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All I’ve been able to find out is he’s targeting girls, cuts their hair, and rests them peacefully after he kills them. I can’t determine a pattern in the women other than the colour of their hair. Linda didn’t go to Whithall University; she was still attending a local college closer to her home, and from my research online, she has no ties to Christie.
I texted Jordan last night to meet up with me at the library, since no one we knew was working there today. Alex has classes all day, so he won’t be there to see what we’re up to. I have to get to my Historical English class right after, so I can’t be long with her.
When I walk in, she’s already sitting down at our table. I sit next to her and grab the file I made from my bag. “Hey, I’m glad you could meet me.” When I open it, I pull out the newspaper clippings I found last night and hand one to her. “A murder similar to Christie’s and Linda’s happened not far from here fifteen years ago. A wife found her husband cheating and decided to get revenge.”
She takes the paper from me, her eyebrows drawn together. I wait a few minutes for her to read over the first one before handing her another.
“Oh, my God,” she murmurs, her eyes flicking over the sentences quickly.
“I know. The details are limited due to the nature of the murder, but from what this one reporter wrote, the wife had killed the mistress in front of her husband. She shaved off her hair so he wouldn’t be attracted to her anymore. In an interview they did with her, when she was admitted, she explained how her husband had a ton of pictures of his mistress hidden in a shoebox and on his phone. In the photos, he would always be touching her hair, sniffing it, or running his fingers through it.”
“This is insane,” Jordan tells me, glancing up from the article. “How did I not find this?”
I shrug, not sure either, as it was on the second page when I searched. I did a basic Google search and found the newspaper articles online. “I’m not sure. It’s not really much to go on, but for some reason, I feel like these are related.”
“How? It says in this article she killed herself in a psychiatric prison four months later.”
I sag into my chair. This is where I come to a dead end. “I know. That’s why I called you here to meet me. We need to see if the couple had any other members of family, or maybe children. The reports don’t say anything, but I only found those three that covered the murder after she was convicted. I can’t find anything about before, or where or when the bodies were found.”
She quickly scans over them again. “I’ll look into it, but this was fifteen years ago, Allie. We might not find anything. I do agree it’s too much of a coincidence not to be related. And she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. If she had a child or a sibling with the same disorder, they could be repeating the pattern. Maybe Christie betrayed whoever the killer is, and it’s somehow set something off inside him, which made him kill another girl?”
“That’s what I was thinking. I searched it up and it does say schizophrenia has a component to be hereditary. I think we should ask some more questions to Christie’s friends, see if she had any ex-boyfriends that ended on a bad term.”
“I’m actually meeting with her close friend later. I’ve got to tutor her for an exam she has coming up. I’ll see if I can fit it into the conversation.”
“That would be amazing.”
“I still can’t believe another body has been found,” she tells me, rubbing her hands across her face.
I shudder. “I know. My phone has been ringing off the hook. My dad is worried about us being here. He doesn’t think it’s safe so keeps begging us to take a term off.”
“What are you going to do? Honestly, with this happening, it sounds like a good idea. We don’t know who he will target next, or if he will.”
“As much as it scares me that there’s a killer wandering the streets, I can’t. I already waited a few years to attend university with Willow. We had the grades to attend once we finished our year at college, but we wanted to work so we could pay for uni ourselves before attending. I did it more for Willow, as her mum couldn’t afford the fees by herself.”
“She did mention you waited to attend college so you could both come together.”
“If it does get any worse, and I feel unsafe, I’ll take a week or two off. But if everyone went home because of this killer, we’d lose our grades.”
“I graduate this year and I’d rather keep it that way, so I can see where you’re coming from.”
I smile, happy for her. “Any ideas on what you will do after?”
She lets out a heavy sigh. “Nope. My parents want me to work for my uncle at the local news station, but it’s not what I want to do. I love my blog. I love reporting that way and I’ll probably keep doing it. I love it. I’ve applied for a few jobs who are after a columnist. I’m just waiting to hear back. I’ve also looked into teaching.”
“Teaching?” I ask, surprised. She’s never mentioned it before now.
“Yeah.” She blushes, staring up through her eyelashes. “It’s been on my mind for over a year, since I started tutoring. I really enjoy doing it. I know I’ll miss it which is why I decided on teaching.”
I smile, squeezing her hand, before pulling back. “Then do it. You can teach with your degree, and I think you’ll be good at it.”
“You think?”
“I know.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure,” I tell her, then glance at the time. “Shit, I’d better getting going. I was late to Mr. Flint’s class a few weeks ago and it didn’t end well. He kinda creeped me out.”
