“I’m almost finished. I feel it needs a few tweaks, and it will be ready to send to you for review. Give me about half an hour to go back over it,” Quinn replied.
“Excellent. Then we’ll leave you to it. I’ve got some calls to return if no one needs me further?” he said.
“I’ve got a few leads to follow up on so I’ll be going, but will check back in with you all soon,” Logan said. “It was good to meet you, Grimm.”
“Same,” Grimm said, shaking his hand.
“I’m going to get some coffee. Do you want a cup?” Grimm asked Quinn.
“That’ll be great. Thanks.”
“Be right back then.”
Quinn opened her laptop and got to work adding in details without giving away the serial killer's suspicion. She was almost finished with her review of the article when Grimm returned with their coffee.
“What took you so long?” She looked up from her screen.
He had a frown on his face, and instead of holding two coffee cups in his hand, he held a package that had been opened. “This came for you. It had no return address. I hope you don’t mind that we opened it, but under the circumstances, Sheraton said we couldn’t be too cautious.”
Quinn pushed back from the table and walked toward him. “What is it?”
“It isn’t a death threat this time.”
She found her palms had gone sweaty, and she wiggled her fingers before she wiped her hands on her pants, then she reached for the plain brown package he held. She reached inside and pulled out a letter that had been printed with a laser printer.
I believe in your plight,and I want to help. I know details that I shouldn’t, and it makes me sick. I am being paid to do things to cover it up. I have wrestled with it for too long now, and I can’t do it anymore. Just know that you’re on the right track, and I will be in touch.
“What doesthat mean that I’m on the right track?” Quinn said. “Right in believing that the Altoona PD should be doing more? That’s a given. Or, that the two women missing are connected?”
Grimm shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see what this person has to say the next time they reach out.”
“If there is a next time. This could be from some crackpot who’s delusional and is just stringing us along. We have no proof this person is telling the truth,” she said. “I don’t mean to sound so negative, but I’ve had cases before where the public has tried to interject themselves into my stories, and it has never turned out well.”
“I get it. It’s good to be cautious, but this could be on the up and up, too. What if this person is for real and has been covering up for the guy who is responsible for Barbie, Heather, and Sandy? Think about it. You’d have the proof you needed to nail the bastard.”
She took a deep breath, walked over to the board, and put the letter up there. With a marker, she put a big question mark above it.
CHAPTER 5
THE ALTOONA OBSERVER
August 28
Third Missing Woman Discovered,Could She Have Been the First?
Quinlan Moynahan
“This is a great article.”Grimm put down the paper and finished his coffee. “You connected all three, giving a clear timeline between them. I also like the fact you left out the souvenir aspect. We don’t want any copycats picking up on it and doing the same thing. And if the police are paying attention, they will have to come back to you for details.”
“Thanks for the critique,” she said.
“I wasn’t.”
“I know, but I wish I could do more than just write these articles. I wish I could find these women,” she said. “Poor Trish and Trenton, they’ve been spending so much time and energy trying to find Barbie. And when I think of poor Sandy’s parents. How worried they must be about her. You know by now they must be fearing the worst, just like the Creswells. And now Heather Randall’s family are in the same predicament.”
“You’re doing what you can by getting the word out. Information is a powerful tool. Don’t forget that.”
She nodded, getting up from the table taking her dishes over to the sink, and loading them into the dishwasher. She cleaned up from where they’d cooked breakfast together today, and Grimm brought over his own dishes, placing them in the dishwasher.
