Hillary Wells murdered Richard Bratcher, and he was the man who was abusing Stephenâs sister, Rosie March.â
Max swore under his breath. âDonât remind me.â
She pointed to the photo of a distinguished white-haired gentleman. âThis is Dr. Lloyd Endicott, Hillary Wellsâs former boss and mentor. He died in a suspicious car crash that has yet to be solved. We suspect heâs the man Dr. Wells wanted to have killed, since she took over his company and the millions of dollars that went with it.â
Although Trent sometimes worried that Katieâs knowledge of all these dusty old cases bordered on the obsessive, he couldnât deny how useful it was to have a walking, talking encyclopedia working on their team. He pointed to the image of a professional woman with short dark hair. âDoes Hillary Wells or any of those other suspects or victims connect to Leland Asher?â
Katie nodded. âYou might be surprised to know that before she died, she worked out at the same gym Matt Asher does.â
âLelandâs nephew?â Trent shifted his gaze to the image of a young man in a suit and tie who wore glasses and bore a striking resemblance to Leland Asher. âYou think the two of them knew each other?â
She shrugged. âI canât say for certain unless I dig into the gymâs schedule, class and personal trainer files, but the opportunity to meet was certainly there.â
âIt would be easy enough to go to the gym and ask some general questions to see if anyone ever saw the two of them together,â Trent offered.
The lieutenant nodded. âMake a note to do that.â
âYes, maâam.â
âI donât have any evidence that Hillary Wells and Leland Asher ever met.â Katie pointed to the nephew and then to Leland Asher. âBut Max discovered that Matt regularly visits his uncle in prison.â
Olivia nodded. âIâm guessing heâs in the family business, although we havenât been able to prove that heâs guilty of anything illegal. But heâs down in Jefferson City nearly every week, so you know he must be passing messages to and from his uncle. Leland could have ordered Hillary to kill Richard Bratcher.â
Jim Parker agreed. âItâd make sense for Matt Asher to keep the family business running while Uncle Leland is incarcerated. Where are his parents? Is his father involved in any of Lelandâs criminal activities?â
âThereâs no father in the picture. I did a little research through Social Services and found what I could on his mother. Sheâs Lelandâs sisterânever married. Itâs in your folders. Isabel Asher overdosed when Matt was elevenâten years ago.â Katie pointed to the image of a blonde woman who had probably once been a knockout before the blank, sunken eyes and sallow skin in the photograph marred her beauty. âThatâs why she was in the systemâshe was fighting an ongoing addiction to crack cocaine, was in and out of rehab. There were several calls from teachers about neglect. After Isabelâs death, Matt Asher went to live with his uncle.â
Max tipped his chair back and said what they all suspected. âThe dope was probably supplied by her brotherâs import business. If not, heâd certainly have the money to buy her whatever she wanted.â
Jim concurred. âAccess to her brotherâs wealth would make her a prime target. Let me guess, thereâs a boyfriend she used to shoot up with. Asher blamed him for his sisterâs death and that guyâs in one of your dead files?â
âWell, Francisco Dona did have a couple of arrests in his packet, but he canât be involved in any of our more recent crimes.â She highlighted the mug shot of a dark-haired lothario with long, stringy hair and a goatee. âHe died in a motorcycle accident shortly after Isabelâs