He was pissed that she risked his reputation on this out of her desire to be included.
“Well, our partnership is over. Fuck that,” she said. “I wouldn’t stay and work a case while you got kicked off, Dannie. You’re not loyal, and that’s a problem for me.”
With that, she walked out, slamming the door behind her. The second she was gone, he began apologizing profusely.
“I didn’t know. I was honest. I’ve seen Vina at the courthouse. I didn’t know she was dating my partner’s ex. I would have mentioned it.”
Gene reassured him.
“You can stop worrying. We saw your face when the name was said. We know when someone’s lying to us.”
He was curious.
“Do you think she’s part of this?”
That was the problem. They had no choice but to investigate one more person, and already, they were waiting for the sun to come up to talk to Robert Fergus—the other liar. This put them behind the eight ball—as in it was rolling at them quickly.
Ethan broke down the evidence they did have.
“Day one, she told us she grew up here. She’s the same age as Vina, who also grew up here. Did you go to school with Vina?” Blackhawk asked.
He shook his head.
“I mean, we all went to the same school, but I’m older. I went to school between Phylis and Vina, if we’re putting us in order of ages.”
Gene was curious.
“How old is your partner?”
He considered the question.
“Thirty-two. She’s a year older than Vina,” Ethan answered, when the man appeared to be doing the math in his head.
Gene was to the point.
“She lives in the circle where a lot of shit went down, she withheld information, and she had a personal connection to a victim. On top of that, this killer knows how to fuck forensics. A cop would know that.”
He sighed.
Yeah, he could see why they were pissed.
Gene wasn’t done.
“Now, we have no choice. We have to add her to our list. If that’s not bad enough, the media has been alerted a couple of times. That’s something a killer does to stall the investigation by annoying us. You asked around and said you found out it was a leak by the homicide captain. How did you know?”
He shared.
“I called around, and then I spoke to Mary McGrew, the boss’s secretary. She knows everything. When in doubt, ask the administrative assistant. They know it all. She said he talked to them when they showed up in the office.”
Well, that answered that question.
There was silence.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
It was going to be a long day.
“Put her on the list,” Ethan stated, ignoring his apology. “We said this person could have DID, and it could be a woman with a masculine personality. Let’s face it, she’s been lowkey trying to slow us down. She didn’t want to turn this case over, and she has been adamant about helping us. A killer, a collector, would want to see what we are doing. That’s customary behavior for a dominant personality.”
