Page 57 of Edge of Steele
“What do you have?” His voice came from nearby.
“Bomb schematics and copies of the threats sent to the mill.”
“Let me see the schematics,” he demanded.
She thumbed through the pages and gave him the ones he asked for. As he studied them, she looked through the others. “Emails are between Carla Nye and Dean Keenan.” She scanned the top one. “He talks about bombing a logging company to end the news media’s lack of attention to clearcutting.”
Russ looked up. “Schematics aren’t for a photoelectric cell though.”
“Yeah, I noticed that. The plans could’ve changed for the bomb, but she was in possession of the threats. Demonstrates intent. And they both can be brought up on charges for the threats alone.”
Russ dug out his phone. “I’ll get a statewide alert out on both of them. Secure and log this information as evidence, then take it to Nick from Veritas and get him looking into Keenan. Also request the team send someone over here to print the room. This information too. Never know if Carla or Keenan are going by an alias, and prints could reveal their true identities.”
“Will do.”
“I’ll see if Colin has found anything else about Sovereign Earth. Maybe he can get us a phone number for Keenan. Or even Carla’s burner. A long shot at best, but why not have him run it?” He strode from the room.
She gathered up the documents to place them in a large evidence bag. Her shoulders rose and she felt lighter. Maybe, just maybe, she’d found the lead that would take them directly to their bomber and prevent her family’s company from getting a bad reputation. Even clear Finn’s name.
But more importantly, prevent another explosion and loss of life.
Finn waited near Dr. Dunbar as she and her assistant worked to recover the body. The petite woman looked nothing like someone he would expect would work with skeletal remains. He’d seen men and women badly burned in his SEAL days, and the gruesome sight never got easier, but she seemed to be oblivious to it. Or maybe she was very good at compartmentalizing or looking beyond the fact that this was a human being to concentrate on the bones.
Finn checked his watch. Three hours since Sierra had returned from her visit with Ryleigh to Gates’s place and from viewing his truck. Ryleigh texted to say she’d gone to Eckles’s house, but that was the last Finn had heard from her. He was jonesing to know what was happening. Their shift at the crime scene was nearly over, and he thought they were going to chase down leads together. But without any additional word from her, he didn’t know what she was planning.
A vehicle rumbled to a stop at the road, sounding like his truck. Ryleigh? He hoped so. He poked his head around the still-standing wall to find her walking down the incline toward the buildings. She was carrying what looked like a large evidence bag, and she stared down at her feet so he couldn’t gauge her mood, but her shoulders were rigid.
He stepped out of the building to meet her.
She looked up. “We may have a lead.”
She told him Pauline Eckles was connected to a woman named Carla Nye and a Dean Keenan, both tied to Sovereign Earth.
“Is Keenan still in a leadership role with them?” Finn asked.
“As far as we know.” Ryleigh lifted the bag. “And I recovered bomb schematics along with copies of the bomb threats sent to Tobias in emails between Nye and Keenan.”
“Whoa, the motherload.”
“Exactly.” She grinned. “I’ll ask Nick to track the pair down and look into these emails.”
Finn jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “He’s inside collecting computer pieces.”
She frowned. “And the remains? Still here?”
He nodded. “Looks like Kelsey and her assistant are about ready to transport them to her lab, where she’ll examine the bones.”
“So she’ll be leaving then?”
Finn nodded. “Not that evidence collection will stop. Sierra will take over processing the forensics in the area near the body, but Russ wants Kelsey to determine cause of death ASAP. He wants to be sure it was the explosion or fire, not something else that killed him. There’s no hope of fingerprinting the victim, and she can also get the victim’s DNA running.”
Ryleigh arched a brow. “I had no idea he thought we might have another cause of death.”
“Guess he figures if the victim died before the explosion, then he can’t be our bomber.”
“Good point.”
“Did you locate anything else at Eckles’s place?”
