CHAPTER NINETEEN
Underneath Teri Harper’s name on the whiteboard, Ella scribbled ‘possible sex worker’ and punctuated it with a question mark. She didn’t want to betray Kate Sutton’s boyfriend’s trust, but if it meant they came closer to catching this unsub, it was the lesser of two evils. On the other side of the room, Paige was huddled over her laptop again. Ella had her searching for the online profiles of these ladies.
There was every chance that all of these victims worked in the sex trade, and if they did, it explained how the killer was finding them. Ella had foolishly believed that Cassie Sullivan and Teri Harper weren’t the kinds of women that would be attracted to such a profession, but she cursed her own ignorance. If Ripley had been here, she’d have received an earful, and rightly so.
“Got her!” Paige announced as she rotated her laptop screen. “Look at this.”
Ella checked it. There on the screen was a profile page for Krystal, a 25-year-old blonde woman from Lancaster, PA. Her specialist services included striptease, nuru massage, and humiliation play, whatever that might be. She had a few provocative pictures and there was no doubt it was the woman they knew as Teri Harper. Paige had found her.
“What website is that?”
“TNA Index. An escort listings site, like a personals page.”
“Professional platform?” Ella asked.
“No, amateur as hell. Looks like it’s solely for Pennsylvania escorts too.”
“Messaging system?”
Paige scrolled around. “No. There’s no way to message people through here. Teri has posted her personal number. Looks like that’s how every escort on here does business.”
“Christ. Talk about inviting evil in. That’s a risky move.”
“Tell me about it. I’m looking for Kate Sutton’s account now. What was her name, Rena?”
A knock at the door interrupted them. Chief Reed walked in and shut the door behind him. His hair was soaked through with sweat.
“Agents, it’s bad news I’m afraid.”
Ella already knew what he was about to say. Bret and Kenny were both accounted for on the nights of the murders.
“They’re innocent aren’t they?”
Reed pushed his hair back then wiped his eyes. He had to blink the sweat out of them. He looked as tired as Ella felt.
“Yup. Innocent of our murders at least. We’ve got video recordings – three of them in fact – of both Bret and Kenny at home on the nights they happened.”
Ella turned and glanced out of the window. Somewhere out in the city, a serial killer was going about his day, unfazed.
“All night? At the exact times the murders took place?”
“More or less. We don’t know the exact times Cassie and Teri were killed, but those boys are accounted for from 9pm to 3am. We know Kate died just after 1am, and they’re fully accounted for there. And if one’s accounted for…”
“Understood,” Ella said, using the deflation to push forward. She didn’t want the defeat to rub off on her partner. God knows she’d experience enough of it in the future.
“But obviously we’re keeping Bret in for what he did at the med school. State PD are on their way to talk with him now. He’s looking at community service, possibly jail time.” Reed clocked the whiteboard. “Sex worker, huh?”
Time for Ella to divulge the details. Reed needed to know. She couldn’t rightly keep back information that could assist others in the investigation.
“Chief, we need to tell you something, but please don’t go around sharing it. I made a promise I’d keep it on the down low.”
“I’ve made a living keeping secrets. What’s the news?” Reed said.
“Kate Sutton was a sex worker, but she’d gone to great lengths to keep it discreet. Her boyfriend told me. Now from what Bret and Kenny told us, Teri Harper might work in the profession too.”
Chief Reed wiped his brow and nodded. “I won’t say a word. The press still haven’t got a hold of the story yet, so if we can catch this guy before they do, no one’ll know.”
“That’s my plan,” Ella said.