Page 31 of Say Now
"Wait, why am I only hearing about this now?"Alison asked.
"Because he died two years ago," Claire said
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
"Castellano died in the line of duty," Claire said."There was a drug bust that turned into a firefight, and he was hit.It was bad luck, followed by more bad luck.From what I heard, he had a vest on, but he was shot in the head.At least he died quickly.It was a tragedy, and a lot of cops were shaken up about it for a long time."
Alison rode in Claire’s car, and they followed the patrol car down to the small police station, where Dr.Laurent was put into a holding cell to sober up some more and give a proper statement.Claire explained the situation to the lieutenant at the station.
Dr.Laurent hadn’t given them much more.He had rambled incoherently at times and claimed to suffer memory loss at others.When he had tried to pour himself a glass of vodka, Claire had stepped in and cuffed him before calling local law enforcement to come and take him down to the station.
The roads were still bad, and the snow continued to fall, so they were stuck in Butte for the rest of the morning at least.The warmth of the station provided some sanctuary, and they found some hot coffee to keep them going.
"After the second murder, Castellano’s name popped up straight away," Claire said."I thought immediately it was a link, but when I searched his name, it showed that he was deceased—shot in the line of duty in a drug bust.That shut down that connection, and when the third murder happened, I checked into the historical case, and Castellano wasn’t connected at all.That was the end of it."
"Until now," Alison said.
"Yeah, and it makes no sense."
"What terms are you on with Captain Kent?"Alison asked.
"Fraught would be the best word."
"I’ll call him and see if they have anything on their end.He might know more about Castellano."
"All right.I’ll see how Dr.Laurent is doing.I want to speak to him formally and get out of here.He doesn’t feel like the guy, does he?"
"No," Alison admitted."No, I don't think so."
They left the small staff area and went their separate ways.Alison found a quiet spot and called Kent.
"Hello?"the captain answered.
"Captain Kent, it’s Dr.Payne."
"I see you’re using my title now that I’m the one in charge."
Alison had a number of things she wanted to say in response to that, but none of them would be helpful, and all she wanted was to further the investigation.
"We need your help," Alison said.
"We?"
"I’m in Butte with Special Agent Martinez, and—"
"I thought you would have been on a plane back to California by now, with how she tossed you aside.What are you doing up there?"
"We were following a lead, but it seems to have come to a dead end, except for a name.The guy we spoke to up here mentioned that he was visited by police, someone by the name of Castellano."
"Castellano’s dead," Dale said."He was shot a couple of years ago.I was at the funeral."
"I know, it doesn’t make sense, but we’re working on it.Castellano was involved in the first two cases that our killer is copying, but not the third, right?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right.I don't know exactly for the first two cases, but I was a part of the team assigned to the third case.Six bodies were found in that yard."
"But Castellano wasn’t on that case?"
"Not officially, but he was around it.It was massive at the time, and I remember talking to him about it.He was a good cop.Do you think someone is impersonating him?"
