The two men shook hands. Richard didn’t seem at all nervous, not that Sam expected him to be. Just because Lynn had met with him the day she died didn’t mean he had anything to do with her death. Didn’t mean it didn’t have something to do with it either.

Sam wondered why Richard wouldn’t seem a little nervous, knowing someone he’d met with had died shortly after the meeting and now the chief of police was standing in his office. Then again, maybe Richard wasn’t the R. B. that had been on Lynn’s calendar.

Richard gestured for Sam to sit, and he sank into a soft, buttery leather chair that leaned back easily without squeaking. Sam wondered if he should upgrade the ancient chair in his own office as Richard sat back down behind the desk.

"I suppose this isn’t just a social call," Richard said.

"Why’s that?"

"You’re here about Lynn Palmer, right?" Richard spun in his chair to look out the big windows that looked away from town, toward the mountains in the distance. He sucked in a breath. "Terrible thing what happened to her. We were friends in college. She was a nice girl. Smart. Do you know who did it?"

"I have some suspicions." Sam leaned forward in his chair. "So you did meet with her that day?"

"Sure." Richard shrugged. "Is that some kind of a secret?"

"Apparently. When did you meet with her?"

Richard looked down at the appointment book that lay open on his desk. "From noon until quarter to one."

"Why was she here?"

Richard looked surprised, as if Sam should’ve known. "She was looking to get funding for her company. Hey, look, if I was supposed to come down and tell you that I met with her, I’m sorry. I figured you would’ve known and come to ask if you had a question."

Sam leaned back in the chair. "Were you able to give her money?"

Richard’s face darkened. "Unfortunately, I wasn’t. I’m just a little guy. I don’t have a lot of capital. That’s why I fund the smaller companies. But I don’t have extra funds to get into anything too risky, even if they do offer a high rate of return, and to tell you the truth, her company was just a bit too risky for my comfort level."

"Why’s that?"

"The balance sheet. That company had way too many expenses for the income." Richard spread his hands. "I told her to tighten up expenses and come back and see me in six months." His face turned sad, and he looked down at the desk. "I guess that won’t be happening now."

It made sense. The company wasn’t doing well, and Lynn wanted more money. An influx of cash might help to fund a more lucrative project. But why didn’t she tell any of the others? Was there someone in the company that wouldn’t want her to get outside funding?

Sam walked slowly back to the station, his mind turning over the particulars of the case. It made sense that Lynn was looking for funding given that sales had taken a downturn, but why had she kept it a secret?

Pedestrian traffic downtown was light, but still there was no sign of Lucy. Opening the large oak doors into the marbled foyer of the police station, he half expected to see the dog lying beside Reese’s desk. But she wasn’t. Somehow, the station seemed sad and empty without her.

Jo was sitting on the edge of her desk, studying the corkboard with the pictures of Lynn’s belongings. She looked over at him, one brow raised. "Did you find Lucy?"

"No, but I found something else," Sam said.

"At the antiques store?"

"No. Well, I did discover that no one came in looking for marbles that day. Then, when I left the store, I noticed the sign on the ugly concrete building." Sam jerked his chin in the direction of the end of Main Street where the building jutted out from in between two others. "Richard Bannister. He does investment funding for small companies."

Jo crossed her arms over her chest. "The R. B. from her calendar?"

"One and the same." Sam told her about the conversation he’d had with Richard. "Turns out they’re old friends from college, so when Lynn needed money, she looked him up."

"That’s why she insisted on having the camping trip here," Jo said.

"Yep."

"So she really did have an appointment. Amber wasn’t lying."

"Not about that."

Jo frowned. "But if Lynn was meeting with Richard, how could she have been in the alley with Noah?"

"It’s possible. They were in town for an hour, and the meeting with Richard only lasted forty-five minutes, according to Richard. What I want to know is why didn’t anyone else in the company know that she was going for funding? I think we need to ask a few more questions of our friendly campers." Sam looked around. "Where’s Reese?"

Jo pointed at the door. "She stepped out to meet one of her classmates. Said he might have information on that fingerprint."

Sam frowned. "And where’s Kevin?"

Jo made a show of looking at her watch. "It’s six p.m. He’s already gone home."

The door opened, and Reese breezed in. "I have some good news and some bad news."

"Give me the good news first," said Sam.

"The good news is my classmate was able to take your prints from the glass and run them against the partial that we found in the stolen car without logging it in officially. He logged the use in along with one of his class assignments."

"And the bad news?"

"Bad news is none of them were a match."

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Sam and Jo had a lot to discuss with the new information and the disappointing results on the fingerprint. But Tyler’s empty desk sitting in the corner was too depressing. They headed to the bar.

It was a weeknight, so Holy Spirits wasn’t as crowded as it would be on the weekend. There was plenty of room up at the bar, and Jo slipped into a seat on the corner, with Sam to her right.

They ordered beers and fries. Jo thought about her fish. She’d named him Finn, and so far, he’d seemed quite happy in his little glass-bowl world on her counter. Luckily, she didn’t have to rush home to feed him or let him out, as she would’ve if she’d had a dog.

Her chest tightened with thoughts of Lucy. Hopefully, she was doing okay out on her own. There was no way Jo could handle having a pet that required that kind of commitment right now. Having a dog would be almost like having a person that counted on her, and Jo didn’t want that. Finn was plenty of responsibility for now.

"Have you looked at any of those resumes that Dupont brought over?" She dragged a french fry through a puddle of ketchup and popped it into her mouth.

Sam took a swig of his beer. "You know, I don’t really feel much like hiring someone. I mean, who could replace Tyler?"

"I know what you mean, but we are shorthanded. Kevin doesn’t want the job." Jo picked at her beer label and looked at Sam out of the corner of her eye. "If you ask me, it might be a good thing he didn’t want it."

Sam leaned back in his chair, his brows tugging together. "Why do you say that?"

Jo didn’t know how much she wanted to reveal. Just seeing Kevin come out of Lago when the mayor and Thorne both were inside didn’t prove a thing. But she couldn’t help the strange flutter in the center of her chest. It was a warning feeling that told her to be cautious around Kevin. Seemed like he was hiding something.

Then again, Jo had her own things she was hiding and wouldn’t want Sam digging too closely into them. Maybe she shouldn’t raise his suspicions about Kevin. His secrets might have nothing to do with their work, just as Jo’s didn’t. "He’s just not as enthusiastic about police work as we are, or as Tyler was."