Page 19 of Dead Man's Wish
“Who was that?” he whispered.
“I have no idea. Another ghost for another day.”
I moved the interaction with the woman into a mental box for later and we made our way through the bullpen. My heels clicked over the tiles in rapid succession, where Jaiden’s stride was long and quiet. I forever hustled to keep up with his laid-back pace.
“Bex!” Bishop exclaimed as I crossed in front of an open conference room door. I zeroed in on his office and didn’t notice the war room they put together or the many,manypeople who stood in the room around him. He threw his hand up when we stepped in.
I didn’t walk far.
There were all kinds of boards erected. Two were dedicated to the new murders. There were three so far, and without much evidence to collect and go off, they fit nicely on the two. Looking at the new pieces settled a nervousness in me. He was dead, and this was not the work of the monster I knew. Hatred was missing from the fatal wounds, and the photos of how they were found showed remorse. Despite three victims, something was off.
The biggest board taking up space was filled with Brent’s crimes. Some photos were new to me, and there were a few victims that weren’t investigated here.
How many . . .
“My girl,” Bishop said, breaking through the daze. “How are you?” He wrapped me in a hug and whispered, “It’s okay to say you’re not.”
“Thank you, really.” When he released me, I scanned the room. Familiar faces stood out—Stan, Andraya, Billingsley.
There were a handful of people I didn’t recognize. A man was in a nice enough suit, but it was meant to fool those who didn’t know quality. Frayed areas and loose threads spoke louder than whatever label was stitched inside. He wore gaudy rings, and his mousey brown hair was slicked back. It didn’t do him any favors, as it exposed a thinning hairline.
A blonde woman bent over a table with evidence bags. Her hair was pulled back, long and sleek. She wore a dark-green polo shirt and it was tucked into tan cargo pants. Without seeing the embroidery, I knew she worked somewhere in the department. There was a man beside her wearing the same thing. He had a utility belt and no gun, so I ruled out a police officer. There was a sense of familiarity with him, but it was a faraway nudge.
Two more people stood by the board with Hale’s picture, but I didn’t get to linger on them as Bishop drew the room to attention.
“Alright, guys, we all know Bexley here, but I’m going to go around the room really quick.” With a hand on my shoulder, he faced me toward suit man. “This is Jeffrey Peters. He’s a lawyer. If you recall from the break-in, this is Eddie. He’s the lead crime scene technician. Beside him is Bridget. She came to us a year ago and is working under Eddie. She’ll leave for a new department next summer.”
They all looked at me as he went down his list. Jaiden slid his hand in mine. The gesture caught the lawyer’s attention, but Bishop put my focus on the other side of the room.
“Stan and Andy, you definitely know.” Andy waved and he powered through. “Billingsley is still here, but he was only bringing me a few things and won’t be around much for this case. Lastly, we have Katherine and Grady.”
Katherine was a sharp, younger woman. Blunt bangs accentuated the angles of her cheekbones and the cut of her jaw. She wore a creamy blouse paired with blush-pink slacks that probably had a matching suit jacket. Grady was her opposite. He was older with a round belly and soft shoulders. The hair he retained was fading white but held remnants of a brassy, blond tone. He wore a striped shirt of varying browns with khaki slacks. Unknown stains spotted both, and I noticed a pair of wire-rimmed glasses folded in his shirt pocket.
“Detective Leevy,” Katherine introduced herself, stepping forward with an outstretched hand. I shook it as she said, “Detective Foster and I are from Cape Haven.”
“Cape Haven? That’s where Detective Westcott is from,” I asked, wondering why they would come in his place.
“Yes, Westcott is tied up in his current cases. I was secondary on the Hale murders we discovered there. Grady worked on ‘em as well, so we came down together. We’ll be here until we can wrap this one up.” Katherine stepped back to her place by the board.
“Last introduction, Bex’s husband Jaiden. Refresher, Bexley is a forensic psychologist specializing in human behavior, serial killers, and microexpressions. It’s new, but I’ve seen it all in action.” He turned to me, and I realized a beat too late that he wanted me to speak.
“Yes, it’s new, but it’s science nonetheless. Emotion and expression are universal. It’s not so easy to hide your immediate reactions, and in those seconds before someone can recover, I aim to read every deception. I also profile criminals through consultant work.” I steadied my breath. “In this case, I have a little more than science. I grew up with Brent for the most part, and he enmeshed himself into my life and friend groups. He went unnoticed for the monster he was and, in part, that’s because he gave me odd feelings. I followed those natural instincts to steer clear of discomfort instead.”
“So, you determine killers by odd feelings?” the lawyer asked, and Jaiden stiffened behind me. My biggest fan didn’t take kindly to people who diminished my passions or hard work.
“Patterson, are you familiar with psychology or biology?” I watched as he reacted to the wrong name. “Mr. Peters, are you overlooked at work or confused with other lawyers?”
“What does that—”
“See,” I interrupted. “When I called you by a different name, your face gave you away on how important that is to you. You see it as respect, and you probably say it is, too. There’s a very real chance you weren’t aware because we don’t know each other, but I’ll assume it’s related to feeling inferior at work. You’re not a partner because Noah would’ve introduced you with that praise. So please, leave your contempt for those at your firm.” I looked at the others, and Katherine hid her smile behind her hand.
Bishop stood tall like a proud dad. “I told you it’s vicious to be on the other end, Jeff.”
“To answer your question though,” I said, softening my tone. “No, it’s not by feelings. The human body is well attuned to detecting danger thanks to evolution. Does our brain always interpret that danger correctly? No, which is why we have different types of fear responses. Listening to your instincts is an important first step, but I have diagnostic tools and testing that I also implement for accurate diagnoses.”
Jaiden’s hand slid from mine and trailed my side. As much of a comfort as it was for me, it grounded him, too.
“I wanted us to meet today so that we could catch up and start off on the same page. There’s a lot that doesn’t make sense, but the answers are going to be found in the original Hale case.” Bishop dropped an evidence box on the table and then stacked another on top. He repeated this until one end of it was overtaken.
