Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
What about the note itself? Was it some kind of confession? What’s the point?
Her phone rang, and she grabbed for it, Kat’s name on the screen. “Hi, Kat.”
“Good morning. You got in early. What did the fan club president have to say?”
Sienna updated her on everything she’d just discovered, including her assumption that the suspect had learned the name of at least one detective—her—working on the case, and also the gist of the note. “There’s a lot to go over and some information in the letters that might provide some clues as to who this guy is.” The name Danny; potentially a man stabbed to death; his wife the suspect, whether convicted or not, if that was where this story was heading . . . the boy had lost his hearing after being struck in the head. Certainly, that would have meant an ER visit? All these potential clues ran through her mind as she started her car, heading toward the station, where she and Kat could go over the letter together and figure out the best place to start. The words Kat had said at the murder scene under the overpass raced through her head: Nothing like jumping right in.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“This is some effed-up shit,” Kat said.
Sienna gave an agreeable snicker. “That’s one way to put it. I started a list of potential clues as to his identity.” She listed off the things that had gone through her mind as she’d sat in her car after leaving the coffee shop.
“We should definitely check into all of that. But . . . how do we even know this isn’t complete bullshit?” Kat said, giving the copy of the note in her hand a flick of her finger.
“We don’t. But until we know for sure, let’s assume it’s not.”
Kat worried her lip for a moment. “Okay. So this killer was abused, and because of it, his psycho mom finally had enough and murdered his father? Is he trying to provide himself a defense?”
“I have no idea. Like you said, he could be toying with us. Or amusing himself. Who knows? But I’m going to get started going through the database looking for wife-on-husband stabbing victims. Whether he ended up dying or not, that would stand out.”
“Unless she was bluffing and she never ended up stabbing him.”
“He started off by saying his mother murdered his father, though,” Sienna said.
Kat shrugged. “Maybe that was a tease to pull us in. I guess we’d have to know how the story ended. Anyway,” Kat went on, “if she did kill him, she could have buried the body in the backyard.”
Sienna frowned. “You’re right. So there’s a possibility his death—if it in fact happened—was never reported or discovered.” She leaned over, picked up her phone, and added a note about checking missing persons. It might be like looking for a needle in a haystack. After all, she had no idea what year the man might have disappeared, if he’d disappeared, or what his description or age was. He could have gotten free and ended up murdering Danny Boy’s mother. They could only go on what little they had. But if the note could be trusted, the man had had a job. Apparently he’d been some sort of traveling salesman. That could help as far as a missing person report. Maybe some guy had suddenly stopped showing up for work, and it was in the database.
In any case, all of this was an effort to lead them to the person writing the notes, the person who had taken a woman’s life.
“Also . . . ,” Sienna started, after she and Kat had split the list of potential leads they’d made from the note, “I told you I got the name of the woman who designed those playing cards, but I didn’t mention where I got her name.”
“I figured you found it online.”
“No. I hadn’t even started looking. I got it from Gavin Decker.” Her nerves buzzed. She really didn’t want to talk about this. But she had to. She owed it to her new partner to be completely transparent as far as the first case they were working together.
A small crease appeared between Kat’s brows. “You went to the Emerald Isle and questioned him? Why didn’t you tell me ahead of—”
“No. He actually found me at dinner last night.” Sienna paused. “We have a past. I didn’t mention it because I didn’t know if he’d become a part of this investigation beyond . . . well . . . a few routine questions, but . . .”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. We grew up in the same trailer park. We dated. It ended badly, and I haven’t talked to him for eleven years. So, you know, there’s not really anything to tell, but I was going to mention it anyway and let you handle any potential interview if it became necessary. But like I said, he found me at dinner, so—”