Chapter 18

Summer days in Minnesota had a way of drifting, the sun lingering in the sky as though the earth has slowed in its steady rotation. The long days could play tricks on a homicide detective, dupe them into working far past a normal eight-hour shift, a circumstance that bothered Mateo Lopez—a father of two—but somehow invigorated Niki Vang.

She and Matty had been working different angles of the Sadie Vauk case all day and met up in Kenwood, at a café only a few blocks from Gavin Spencer’s home. There they compared notes over a dinner of turkey sandwiches.

“Let’s assume the tox report will find GHB in Sadie’s blood,” Niki said. “How did he give it to her?”

Matty looked at his notes. “Bebe Kavenaugh confirmed that Sadie had been drinking from a water bottle yesterday, but we found nothing at the salon.”

“He was smart enough to take it with him.”

“No one saw anyone matching Spencer’s description, either.”

“What about the truck?”

“I had one lady say she might have seen an older SUV like that but couldn’t be sure. One of the stoplight cameras on Lake Street captured a truck that might be our guy, but it’s coming out of an alley and the plates aren’t readable.”

“So, this is what we have: Spencer is a photographer at a wedding where our vic is a bridesmaid. The next day, the vic gets a call at her salon—some guy named Kevin wants a haircut—after hours.”

“Waits until Bebe leaves. No witnesses.”

Niki nods. “He comes in, sits, and right away wants to look at haircut samples.”

“Because those books are in the reception area, she has to turn her back on him, leaving her water bottle unattended.”

“He stalls—waiting for her to take a drink and for the GHB to kick in. But did he assault her in the salon?”

“That’d be taking a hell of a risk, leaving his truck in the lot all that time. What if Bebe came back? The windows had blinds, but not the front door. Anyone walking by could have peeked in.”

“So he took her somewhere.”

“His home?” Matty said.

“That’d be my guess. We need to get a search warrant—home, computer, phone—and we need it fast, before he has a chance to clean things up.”

“All we have is speculation. A guy named Gavin taking pictures at a wedding isn’t a guy named Kevin coming in for a haircut. We don’t have anything hard.”

“We have the speech impediment. Janelle Halloway confirmed it.”

Matty leaned in. “A lot of people have a lisp. Hell, my own brother has one. That’s not enough for a warrant.”

“No, it’s not. We need to do a lineup. If Sadie can identify Gavin, that’ll get us our warrant.”

“In-person lineup or photo?”

“I think we should try to get him to come in. If that doesn’t work…”

“Think he’ll agree?”

Niki shoved in the last bite of her turkey on toast and said, “Won’t know unless we ask.”