Page 32 of Seven Deadly Sins

Her gaze fell on the large envelope delivered that morning. Medical records. Her father hadn’t asked why she needed them, only sent them as quick as he could. A similar envelope waited on Liam’s desk.

“Since we dealing with covetousness…” He handed her the morning’s coffee. “I think it’s safe to assume that Mr. Alexander was killed because he had his eye on his partner’s wife. You know, thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife?”

“One of the commandments.” She reached for the envelope. “I’m going to spend the morning going over these medical records.”

“HPD is requesting our help with Alexander since we received those text messages.”

She nodded. “Alright. We’ll head out in a bit if that’s okay.”

“Let’s take these to the conference room. We can spread out and see whether the same names show up.”

She gathered the pages and her coffee and followed him to the larger room. She gave a head nod to the chief as they passed his office. He spoke on the phone, reciprocated with a nod, and kept talking.

He hadn’t been happy to hear they were back dealing with the Seven Deadly Sins Killer. At least this time, the chief wasn’t on vacation.

In the conference room, she flipped through the stack of pages and called out names for Liam to compare to his list. It was tedious, mind-numbing work. After two hours, they had three names of people who had used Liam’s grandfather as their primary physician, and Harper’s as their oncologist.

“I’ll give these to Officer Crypton to see what she can find out about these people.”

“Sounds good. That leaves us free to head to Harrington and dig into Alexander’s life and work. Maybe question his wife some more. Try and find out why he was targeted.”

“Because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time with someone playing God.” She shoved the papers back into the envelope and stood. What could possibly be the motive if one of the three men’s names she was giving to Annie turned out to be their guy?

She located Annie in the breakroom. “Call me as soon as you turn up anything.”

“Will do.” Annie added sugar to the coffee in front of her. “I want this over.”

“We’re only on the second sin.” Harper patted her on the shoulder. “Good luck.”

“Thanks for being so upbeat.” The officer gave her a shaky smile. “Maybe we’ll catch this guy before he goes through too many more of these sins.”

“We can always hope.” Harper joined Liam in their office and grabbed what she needed for the day.

“Hear me out.” Liam glanced over the top of the jeep. “What if this is about revenge?”

“For what?” She frowned.

“What if…one of those three men didn’t make it? What if our grandfather’s failed them?”

She gave a sarcastic laugh. “That’s a stretch, Liam.”

“But what if? I’ve been doing this for seven years. My gut tells me I’m on to something. It could be why the two of us were thrust together.”

She got into the vehicle. She’d heard crazier things in her life. A lot of people killed in the name of revenge. “Why the games? Why not come after us?”

“A deranged mind doesn’t always make sense.”

Less than half an hour later, they pulled up in front of a sprawling modern mansion of concrete, steel, and glass. Harper figured the buying and selling of businesses paid very well. “I think I’m in the wrong line of work.”

Liam laughed. “I’d bet my favorite pair of boots that this guy was handed the rich life from his daddy and his daddy before him. This kind of money gets passed down.”

Maybe. She shoved her door open and marched for the front porch. She pressed a bell that sent Westminster chimes throughout the house.

After a couple of minutes, Mrs. Alexander, dressed in flowing pants and blouse, answered the door. A well made-up face barely disguised the redness of her eyes. “May I help you?”

“We’d like to ask you a few questions if you’ve the time.” Harper gave a slight smile. “It won’t take long.”

The woman gave a suffering sigh and stepped back to allow them entrance. “We’ll have to make it quick. I’ve funeral arrangements to attend to.”

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