there?”

“No.” He offered nothing more.

The lawyer had schooled him well.

“The third and fourth incidents are related. They concern vandalism aimed at Dr. Grace Reilly.”

What?

Tyler was targeting Grace?

But why? He had no reason to terrorize her.

This wasn’t computing.

However, since Tyler wasn’t in the hot seat for the vandalism incidents connected to Grace, his willingness to confess to those offenses added credibility to his story—and to his professed fresh-start motive for coming here.

“I’m listening.”

The attorney consulted a sheet of paper in his hands. “My client was contacted twice by phone by an unknown party. During the first call, he was offered 250 dollars to break plants at Ms. Reilly’s home. In the second call, he was offered 500 dollars to scratch and dent her car. He’s prepared to reimburse her for the damages to her car.”

So Tyler had no vendetta or score to settle against Grace. He was simply a hired gun.

That made more sense.

Nate sorted through the new information as fast as he could. “First of all, tampering with a motor vehicle isn’t a minor offense. It’s a felony.”

“Not if the victim agrees to let Tyler pay for the cost of the repair.”

“I can ask.” He focused on Tyler again. “Was the person who called you male or female?”

Once again, the younger Holmes checked with the lawyer, who nodded. “I couldn’t tell. The voice was strange. Almost like it wasn’t human.”

The caller must have used a voice-changer app.

“Do you have the phone number?”

“Yes. We had to get it from my service provider. When the calls came in, my screen said ‘blocked number.’”

The caller had hit *67 before dialing.

“Let me give you the number.” The attorney consulted his file and recited it. “However, I assume it’s a burner phone.”

That was probably true, which rendered the number useless. Burners were next to impossible to trace.

Nate wrote the number down anyway.

“How were you paid?” He directed the question to Tyler.

“Both times, I got half the money upfront and half after the job was done. It was always in a plain white envelope. Under a trash can at a park, in a book at the library. Places like that.”

“Give me specific locations.” Nate jotted them down as Tyler complied, but the odds of finding witnesses at any of the sites were close to zero. “Did you keep the envelopes?”

“No.”

“Why did you agree to do this?”

Tyler shrugged. “I wanted extra cash. Seemed like an easy way to get it.”