The Mourning Mail (final release candidate #7)

Chapter 51

Sheryl rode with me to the Burger King—James Seaver would know her car, but not my rental. If possible, we needed to avoid any of Seaver's crew seeing the two of us together. Lt. Roe pulled into the Burger King lot in an unmarked unit at the appointed time. He was now in his early 40s, and his waist and hairline had moved in different directions since I last saw him. I motioned him over to our table as he entered the restaurant.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Wynn; it is good to work with you again. I'm sorry to see that you've injured a wing there," Roe said as we shook hands, his eyes flicking down to my wrist wrap, "but otherwise, you are looking well."

"I appreciate your help, Lieutenant, and I am glad it was you who came. Let me introduce you to Shawntelle Whitman, known to the department as Sheryl Jansen. She was present when James Seaver killed his wife Theresa almost a year ago."

"Hello, Shawntelle, or would you prefer Sheryl?" Roe asked as he offered his hand, his manner professional but softened.

"You can call me Sheryl—my birth name," she responded timidly.

"Thanks, Sheryl, it's nice to meet you," Roe said. "I understand you've been through some pretty trying times and want to share what you know of a homicide in the Seaver household. Is that right?"

"Yes, I was there when it happened," Sheryl said quietly, prompting Roe to give me a brief nod, signifying he needed some time alone with Sheryl to take her statement.

"Sheryl, Lt. Roe will walk you through your statement now. I'm going to get something to drink, and I'll be in the booth back there if you need me," I said, pointing to an empty table across the seating area.

Roe got down to business as I was leaving. With Sheryl occupied, I make a quick call to Marci.

"Hi, Marci – Lt. Roe is here talking to Sheryl Jansen, and he's got things well in hand," I said. "But I need a favor – I'd like you to send a uniformed officer in a marked squad car to Broadmoor Nail Techs, and have them make a big deal about needing to talk to Shawntelle Whitman or Sheryl Jansen. That's it."

"Ah, I get it," Marci said. "You want anybody else looking for her to believe we don't have her yet."

"That, and should she be thinking about bailing out of serving as a witness," I said, "I want her to know her exit routes are closed off if she tries to go back to the nail shop. Maybe Mark Christensen going on the run has me paranoid, but it doesn't hurt to cover our bases."

"It makes sense, it doesn't cost much and it hedges our bets," Marci agreed. "I'll send Munro and Roberts – they're not big on subtle."

I returned to the main seating area. Although I kept my distance, it wasn't hard to hear most of what the detective and Sheryl were saying to each other in the small seating area. Roe took down Sheryl's identifying information. He gathered some background context, describing how she related to the Seaver and Ainsworth cases. Sheryl then repeated to him everything she'd told me. In response to questions from Lt. Roe, she added some specific details that made her rendition of the events even more relevant. As much as you can be of someone you just met, I was proud of Sheryl for keeping to the straight and narrow.

My role had transitioned to providing moral support for her. Once Roe had finished taking Sheryl's statement and she had signed off on it, Roe waved me back to their table. His businesslike expression told me he'd found Sheryl's story convincing. Roe had some questions for me about how I had located Sheryl. I related to him the path I'd followed. I had to reveal that she'd been way more accessible than was healthy for her, considering there were people out there wanting to do her harm.

He turned back to Sheryl. His voice was subdued and professional. "Sheryl, from what you've told me, you are in grave danger from James Seaver and Richard Ainsworth, but especially Strike Response. I think they may well be the bigger problem right now. We've got sworn statements from one of their operatives in custody that they've already tried to kill Ms. Wynn."