Page 48 of The Ice Sisters

“Dr. Whitefeather, look for DNA from the killer,” Ellie said.

“Will do.” She gripped her kit and carefully made her way to the body.

Williams assigned the ERT their tasks and Derrick sidled up to Ellie. “What do you think is going on?”

Ellie clamped her teeth over her lower lip then showed him the picture of the women and children together.

“The women look chummy,” Ellie added. “With Barbara’s grief and depression issues, it makes sense Barbara might have sought help from Delilah.”

“True,” Derrick murmured.

“As a friend and perhaps her counselor, Barbara would have confided her private thoughts and deepest secrets to Delilah andthe others.” Ellie paused then cleared her throat. “Secrets that may have gotten Delilah killed.”

FIFTY-SEVEN

While Ellie stayed with the ME, Derrick walked outside to question Delilah’s ex-husband. The ERT was busy combing the property and the exterior of the house for forensics.

Delilah’s children sat inside his SUV, crying and clinging to each other. Derrick rapped on the window and the man looked up with a dazed look of denial, then lowered the window.

“Can we talk, Mr. Short?”

He turned to the kids and patted each of their hands, then murmured he’d be back. Dragging a shaky hand over his face as if to regain his composure, he slid from the vehicle and he and Derrick crossed the yard to the porch. The wind whipped through the trees, sending residual moisture from the earlier sleet and melting snow down so they stepped onto the porch for cover.

“I know this is a difficult time, Mr. Short,” Derrick said. “But I need to ask you a few questions.”

“Call me Jonas,” the man said, his voice gruff. “Why would someone kill Delilah?”

“I don’t know yet, but Detective Reeves and I are going to do everything possible to find the person responsible.”

Jonas sniffed and gave a nod.

“Tell me about your ex-wife,” Derrick said.

“She was a loving, kind mother,” he replied, his voice tender. “She liked to help people.”

“Do you mind telling me what happened in your marriage?”

He jerked his head up, eyes narrowed. “We just grew apart after the kids were born so we split when they were toddlers,” Jonas answered. “We decided we were better friends than husband and wife.”

“So you co-parented?”

“That’s right. The kids were upset at first, but a mediator helped us decide how to work together and put the kids first.”

“I understand your wife was a counselor,” Derrick said.

“She was,” Jonas answered. “She was a real caretaker.” Uneasiness sparked in his eyes. “You don’t think one of her clients did this, do you?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll look into that,” Derrick said. “Did she ever mention someone she was worried about? Someone who was upset with her or she felt posed a danger?”

He shook his head. “Delilah took patient-confidentiality seriously. She would never betray a patient’s privacy.”

“Did she seem nervous lately?”

“No.” He hesitated. “Although our daughter mentioned that Delilah was upset when she saw the news about those little girls’ murders.”

Derrick drew a breath. “Did Delilah know the twins?”

“Not that I know of,” Jonas said.

---