Her tiny smile faded as she looked him straight in the eyes. “You okay?”
He bit back the words on the tip of his tongue and instead said, “Tough call.”
They knew each other well enough to read subtle changes in expression. The way her left eyebrow rose for a split second in conjunction with the downward turn of the corners of her mouth said it all. Then her lips formed a hard line.
“It is odd,” Tain said.
The distant stare was gone as she refocused on him. “I’m not overanalyzing?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Why would you even think that?”
She sighed as she pushed her dark hair back behind her left ear. “It isn’t like we can do anything about it…It just is, if that makes any sense.” She paused.
“It’s okay.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “You don’t mind?”
“Are you questioning me?” He waited half a second, then continued, “Look, they searched the area and didn’t find anything. It wasn’t until the officers were returning to report in that they saw him.” He knew she wanted him to run her through all the details of his interview with their witness. Other officers might take it personally, feel it was an attack on them, but he knew better. Ashlyn was reprocessing the details because something wasn’t sitting right with her. And she was trying to figure out what it was.
“They found him near the water?”
He nodded. “In the woods, down by the shore. I believe the word used was ‘skulking.’ ”
She raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.
“They couldn’t get anything from him. When they brought him to me I managed to get him to give me his name and address.”
“And you asked if he’d seen what happened.”
“He said yes. That’s it. So I asked if he recognized the attacker.”
“And again, he just said yes.” Ashlyn’s mouth twisted. Her hands were on her hips. The longer Tain worked with her, the quicker her instincts kicked in. This case was already bugging her, and her issues centered on their one witness.
Christopher Reimer.
But she hadn’t shared her thoughts with Tain. Not yet. He knew her well enough to know she’d voice them when she felt more confident about her conclusions. Around everyone else, other than Craig, she usually kept her musings concealed. He knew others who didn’t like partnering with someone who wouldn’t divulge their hunches, but Tain respected the fact that Ashlyn tried not to jump to conclusions. She was always processing information, turning the facts over in her mind, looking for the things that didn’t add up.
She was sharp. And cautious, and he respected both qualities.
“Ashlyn?”
She turned her gaze back to him. “And you asked the name.”
Tain nodded. “He said it was Shannon.”
“And you asked her last name…”
“Christopher didn’t volunteer a single word. He answered my questions directly, but with no additional information.”
Her mouth twisted again, that uncertain, uneasy look distorting her features.
“I know, it’s odd,” Tain said. “I’ve had more information offered up by members of organized crime gangs up on soft charges.”
“And Christopher Reimer is just a kid.”
“But it was his brother who was murdered.” A fact that raised another question in Tain’s mind, and he felt certain she was wondering the same thing. Once Christopher had identified the attacker as Shannon Reimer, his older sister, Tain had asked if he knew the victim. There had been no change in Christopher’s voice, no wavering, no hesitation, nothing. He’d said, “Jeffrey,” and then, just before Tain could ask, added, “Jeffrey Reimer.”
Christopher had removed a wallet from his pocket. Inside, ID confirmed his address, that he was just a few weeks short of his twelfth birthday, and there was a photo of three healthy kids, two of whom Tain could already identify.
Once Christopher had confirmed the girl in the photo was Shannon, Tain had given the photo to another officer with instructions to circulate her description and begin searching for her immediately.
He’d left Christopher with two Port Moody police officers. They were watching him until Tain and Ashlyn finished at the scene and were ready to take him home and notify the family. Under normal circumstances Tain would have liked to take Christopher to the station for questioning, but he was a child. Tain couldn’t sort out what he thought of the boy’s behavior. The only thing he knew for certain was that he wanted Ashlyn there when Christopher Reimer was questioned again.