AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Amanda stepped outside not feeling like she’d won any prize, but she had a full stomach. “No clear shot of his face, even from sitting at the bar,” she said to Trent as they walked to the car.
“Which he did a good job of hiding. Suspicious, if you ask me.”
“I completely agree.”
“Washington Nationals.”
“What?” His statement had her confused.
“His hat had the logo for the Washington Nationals. They’re the Major League Baseball team for Washington, DC.”
She figured the man must be from out of town, not being someone that Moore recognized. It also removed a niggling thought that a PWCPD officer was somehow involved. “He could live in DC. Though, he could just be a fan.”
“Or new to town. Or visiting town…”
“I get it. Lots of variables, but I’d put money on him being the killer. You saw the way he engaged Jane. And he goes to a bar and drinks non-alcoholic beer. I know it’s becoming more popular to do that, but was he doing so purposely to keep his head clear?”
“Could be. And assuming he’s our killer, did he come here to stumble across his next victim? Jane Burr just ticking off that box?”
Random selection was tougher to reconcile than victims who were targeted. The former was all about chance, wrong place, wrong time. “Malone could have been right. Burr was collateral damage, a means to muddy the investigation.”
“Speaking of Malone…?”
She shook her head. “No word yet, but I’m confident the same killer took out Kelley and Burr. Quite likely Naomi Chapman.”
She got into the passenger seat while he settled behind the wheel.
“My gut is telling me the same, but how did the killer keep tabs on her? How would he have known about her progress? And the flip side, how would Felicity have even been able to identify the killer? It’s not like she had the investigation files.”
“Well, we do, and we still haven’t solved it.”
“Thanks for that.”
She smirked. “Just keeping it real. But it does seem like Felicity was tenacious about ripping at the case. The fact she spoke with the people surrounding Chapman tells us that much. It might have to do with why her paperwork was destroyed, although… Remember there was paper in the upstairs shredder? I wonder if Blair or Donnelly got anywhere with that. Actually, I’m going to pop a message over to Blair about it right now.” Amanda took out her phone.
“I guess it’s time to pick up where we left off last night. We go talk to those people Felicity did, starting with the owner of Between the Pages.”
She tucked her phone away. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
Trent got them on the road, and she thought through the implication of Burr being randomly selected. Her epiphany gave her chills. “Did the killer strike again because he’s aware of our interest in the Chapman case?”
Trent looked over at her but didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to.
The person they were after could very well be someone they spoke to face to face—or someone in the shadows. But what was to stop him from coming after one of them?
THIRTY-EIGHT
It was sad for Amanda to think that it had just been last night when she and Trent had decided to step back from the investigation for the weekend. Yet here they were the following day picking up right where they had left off—with yet another murder to solve. The only thing simplifying this mess was once they solved one, they likely solved all three cases.
The background on Edmond McCormick, the previous owner of Between the Pages, showed no criminal record. He was in his sixties and living in Triangle, only a few blocks over from Felicity Kelley’s house.
At his place now, Amanda noted it looked much like Felicity’s, a turn-of-the-century brick structure that had been nicely maintained.
Trent rang the bell. A man peeked through the sidelight before he cracked the door open.
“Yes?”
Amanda and Trent had their badges up. Trent confirmed the man was Edmond McCormick, gave the brief introductions, and added, “We’d like to ask you a few questions about Naomi Chapman.”
