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“Probably not.”
“The question is whether your killer is aware of your sergeant’s theory?”
“We’ve kept the messages on the body a secret. No one knows.”
“No one outside of your investigation knows.”
Chad gaped. “You’re suggesting the killer could be someone at the station?”
“Someone who has heard your sergeant’s theory and used it to direct suspicion in another direction. Someone like… Josh.”
Chad withheld a laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“He’s a regular at The Desperado, knew of the victims, he knows about your sergeant’s theory and could’ve created the whole episode today with the hope of firing you from the case—"
Chad raised his hands. “Stop. Josh wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“The killer isn’t hurting them…”
“Josh is my friend. If he was going around killing people I’d know, I’d suspect.”
“Maybe he’s good at hiding it … like you are.”
“It’s not him.”
Romeo folded his arms. “You’re quick to deny your sergeant’s theory, and mine, so let me in to that detective head of yours. Tell me what you think.”
“I don’t know.”
“You must have an idea—”
“Well I don’t!” Chad clutched his head. “There’s no struggle, there are no wounds on the victims, and no shred of evidence. There are no sightings of a suspicious car pulling up at the side of the road or someone wandering around in a gas mask.” He slumped. “That’s what I was hoping for last night.”
“Someone in a gas mask?”
“The villain night was a great opportunity. You said so yourself. I thought he might be there. I thought he might be blatant, gloating, almost like you did all those years ago when you came to the station to complain, but he wasn’t there, and no one went missing. If that was a good opportunity, he missed it, and I’m left wondering why. Maybe … maybe he stopped at two.”
“He went after Tate.”
“But let him go. He could’ve dragged Tate back into the car, but he choose not to. Maybe the reason he didn’t wasn’t to do with Tate at all, but the killer. Maybe he changed his mind.”
“Changed his mind?” Romeo laughed.
“Why is that so hard to believe? Some killers must. Some must want to stop when their conscience catches up with them.”
Romeo scoffed, shaking his head. “Why would you bother starting in the first place?”
“Not everyone is cut out to be a serial killer!”
Romeo narrowed his eyes. The air suddenly felt too heavy for Chad to breathe and he wished he could pull his words back into his mouth, or at the very least not have yelled them in the space between them.
An insisting buzzing in his pocket cut the tension.
Chad tore his eyes away from Romeo and patted frantically at his thigh. He refused the call from Josh, only to reveal the missed messages and the most recent one that announced he was on his way.
“Shit.”
“What is it?”
