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Valen walks around the sofa and sits down next to me, taking my hands in his. “I didn’t know that Paul was the one who was accused of raping your sister.”
I look at him and frown. “You know Paul?”
“If it’s who I’m thinking of, then yeah, I knew Paul. He was Nathan’s brother.”
I cover my mouth and gasp. I pretend I don’t see Valen’s lips twitch at my dramatics.
“Paul Hask. I remember him. He was the law student who was involved in a car crash. There was some hoopla over it being ruled an accident,” Agent Davis throws out.
“Nathan mentioned it to me. It’s why he became a cop. This is all just too much. And I’m still confused about my sister and Nathan’s role in this. Did Nathan blame her for Paul’s death, or… Oh my God! It is possible, in her drunken state… Did she confuse the two brothers? Did Nathan rape Hope?”
Both agents look surprised for a moment before they mask it.
“I’m not sure we’ll ever find out now that all the key players are dead, but it’s possible. Hask was the one to find the link between the victims and Briarwood House.”
“That’s why I was a suspect. Hask pulled me in multiple times, but I had alibis for most of the murders.” Valen nudges them in another direction.
“Did you know Miss Anderson’s sister, Mr. Ward?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“In the whole time you were there, you never came in contact with Hope Anderson?”
“I was only there for a year, and it wasn’t exactly a social hotspot.”
“We found a bag of jewelry in Detective Hask’s safe,” Agent Davis states, changing the subject.
I frown. “Okay, what does that have to do with this?”
“We haven’t tracked down the owners of each piece, but so far, six items have been confirmed as belonging to the victims of the Lullaby Killer.”
I cover my mouth with my hand. “So, it’s true. Nathan really was the killer. Part of me had almost convinced myself that it was just me. That I’d said or done something. But all those people… Why?”
“We don’t know.”
“When was the first victim found? Does anyone know the date?” Valen asks, leaning forward.
Agent Davis checks something on his tablet. “Marlon James. He died on January 17th, 2016.”
Valen taps his finger on his lips.
“What? What are you thinking?” I ask, managing to keep the amusement out of my voice.
“Let me just grab my laptop. Are you okay here for a second?”
I nod and smile.
When Valen leaves the room, I turn back to the agents.
“Did anyone besides you visit your sister?”
“Not that I know of. I know my parents never did.”
Valen walks back into the room with the laptop, retaking his seat beside me. He types away for a moment before he looks up and spins his laptop around for the agents to see. “Hask’s brother Paul died the day after Hope. And his father died two weeks after that.”
“Okay?”
“What if Marlon James wasn’t the first victim?” Valen says, looking at Agents Jones and Denton.
