“I don’t want two people to get away with multiple homicides,” Anson snapped, “and you could be tanking our already tenuous case.”
“If we save Matt and Kara, it’s worth the risk,” Catherine said. “These two have dropped bodies across the country, I’m positive—Emily and Josh Henderson were not the first two victims. We just have to connect them to unsolved murders in the cities where we know they lived.”
“You’re grasping at straws.”
“It’s all we have.”
Anson sighed. “If Graves can convince Reid to come in for a second interview, I’ll be there. But I doubt it’ll work. They’re holding all the cards right now.”
Catherine had to try. She called Franklin Graves’s office; voicemail picked up. She left a brief message that she would like to arrange an interview with his client, that it was both important and time sensitive, and left her number. Then she called his cell phone number and left the same message.
She went back to the security office where Ryder had continued to review all recordings to find out exactly when Hope Davidson, aka Audrey Reid, had left the resort. He was on the phone and writing on a notepad. He glanced at her, and she knew he had learned something important. A moment later, he ended the call and said, “Becca McCarthy has been missing for over seven years. She disappeared driving from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara where she was in graduate school.”
“I assume there was a police investigation?”
“Yes. Her parents lived in Pasadena not far from the Reids. She came home for two weeks at Christmas, and her parents said Garrett came over for dinner the day after Christmas. He told them he had a job offer in Scottsdale and was looking forward to moving. Becca confided in her sister that Garrett had asked if she would consider relocating to Scottsdale when shegraduated in the spring, that he still loved her and if they were in the same place at the same time maybe it would work. Becca said she would—because seeing him again brought back all the memories and she still loved him.
“Garrett came over two days before Becca left to say goodbye,” Ryder continued. “She said she would visit him in February and according to her family, they were both excited about this quote, ‘new phase of their relationship.’ She disappeared on the drive back to Santa Barbara. They found her phone in her car by the side of the road, but never found her body. They brought out dogs to search the area.”
“What happened to her car?” Catherine asked.
“Mechanical trouble. Forensics were inconclusive whether it was an accident or intentional.”
“If she was walking for help, she would have taken her phone.”
“She called for roadside assistance. An hour later they arrived and Becca was gone.”
“What did the police think?”
“That someone saw an attractive woman standing by the side of the road and took advantage of the opportunity. It’s gone cold,” Ryder added.
“Did they interview Garrett?”
“Yes. He showed no sign that he was involved, and seemed upset by the news. In addition, he was already in Scottsdale and his alibi was ironclad—he was training that night with his manager and other staff. The family didn’t suspect him then, still don’t. They said Garrett and Becca had wanted to explore their relationship again, but neither was in a rush. Becca planned to graduate, and confirmed to her parents what she’d said to her sister, that she’d visit Garrett in Scottsdale and if the feelings were still there, she would move in with him.”
“Did you tell them—”
“I didn’t talk to them,” Ryder clarified. “I spoke to the detective in charge of the missing persons investigation. The detectivealways looks at current and former partners, and Garrett had no motive, no opportunity. Becca had a college boyfriend for a couple of years that the detective seriously looked at and still thinks he might be involved—he doesn’t have an alibi and he had the opportunity, since he lived in the area. But motive was murky and they had no physical evidence.”
“Clara Dolan,” Catherine muttered.
“Garrett’s wife?”
“They met at some point, possibly before they left Los Angeles. She was born in Glendale, which is only a few miles from Pasadena. A big city, but this all seems too coincidental. Could they have met in college? Through friends? I have LA FBI working on getting her history. We’ll talk to her family, maybe they know Garrett.” Clara Dolan’s birth certificate showed her to be only five years older than Garrett—maybe they had a relationship back then. Maybe Garrett didn’t want his ex-girlfriend in the picture and had Clara, who had no connection to Becca McCarthy, take her out. Definitely possible... but Catherine would need to prove they knew each other seven years ago.
And maybe... just maybe... Garrett was serious about getting back with his ex and Clara didn’t like that and took the competition out.
Another possibility.
“One more thing,” Ryder said. “I have a photo of Becca McCarthy.”
He turned his phone to show her.
Twenty-three-year-old Becca was blonde, with an engaging smile and sparkling blue eyes. She was very pretty, the stereotypical girl next door. Though her hair was longer, she looked surprisingly like Kara—if Kara had a lighter, whimsical side. In fact, this last week while they were undercover, Kara had played the part of a happy bride... making her look even more like Becca.
All the victims had the same general look, which was why Catherine had believed that Garrett was a lone killer targeting a specific type, but Kara came closest. Not to Emily Henderson, but to Becca McCarthy—Garrett’s first serious girlfriend.
Did Garrett choose the victims because the brides reminded him of his missing girlfriend?
