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“Why didn’t you say anything to my collogues about the misunderstanding?”
“You seemed to have missed the part where I gave my word to Martin Kingston that I wouldn’t bring his life crashing down around him,” Adeline replied with sarcasm, though she didn’t pull away. “Look, I have nothing to do with your investigation. I didn’t see anything unusual in the weeks or months leading up to Bella’s death. I never witnessed Michael Davis being physically or emotionally abusive toward Bella. Truthfully, I kept to myself, because I didn’t want Bella to suspect anything and report back to Sophia. There was no reason for me to bare my private life to them. You and your colleagues managed to figure it out anyway, so I can only assume that you truly believe Martin Kingston is responsible for Bella and Piper’s murders. I might not like the man, but I don’t believe he could kill someone in cold blood. I do have a question, though.”
Theo was finally beginning to see the woman who Brook and Sylvie had described from their past interactions. Adeline Murphy was very cunning, and she would use the situation to her advantage if possible.
“Will you be sharing this information with Sophia?”
The last notes of the song had faded away, allowing Theo to let his hand fall from her waist. He took a step back, releasing her hand as he did so. Should the news break that Martin Kingston and Francis Delacroix had a secret affair that had produced a daughter, then Adeline would be off the hook, presumably getting everything that she’d wanted since her move to Harbor.
“Excuse me.” Brook’s presence had drawn Theo’s gaze and Adeline’s interest. Brook couldn’t have timed her interruption any better. Instead of motioning for him to follow her off the dance floor for a private conversation, Brook leaned in and murmured a statement loud enough for Adeline to hear. “We’ve obtained the information that we needed, Theo. We have enough evidence to make an arrest first thing tomorrow morning. It’s over.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Brooklyn Sloane
December 2023
Friday — 10:29pm
“…overheardthereisaboutto be an impending arrest.”
“Who do you think is…”
“…is it true?”
Most people believed they lived in a world untouched by the horrors that lurked in the shadows. It was unfortunate for them that there were no hiding spaces. Evil would find them at every turn, and it just so happened to be in Harbor this time around.
“Boss, did I hear you right? Are we making an arrest tomorrow morning?”
“If all goes as planned, we will be making one tonight,” Brook murmured as she edged around the dance floor. “Most all the women with a connection to the case is in this room. The unsub is calm, collected, and doesn’t believe that I’ll push back. I need to rectify that perception.”
Detective Hartley was standing near the open bar. He lifted his chin in acknowledgement, and she began to make her way over to him. He was nursing another club soda. The clink of ice cubes against the glass could be heard clearly over the surrounding conversation.
“I located Rachel Lee.”
“Boss, we might need to invest in new earpieces. I thought that I just overheard Slick contribute to our investigation.”
Brook ignored Bit’s witty reply while she shifted her stance to look out over the dance floor. She quickly scanned the faces of every server, wanting to have a one-on-one conversation with the elusive Rachel Lee.
“Rachel was in the kitchen all evening, facilitating fresh trays for the servers.” Hartley cleared his throat when one of the guests came up to the bar and stood a little too close. Once the man had been given his drink, Brook and Hartley were given some breathing room. “You should know that Rachel has an alibi for Bella’s murder. Believe it or not, she was in the emergency room all day after suffering from the stomach flu. She was dehydrated, and she needed some fluids.”
“Checking on that now, Boss.”
It was good to hear that Bit was back on task after only commenting when absolutely necessary. Such a change in demeanor diminished some of the tension that had built believing that he’d discovered a connection between the Walsh family and Jonah Cary.
“I’d like to speak with her myself,” Brook said as she noticed Theo finally disengaging himself from Adeline. He was no doubt displeased with the way Brook had handled the interruption, but she needed to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of those connected to the case. Unfortunately, Lauren Kim had already left for the evening, not that Brook believed the woman had anything to do with the murders. “The photograph of the painting that she posted to a social media group mimicked exactly what Bella Kadel and Piper Zimmer looked like at the time of their deaths.”
“About that,” Hartley said as he reached out to set his drink on top of the bar’s counter. “Rachel doesn’t paint. I basically called her out on it, but she was adamant in her claim. She also stated that she only uses social media about once a month since she barely has any down time. I explained that we discovered something in one of her groups, and she stood by her assertion that she didn’t belong to any social media groups involving artists, painting, or the like. She pulled out her phone, which had been shut off since she was at work, and pulled up her social media account. One, that explains why your guy couldn’t pinpoint her location. Two, there is no way someone could go as pale as she did upon seeing that post from over a year ago. Her notifications had been turned off, and by the time we were through with our conversation, she was so unsteady that I requested an officer take her home. Someone, somehow, gained access to her social media account.”
Brook took a moment to go over Hartley’s version of events. She wasn’t pleased that he’d sent Rachel Lee home. There were a lot of unanswered questions surrounding the woman’s involvement.
“As I exited the kitchen, I overheard someone mention an arrest being made tomorrow morning. Anything that you want to clue me in on, Sloane?”
“Boss, I can’t access Rachel Lee’s hospital records, but I was able to access the security camera across the street from the hospital’s emergency entrance. Give me five minutes to confirm that she was there on the day in question.”
If Hartley had read the situation correctly, then the unsub had access to Rachel Lee’s phone or computer at some point before Bella’s death. The killer had gone to the trouble of setting up someone else to take the fall.
“I’m forcing the unsub’s hand,” Brook explained as one of the subjects began to walk across the room. Sophia had finished her conversation with Michael, and now a small smile graced her lips. “I’m hoping that such a play forces the killer to reach out to me again.”
