“Right.”
“And with the tattoo of the mouse on her ankle, the same place every single one of his other victims had a tattoo, we agree that its likely Natalie was killed by Emmanuel, right?”
“Right.”
“Given the timeframe, so soon after Grace was nearly grabbed, we agree that it was Emmanuel lashing out, working out his anger at not getting what he wanted, right?”
“Right. Where are you going with this?”
“Just talking it through,” he told Rylla. “So, we have a woman killed by a serial killer, right after he failed to get what he wanted. This victim looks just like the woman he tried and failed to get his hands on, so how did he find her?”
Rylla looked at him for a moment, then a spark lit in her green eyes as she realized what he was saying. “The attempted abduction of Grace was around four thirty in the afternoon, time of death for Natalie Potter was around two in the morning. That’s less than twelve hours later. She lives approximately a thirty-minute drive from the hospital. It would have taken him a while to get to his car, witnesses said they saw him run off down the street. He was injured, but there was no blood other than Natalie’s at the crime scene which meant he had to either go somewhere to receive treatment for his wounds or treat them himself. Let’s say he needed at least a couple of hours to do that, meaning he had ten hours or less to find Natalie.”
“Or he didn't have to find her.” Matthew knew he was onto something here, he could feel it. “That’s not a lot of time for him to happen across her. We need to find out what Natalie did that last afternoon she was alive. Make note of everywhere she went so we can check out each location, but I'm thinking he already knew Natalie. Emmanuel was angry, he needed to lash out, he was also hurt, he couldn’t just go wandering around. And what are the chances he’d come across someone who looked so similar to her?”
“It would be a big risk to stay out in the open, dozens of people saw him jump out the window and run off,” Rylla agreed. “It’s much more likely he would have tried to lay low.”
“Exactly. So, he already knew Natalie. He went to her specifically because she looked like Grace, she was as close to the real thing as he was going to be able to get his hands on any time soon. We need to speak with Natalie’s family, find out everything we can about her because this guy knows her. She wasn’t one of his victims, so she doesn’t fit whatever he’s looking for in the women he wants to teach lessons to, she’s part of his regular life. If we look into Natalie’s life, we’ll find this guy.”
* * * * *
5:33 P.M.
Grace looked up from her video game when she heard the doorbell ring. A glance at the clock told her it was just after half past five and she realized she’d been playing the adorably cute Animal Crossing New Horizons game for almost four hours. She’d gotten so engrossed in choosing a name for her character and island, then choosing the perfect spot for her house, and learning DIYs and selling things to make Bells, that she had completely lost track of time.
The doorbell rang again, and she glanced around. She was alone in the living room, but she knew there was no way her family would have left her alone, they were far less ready to let her out of their sights than she was to be out of said sights. Elijah and Ali had left after lunch to go to work. She wasn’t sure if Laynie was still home, but she knew Jem had taken a leave of absence to be around for her so he was here somewhere.
“Jem, doorbell,” she called out, assuming he’d ordered dinner. She was definitely going through a takeout phase, basically bingeing on all the foods she hadn't eaten in so long. She was also overdoing it a little on the ice cream and KitKats which were her very favorite chocolate bar. But the way Grace figured it she’d definitely earned herself a few treats.
“Can you get it?”
“Why can't you get it?” She was all comfortable, curled up in a corner of the sofa, her snacks set out around her.
“Gracie, get the door, please.”
“But I’m playing,” she said in a voice that was dangerously close to a whine.
“Gracie.” That tone she recognized from when she was a kid. It was Jem’s exasperated voice, and she knew he wasn’t getting the door.
“I don’t know what you're doing that you can't get it,” she muttered under her breath, but she wasn’t really mad, and there was a smile on her lips as she remembered fun times playing video games with her brothers, and Ali and Laynie when she was younger. She’d gone through a huge Mario Kart phase and had spent literally hundreds of hours practicing then challenged her brothers to a race. She’d actually managed to beat them for real and she’d been thrilled. Beating two big brothers who were fifteen years older than you wasn’t something you did often. At least not beating them for real.
When she opened the front door, she was surprised to see Matthew standing there. He was dressed in jeans that hugged his legs, and a white t-shirt that left little to the imagination. She could see every line of sculpted muscle, and her cheeks pinked as she realized just how attracted to him she was. It was not at all what she had expected, when she’d opened her eyes to find a cop hovering over her in the room where she had spent almost every day of the last five and a half years.
Then again, she hadn't been expecting to find someone who understood what she’d gone through. Her heart was still breaking for the little boy who had suffered so much, sacrificed so much to save his mother and sister, only to be shunned and abandoned for it.
“Matthew, this is a surprise.”
“A good one I hope.”
“The fact I'm grinning like an idiot isn’t enough of a clue?” she teased. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to bring you these.” He held out something even better than flowers, a whole stack of KitKats in every flavor that existed. “I heard you have a bit of a KitKat obsession at the moment.”
“Not at the moment,” she said as she greedily took the candy bars. “Ialwayshave an obsession with KitKats.”
“I’ll have to remember that.”
There was heat in his eyes and a promise in his voice. She’s been up front and honest with him about her concerns she might never be ready to give him what he wanted, but the very fact that he’d taken it in stride and told her he’d wait like it was the easiest thing in the world had her way more ready than she’d have thought.