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"I'll try."
"Excuse us for a moment," Valerie said. She left the room, and Charlie and Will followed her out into the hallway.
“It’s not him,” Valerie said.
“You can’t be sure of that,” Charlie objected. “The guy nearly killed Carter. And you!”
“People do crazy things when under pressure,” Valerie mused. “I feel that more than most, recently.”
“It does seem like a stretch to discount the man so readily,” Will offered.
“Trust me for once!” Valerie snapped, feeling the frustration oozing through her blood. Time was ticking, and this felt like another dead end.
Charlie shook his head. “We have to process this guy properly. Intense interview techniques. Grind him down.”
“We’re wasting time, Charlie!” Valerie said in anger. “What about the list of volunteers and trainee priests from Father Bryant at the seminary?”
“I got it,” Charlie answered. “I already sent it to you a couple of hours ago.”
Valerie pulled out her phone and saw the email attachment. “Thank you.”
“Val ..." Charlie said.
"Don't start, Charlie," Valerie snapped again. "I'm fine. And this case isn't closed, not by a long shot."
"If I may," Will said diplomatically. "If we at least tell Heinlein that we have a prime suspect in custody, that might buy us some time."
Valerie was looking through the list of names on her phone. "If we call Heinlein and give him the wrong name, then it turns out Ulrich Dale isn't the killer, we might as well close down the unit ourselves."
"Perhaps we shouldn't be hasty, Valerie," Will said. "We can at least take the next hour or so to speak with Ulrich and get a better handle on his innocence or guilt."
"No," Valerie said. "I know he's not the killer. He doesn't fit the profile."
Will and Charlie looked at each other. "But we don't have a profile yet, Valerie," Will said.
"Ido, Will," she said, still looking through the list. "Our killer is a religious fanatic. He's killing victims who all have a connection throughPost Tenebrus Lux. I think he's a male, in his twenties or thirties, who had a religiously overbearing parent, and now he's carrying out some sort of revenge for how religion has treated him."
"It's possible, but I really don't think we have enough to say—" Will was cut off promptly.
"We don't have time for this, we have to keep moving, or we're dead in the water. You two are either with me or against me."
"Valerie, I must say, I'm disappointed in your attitude," Will said calmly.
"You're not my father! You have no right to be disappointed or otherwise."
A silence entered the hallway. Valerie immediately wished she could take those words back. Will looked hurt.
"Will ..." she said softening her voice.
"Now is not the time to air our hang-ups," he said, coldly. "Charlie and I can stay here and talk to the suspect if you ..."
"Hold on!" Valerie said, her eyes lighting up. She was looking at the records Father Bryant had sent from the seminary. They were a record of all volunteers and church staff who had worked in Kerry County.
"What is it?" asked Charlie.
"We saw that the victims' names were on the list before we sent it to you," Will said. "But other than either attending, being volunteers, or in the priesthood itself, they all went to different churches and religious institutions around Kerry County."
"It's simpler than that. Much simpler," Valerie said. "This isn't just a list of people, it's a list of places. The various monasteries that are dotted around the Kerry County hills."
