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"The ethics of my client's relationships are not relevant here," the lawyer said.
"Her name is," Simon shot back. He didn’t sound any happier about this than Amber was.
"Elise Fitzroy," Professor Samuels said. "You can check with her."
"Oh, we will," Amber assured him. "And in the meantime, you can wait here."
It took a lot for Amber to contain the anger and disappointment she felt in that moment. A part of herwantedProfessor Samuels to be the killer when he was so obviously sleazy, hitting on so many of his students, using the authority of his position to get them into bed. But the lawyer was right; that wasn't the FBI's business.
Simon gestured to Amber for them to leave the interrogation room.
As they walked out, Amber couldn't help but feel a sense of defeat. They had no concrete evidence to prove that Professor Samuels was the killer. All they had were rumors, suspicions, and a possible motive. None of which counted for anything against his alibi.
"I can't believe he's getting away with all of this," Amber muttered under her breath.
"He isn't," Simon said. "First, we'll check the alibi carefully because there's always a chance that a student who thinks she's in love with him might lie to us to protect him. Then, we'll let the university know what he's doing with his students.They'lldeal with him.”
“And we just have to hope that he gets fired?” Amber said.
Simon shrugged. “It’s the best we have. For now, though, we need to start thinking of another way to go in this case. Samuels wouldn't have given us the name of a student as an alibi if he didn't think it would check out, so we're back to square one."
Amber nodded, but she couldn't shake off the feeling of defeat that came in the wake of the interrogation. After another wrong turn, she started to wonder if they would ever catch the killer. They'd checked out the bridges and found one potential suspect, then looked at the university and found another. Neither one had panned out for them.
What did that leave for them now when those options hadn’t given them anything? What new approach could they take to find the killer that might prove more successful than their previous tries?
"There has to be another way to approach this case,” Amber said. “Do you have any ideas?"
Simon thought for a moment or two. "We could try looking into the victims' backgrounds again, see if there's anything we missed that connects them. I'm willing to bet that if there's one connection at the university, there will be more. Or maybe we could try to find people around the bridges on the nights they were killed, someone who saw them around the time of their deaths, someone who might have seen something suspicious."
Again, it felt as though they were being drawn back to the bridges and the university, those two sites fundamentally at the heart of this case.
Amber nodded, considering his suggestions. They were good ideas as far as they went, but she still felt like they were missing something. There was still something nagging at the back of her mind about Verdice, something she couldn't quite remember.
"Amber, what is it?"
Amber frowned. She hadn't realized that Simon was watching her closely enough to notice how worried she was.
"There's just something about this. It all feels very familiar. All this business with the bridges... it's like I've seen it before somewhere like there's a puzzle somewhere or a fact that's similar to this."
"If it's relevant, then it could help us find a way into all of this," Simon said with a sudden hint of hope. "Take your time, Amber. Try to remember."
Amber stood there, trying to do exactly that. She tried to think where she'd seen or heard something that was connected to this whole situation. The worst part was that she even didn't know if it was going to prove relevant or if it was just going to be some random piece of trivia about the town, something she'd learned for a quiz sometime.
Amber was interrupted by Chief Williams hurrying up to the interrogation room. He looked concerned. So concerned that Amber felt a sinking sense of dread even as he approached. As he came forward, Amber felt as though she knew what he was going to say next. Simon looked just as worried as she was.
"What is it?" Amber asked him.
The police chief took a breath. "There's been another murder."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“This has to be the place,” Amber said.
She and Simon pulled to a halt outside the apartment building, stopping short of the police barrier that sought to keep back a growing crowd of reporters. Even so soon after hearing about the murder, the space around the apartment building was busy.
Amber could see the coroner's van there, along with a couple of police cars. Chief Wilson pulled up next to Amber and Simon, jumping out of the car. Almost instantly, the reporters started to shout questions his way.
“Chief Williams! What are you doing to catch the killer terrorizing our city?”
