AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He looked a bit puzzled by the sudden change in direction the conversation had taken. He took a moment to think, letting out a deep sigh as he did so. “I was wrapping up an edit for an e-commerce website out of Taipei.”
“Do you have proof of this?”
“Yeah, actually.” Rachel could hear the relief in his voice, betraying the unbothered exterior he’d tried to show them earlier. “I was texting and making Zoom calls up until about midnight…the time difference and all. And I have to keep logs of all of that to turn in to my clients. So…yes, I can prove where I was two nights ago.”
Rachel saw the little sting of disappointment in Sullivan’s face at this bit of information. But she thought he’d likely been expecting this sort of news, too. Still, Sullivan wasn’t ready to let up on it just yet.
“We’ll need to see those logs,” he said. “Until then, you’ll have to stay here.”
“That’s fine. Just…tell me what I need to do.”
And with the interrogation having started and ended much faster than anyone had expected, Rachel already found herself looking ahead to the next step, to the next potential lead. She knew where she wanted to go from here but had to remind herself that she wasn’t specifically the one in charge—even though Sullivan seemed perfectly fine to follow her lead.
She was also aware that this case was not her sole reason for being in Seattle; she had to focus on her treatments and her health. But as it was only 7:10 in the evening on the West Coast, she figured she may as well get another few hours in before calling it a night. Because while it may not technically be her case, there were still two dead women without their killer having been brought to justice.
And as long as she was in town, she refused to let that slide. The way this case was beginning to look, practically anyone involved in this particular field could be in danger. And while that did help to narrow the killer’s pool significantly, it also made him a bit more dangerous.
CHAPTER SEVEN
With a secondary team searching through Gary Williams’ home and securing the logs for his Zoom calls and texts, Rachel and Sullivan were freed up to pursue other avenues. It just so happened that Sullivan was in agreement with Rachel’s plans for their next course of action: visiting the family of Dr. Emma Willis.
Rachel was at first confused when Sullivan began to drive them away from the heart of the city. Dr. Willis had, after all, been killed in her apartment, which was right in the center of the most active parts of the city.
“Yeah, but the Dr. Willis and her husband had a second home out in the forests,” Sullivan told her as he once again pointed the car toward the outer rural section of the city. “From what I gather, the apartment was the secondary residence; they’d stay there on weekends sometimes, and every now and then they rented it out. But it was primarily somewhere for Dr. Ellis to stay when she needed time alone, closet to her main office, to work.”
“So you’ve already spoken to her family?”
“I have. She has no brothers or sisters, and her father died a few years ago. So it’s just her husband, her daughter, and her mother. There were some friends of the family dropping in when I spoke to him. But he was adamant that I reach out to him whenever I had questions.”
Rachel watched the towering trees roll by, made eerie and ominous by the night. However, when Sullivan turned off of the primary road and onto a thinner, winding road, streetlights were placed roughly every fifty yards or so, illuminating the road and the driveways to what looked to be a very well-to-do community. Sullivan slowed, checking each of the numbered addresses on the brick pillars that bordered each driveway. He finally came to the one he was looking for and turned in. A beautiful two-story home in the center of an equally gorgeous yard, the house bordered with wide flowerbeds. The right side of the house was partially illuminated by a small spotlight installed in the yard, used to shine on a small garden that poured out of the flowerbed.
“Do you know what Mr. Willis does?” Rachel asked.
“He’s a professor at the University of Washington. English Lit, I think. He’s also on one of their boards. So between that and the money Dr. Willis was bringing in, they’re quite well off. It only shows in the house and apartment, though. From what I can tell, they were both really down-to-earth people.”
Sullivan parked his car behind a Tesla at the top of the driveway. There was another car parked beside it, but that was all. Apparently, Mr. Willis had decided the time for visitors and fellow mourners was over. They got out of the car and walked up the concrete sidewalk, which was bordered by the soft, small illumination of a few solar lights positioned at the sides.
“You’ve already spoken to him and made that connection,” Rachel said. “I think you should take the lead here.”
“Sure thing. But don’t hesitate to speak up. I get the sense that even I he has to start from the beginning and recite everything he’s already told me, Mr. Willis will be happy to do so.”
They came up to the front door, and Sullivan knocked. Rachel took the moment to look around the elegant porch. There was a porch swing that looked more like an Adirondack chair than a swing, and ferns ganging from the porch’s support beams. The door was answered almost right away, and they were greeted by a tall man that looked to be fifty or so—maybe younger, though; Rachel had no doubt that some of the sorrow in his eyes (as well as the dark bags beneath them) was contributing to his overall look. He was very handsome, even in his weary and worn-down state. Even the shaggy five o'clock shadow, which couldn't decide if it wanted to be grey or brown, looked good on him.
“Hey again. Mr. Willis,” Sullivan said. “So sorry o to bother you again. But I was hoping you’d have some time to talk.”
“Good to see you again, Dr. Sullivan,” Willis said, offering his hand. “And drop the ‘mister’ crap, please.”
“Sorry. Declan, I’ve bought a visitor with me this time. Let me introduce you to Special Agent Rachel Gift. She’s in town on personal business but has offered to lend her experienced hand in trying to help us find our killer.”
“The FBI?” Declan asked, surprised.
“Yeah. I’ll explain it a bit more in a second. Can we come in?”
"Yeah, sure, come on in. It's just me and Emma's mom right now. Well, and Belle, too."
“Belle?” Rachel asked.
“My daughter. But we sent her upstairs because we, uh…we just wrapped things up with the funeral director and it’s…” He shook his head to indicate that he wasn’t up to talking about it.
