CHAPTER TWENTY
May felt utterly conflicted. She walked outside, pacing up and down, her shadow sharp on the sidewalk in the bright afternoon sun. She was wishing she was more at peace with the suspect everyone else seemed to think represented a slam-dunk case.
But May didn’t.
Sighing, she turned and paced the other way, hoping that the regular movement would bring some clarity to her thoughts and allow her to understand why she felt this way.
Emily had a strong motive. She had no alibi. She’d fought with Danny over the money and he’d threatened to expose her to Madeline and destroy her.
It couldn’t point back to her more clearly—and yet, May doubted her guilt.
For a start, a journalist who had been cunning and wicked enough to preplan these murders would either have concocted herself a strong alibi, or else escaped the state, or even the country, sooner. Right after the second murder would have been the time to flee. If she’d done that she would have been free and clear, far beyond the reach of the Tamarack County police, and even beyond the FBI, if she’d chosen her destination carefully.
But she hadn’t. She’d waited, and then panicked and run, then hid, and then arrived at a local airport the next morning.
Was that because she hadn’t known about the second murder soon enough? Because to May, that sequence of events looked like the actions of someone who hadn’t known about the murder and when she had found out, feared that she would be the suspect.
And she’d seemed so traumatized. So distraught. So genuinely scared.
May just couldn’t work out how that mindset aligned with a killer who had been ice cold enough to hit two people over the head, hold them under water to drown them, and then stuff a five-dollar bill into their throat.
Looking around, she saw Owen was standing at the entrance door and staring at her curiously.
He moved aside to let a member of the public through, and then walked out to join May.
“Are you okay?” he said. “Are you feeling bad about her being arrested?”
“I’m feeling worried about having made a mistake,” May admitted.
“You have to believe in your instincts,” Owen told her. “Otherwise, you’re just an officer taking orders. So if your instincts are telling you something, I’m sure there’s a reason for it.”
“I’m just not able to think what the reason is,” May said.
“It’s difficult to work out because it’s such a cut and dried case, isn’t it?” Owen asked. “All the evidence is pointing to her. I mean, it couldn’t be more clear cut. It’s like a rock solid chain of proof.”
“Why didn’t Emily run earlier? She could have fled the country long before we worked out she was the common thread.”
Owen shrugged. “Criminals aren’t always the most intelligent.”
“But she seems like an intelligent person. And she had the money to do it.”
“Then maybe it’s reverse psychology,” he suggested. “Trying to make you think she didn’t do it?”
May sighed.
“Why did she confess to the blackmail but not the murder?”
“Well, they’re very different levels of offense. Plus, she wasn’t that involved in the blackmail demand, was she?” Owen reasoned. “It was more from Danny’s side. She was just the recipient of the funds.”
May stared at Owen.
“You just said something important there!”
“I did?” Owen looked startled.
“Yes. You reminded me about her role in that blackmail. That’s actually one of the things that was worrying me.”
“What was?”
Now Owen was pacing up and down, in step with her.
“The reason for the blackmail.”
“How do you mean?”
“It didn’t make total sense to me. That’s a lot of money to pay.”
“Yes,” Owen said, looking serious. “It was a huge amount.”
“I’m not sure the reason is good enough. Paying such a massive sum in blackmail because you’re cutting corners by employing a few people without the right papers to work for less just doesn’t make sense. I know the penalties for doing that are harsh but they have the best lawyers. And from what she told us, Danny didn’t want her to go digging. He engineered the whole thing to manipulate her so that she couldn’t.”
“Yes. You’re right. I also wondered if there was more to that, but since Danny and Madeline were both killed, I felt we’d never know. Perhaps it doesn’t matter, though? Do you think the details are important? Surely what she said paves the way to the truth?”
May shook her head.
“I’m worried there’s more. And that maybe we should be doing the digging now.”