CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Paige had fully expected the surprise that spread across Christopher’s face as she said the words.
“What do you mean, you don’t think he did it?” Christopher said. He sounded like he couldn’t quite believe that she’d said it, and then led Paige a few paces away from the interrogation room, over to a space where a watercooler stood. Maybe to anyone looking on, this would have looked like just another watercooler conversation about a case at the FBI, but with the animation on Christopher’s face, Paige doubted it.
“I don’t think he did it,” Paige repeated. “I think his lawyer is right: this is just another way for Lars Ingram to mess with us.”
Christopher was already shaking his head as Paige said it, though. “Paige, she’s paid to be convincing. It’s literally her job to come up with good arguments and cast doubt on anything we think is true.”
“But in this case, I think she has a point,” Paige said. “Ingram just happened to give us the name of the guy who gave him up to the authorities? It’s the easiest way for him to get revenge. If Sanders ends up on death row, it will be everything Ingram could hope for.”
“And how did he know enough to give Ingram up?” Christopher asked. “How did Cal Sanders know that Lars Ingram was a serial killer when he’d fooled the rest of the world? Unless Sanders was working with him?”
That was the other part of this, though.
“The cases don’t read like a pair working together,” Paige pointed out. For her, that was another strike against Sanders being guilty. “These were cases by two separate individuals, not one person working with another to commit the crimes. If the two knew each other that well, why didn’t they commit the murders side by side?”
Christopher didn’t look convinced by Paige’s argument, though.
“Maybe they did, a couple of times. Then maybe the Nikki Ashenko murder was Sanders branching out. Maybe the two fell out, and that’s why he gave Ingram up.”
“And why didn’t Ingram give Sanders up in return back then?” Paige asked. To her, it didn’t add up. There was no reason for Ingram to keep Sanders’s identity a secret for years, only to then hand it to her at the point of his death.
She could see the frustration on Christopher’s face.
“Paige, this is the first time in this case we’ve had a solid suspect, and it’s because of work you did. Good work. You want to throw that away now based on what? A feeling that this isn’t the right guy?”
“It’s more than a feeling,” Paige said. “The information that he was the informant changes everything.”
“Not for me,” Christopher said.
“Well, maybe you’re just being stubborn.” As soon as Paige said it, she knew that it was the wrong thing to say.
“And maybe you’re not sticking with a theory long enough, Paige. This isn’t academia, where you get to jump from one hypothesis to the next and nobody cares.”
“Is that what you think I did with my time in my PhD?” Paige snapped. She knew that it was just the pressure of the case getting to her, but still, she found that she was annoyed with Christopher belittling what she’d achieved like that.
“I think that if you got things wrong there, nobody died,” Christopher said. “Whereas now, if we let Cal Sanders back on the street and another woman dies tonight, that’s on us.”
“And if he’s not the killer?” Paige said. “What then? We sit here questioning him while the real killer is out there, free to do as he pleases?”
“I’m the agent running this case,” Christopher said. “I’m the one who has to decide. You’re still just a trainee. There won’t be any comeback on you if this goes wrong.”
“Was I just a trainee when I helped to catch Adam Riker?” Paige shot back. This was the closest thing the two of them had ever had to an argument.
“No, you were a civilian. Now that you’re trying to become an FBI agent, you’re going to have to learn to follow through on the leads, all the way to the end.”
Paige couldn’t contain her frustration at that. “Maybe this would be easier for you if I weren’t here.”
“If you’re not going to help get answers out of Sanders, then maybe. I’m going to take the rest of this interrogation alone.”
He headed back into the interrogation room, leaving Paige behind.
A part of her knew that she ought to follow, ought to play her part in the interrogation, but more of her still believed that they had the wrong man, and that Christopher was being completely unreasonable about it.
Paige knew why: if this wasn’t their guy, then they had no evidence to lead them to someone else. They had to accept that the killer was still out there, and that there was no immediate way to stop him from killing more women. Of course, she could also see why Christopher thought that Sanders was a good suspect. It was just that he didn’t fit, not here, not now.
Paige realized then that she didn’t fit, either. Christopher had called her in on this case for advice, but now he wasn’t listening to that advice. So, what was the point of being there at all? She needed to get out of there.