“Don’t worry,” Laura said, trying to put him at ease so they could get away. It didn’t seem like there was anything else of value he would be able to give them. “We’re going to do our best to catch this killer. In the meantime, it’s worth thinking about carpooling to work so you don’t have to walk on your own – and keeping all of your doors and windows locked when you’re home. I’m sure he won’t strike here again, but it doesn’t hurt to take precautions.”
“Right,” Owen nodded, looking even more worried and afraid than he had when she’d started speaking.
“Thanks,” Nate said, effectively breaking the conversation off. “We’ll be back in touch if we need to ask you anything else, but for now, please follow the instructions of the local police officers. I’m sure they’ll want you to head down to the station and give a statement.”
They walked away a bit, into the quiet of the street. Laura indicated their car with her head and they crossed the road together, heading to stand against the car instead of getting into it right away. The sun was up properly now, illuminating the whole road. It was strange to see everyone bleary-eyed, still feeling the effects of the night before, even as the sun brought the new day into full force.
“What now?” Nate asked. “Apart from coffee, which I’m going to have to insist we stop off somewhere for. I don’t feel human yet, and there’s no way I’m relying on the precinct coffee.”
“I don’t know,” Laura said, tapping her fingers on the top of the car as she touched the door handle with her other hand, contemplating getting in. “Do we follow up his cargo schedule, see where he’s been and what he’s been delivering? It could take hours. A lot of hours.”
“We should let the locals handle that,” Nate said. “Give it to some of their junior detectives to get the work done and bring us the results. It’s too much of a waste of our time.”
“Well, then, what do we look into?” Laura asked. “No family. A completely different job and neighborhood than the others. Where is the overlap?”
“I don’t know,” Nate admitted, and Laura felt a flash of fear running through her.
Fear that they weren’t going to get any leads to follow at all – and without her visions coming to the rescue, they were groping along in the dark, all the while letting the killer get further and further ahead of them on the path to his fourth victim.