Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
A larger part, though, seemed to be my conflict of interest where the only surviving victim was concerned.
If I got the case closed, there was no reason why Mari and I couldn’t get involved. But while the case was still open and active, it was very seriously “frowned upon,” if not grounds for termination.
I couldn’t risk my career.
Or, worse yet, let a guilty man walk free to hurt more women because my ethics were called into question on the stand.
One kiss?
I could move on and pretend that didn’t happen.
But I had to make sure it didn’t go beyond that.
“Yeah,” I told Gawen, sighing as I rubbed my papery eyes. “I mean, this is Navesink Bank. There is going to be overlap,” I told him.
It wasn’t a small town. But it wasn’t huge either. There were only so many grocery stores and nail salons and shit like that.
“Yeah,” Gawen agreed, checking out my color-coded notes, the lines drawn from victim to destination.
“I’m almost desperate enough to go to each of those places and look at everyone in the face,” I said. “See if any of them have a birthmark in their eye.” Since that was what I concluded the spot in the killer’s eye must have been.
It wasn’t exactly rare to have an eye birthmark. When I’d looked into it, as many as one in ten people had one. But with how prominent Mari seemed to say it was, I figured it wouldn’t be hard to spot it.
From there, I dunno. I could follow them, figure out who they are, if they have any connections to any of the victims. Maybe get a warrant based on that for DNA.
Once we had that, it would be smooth sailing.
No, DNA wasn’t as iron-clad as TV shows made it seem.
That said, juries loved DNA evidence.
It wouldn’t take long to deliberate and convict.
Then, if Mari was even still interested, I could ask her out.
But not before then.
“I don’t blame you for being that desperate on this case,” Gawen said, shuffling through the paperwork. “I remember those reports of the first two women,” he added, shaking his head. “The idea of him out there, plotting to do it again…”
“I guess the only saving grace is that he only strikes once a year,” I said.
“Hmm.”
“Hmm?” I asked. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I’m still under the impression that he will want to finish this job before the calendar resets for him,” he said, producing the page with the details about Mari’s life. “She doesn’t have anyone to stay with?” he asked as his gaze scanned the page.
“No. But she got a security system. And a reactive, large, dog.”
“Hopefully that’s enough. I can’t imagine what she’d endure if he got his hands on her again,” he said. “Mind if I make copies of these to take home with me?” he asked, looking at the clock.
“I’d appreciate the help,” I said as I shoved the robbery paperwork into my briefcase, figuring I would be able to concentrate better on it after I got out of the station, got some food, maybe took my dog on a walk.
And stopped thinking about Mari for the rest of the day.
Though that seemed unlikely.
She was right there at the front of my mind as I grabbed some takeout, then headed home, calling for Boss as I moved in the door, and hearing his feet moving slowly toward me through the house.
“Glad you could come and greet me, Your Highness,” I said, rubbing his head with both hands. “Gotta go outside?” I asked.
And as I stood in the crisp October air, watching Boss sniff around the yard, where did my mind go?
To Mari doing the exact same thing after she came home from work.
I couldn’t stop myself from wondering if she was doing alright with the new dog. If Matilda was giving her a hard time, now that she’d settled in a bit. If she felt safer with her around.
From there, it just kept spiraling.
She had to be back at work now. Did she feel safe there?
Was she able to sleep through the night, or was she haunted by nightmares?
“What’s up, bud?” I asked as Boss came into the living room later, resting his head on me, and letting out a long-suffering sigh. “You know, I was going to make a dog friend for you. But I screwed it up by making out with her mom,” I told him, watching his ears turn each time I spoke. You had to appreciate an active listener. “She probably would have thought you’re old and boring anyway,” I teased, getting a sneeze out of Boss before he turned to go grab his ridiculously oversized blue elephant toy, and bringing it over to me to throw.
We were maybe on toss number eight, and my mind had finally stopped hyper-fixating on Mari. When my phone rang from the kitchen counter.