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30
Laura’s smile was too wide. Too bright. “So, how accurate are these feelings of yours?”
Cassie felt so relieved at being able to talk openly with her sister that she couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her. Her entire body felt lighter. “They’re not just feelings, you know. I see people.”
“Okay, I get that. And that’s both creepy and cool, but it’s a valid question, right?” She looked to David and then back at Cassie. “Have any of your visions been wrong before?”
“None of them have been wrong, per se. But I have misinterpreted them.”
“So, the answer is yes?”
“The answer is kind of.”
Laura rolled her eyes and gestured to the four folders David was still holding. “I’m asking how sure you are that our killer is related to one of these four victims.”
“Well, that’s the trouble. Sometimes I get answers before I get the questions themselves.” Cassie sat down, now suddenly sober. They still had a lot of work ahead of them. “When I looked at the pictures, eight of them had their names blurred out and their faces scratched away. I don’t think we’re meant to look into them further.”
David held up the other four. “And these appeared normal?”
“Right. Our mystery ghost seems significant, but I don’t know why. What did you say his name was?”
“Timothy Jennings.”
“Timothy Jennings.” The name seemed foreign in Cassie’s mouth, despite her feeling like she knew the man. At least in his life after death. “What do we know about him?”
“He has no living relatives.”
“He was one of the final five victims,” Laura suggested.
“There you go.” Cassie felt a thrill run through her. “We wanted to know why Shapiro stopped killing, right? Maybe Jennings was his last victim. That could have given him more power to come to me.”
“That would make sense,” David said.
“Does it?” Laura asked. “Does anything make sense when it comes to all of this?”
“Not really,” David offered. “I’ve learned to just go with it. But it seems plausible, which is a step in the right direction. Jennings is significant in some way. Maybe he was simply our key to finding the final bodies, or maybe he was Shapiro’s last kill. It says here he’d been arrested quite a few times for possession with an intent to distribute. That means he was a dealer.”
“Definitely someone Shapiro would want to take off the streets,” Cassie said.
“Oh, what if he was the original addict’s dealer?” When they met Laura’s idea with blank stares, she hurried on. “I mean, what if he was the dealer who sold the heroin to the guy who killed Shapiro’s wife? And Shapiro tracked him down? He couldn’t kill the guy who killed Mrs. Shapiro, but Jennings would’ve only been one degree separated, right? Maybe he even supplied the guy with his heroin that night.”
“It’s a good theory.” David scribbled some information on a notepad. “I doubt we’ll find any evidence, but theories are good. Theories are where we get our start.”
“What’s our theory for these other three, then?” Cassie asked. Her frustration mounted. “They must be significant. One of them must be the answer to our question.”
David gave both Laura and Cassie a folder to look through. “Only one way to find out.”
Cassie looked down at the picture in her hands and traced the contours of his face with her fingertip. She vaguely remembered the face from the second group of victims—the ones discovered in the woods. His name was Joseph Warren. He’d done a stint in Coastal State Prison right around 1992 for possession. He’d gotten out early on good behavior.
She skipped to the information on his family. He didn’t have any children of his own, but he had a nephew who’d done time for aggravated assault. He also had a deceased sister, which meant Warren might’ve been the one to raise his nephew. If that were the case, the nephew would’ve had motivation enough to avenge his uncle. And he certainly had the disposition.
“I’ve got a contender,” Cassie said.
David looked up. “Yeah? Good. Because I’ve got bupkis.”
Laura closed her folder and dropped it on the table, sending a nearby photo skittering to the other side. “And I honestly don’t know what I’m looking for, but it doesn’t seem to be here.”
Cassie handed David the folder. “He’s got a living nephew, Marcus Valencia, who he might’ve raised and who has done time for aggravated assault.”
