Page 29 of The Perfect Obsession
A jolt of anxiety shot through him.This wasn’t normal.Had Jennifer had some kind of cardiac event?She was only in her twenties, but she had once mentioned that her father died in his early forties from a heart attack.
“Miss Jennifer!”he yelled, no longer concerned about propriety.
When there was no answer, he rushed over as fast as his 77-year-old legs would allow.But even before he reached her, he feared it was too late.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Jessie knew something was up the second she entered the bullpen at Central Station.
It wasn’t quite 8 A.M.as she and Ryan made their way over to the collection of desks that comprised HSS.Standing there were Detectives Karen Bray and Sam Goodwin.Next to them was Officer Harper Devery.
“We were just about to call you,” Karen said.
“What’s up?”Jessie asked.
“You tell them, Devery,” Karen said.“You’re the one who caught this.”
Devery’s cheeks turned pink, and he swallowed hard.
“Won’t I get in trouble for not going to Captain Parker first?”he asked apprehensively.
“No,” Sam said.“Parker is going to pass it along to them anyway.You’re just eliminating the middle man.”
“Okay,” Devery said, looking only slightly less worried.“I think there was another murder connected to your case.”
Jessie felt a cold chill run down her spine.
“Explain,” Ryan ordered.
“Yes, sir,” Devery said.“Because you guys had me stay with Alexander Krantz for a while yesterday, I got curious about the case and looked over the notes.I didn’t think about it much until I came in this morning and saw this report that came in overnight.”
He pointed to Karen’s computer.Jessie looked over and saw a police report on the screen.
“Give us the short version,” she said.
“It appears that a woman was strangled yesterday at her ceramics studio in the Arts District,” Devery said.“Her name was Jennifer Nash.I guess she’s a pretty well-known artist around town.When I noticed that she was 28, the same age as the other victims, I got curious and read a little more.The preliminary medical examiner’s report said that it appeared she’d been strangled with a piece of clothing, like a scarf or tie.Alarm bells started ringing for me, so I asked Jamil and Beth to look her up.She went to Thornfield Academy and graduated the same year as Caroline Sheffield and Diana Hartwell.”
Jessie allowed herself a moment to process what he’d said.Before she could, Devery went on.
“Jamil and Beth are already doing a deep dive on her, anticipating that you’ll have questions about Nash’s relationship with them.”
Jessie nodded absently as she sat down at Karen’s desk.She punched up images from the crime scene, which showed Nash slumped awkwardly against her pottery wheel.Another photo, which looked to be a publicity still, was vastly different.Nash was smiling broadly, her long, dark, curly hair framing her face.Her light blue eyes twinkled.Jessie felt enormous sadness for this woman she’d never met.She looked up at Devery, who was studying her nervously, clearly unsure if he’d handled things properly.
“Good job, Officer Devery,” she said, trying not to let her upset over what had happened to Jennifer Nash prevent her from praising his excellent work.
“Yes,” Ryan agreed.“Without your alert eye, this might have slipped by us.You’ve saved us a ton of time.”
Even though he clearly didn’t want to appear happy in the wake of a woman’s death, Devery couldn’t help but betray a sheepishly proud smile.
“Thanks,” he said, blushing.“Anything else I can do to help, just let me know.”
“We’ll see how things develop,” Ryan said before turning to Jessie, who was already standing up.“I assume you want to check in with Jamil and Beth.”
“You read my mind,” she said.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
An hour later, they’d made some progress, though not as much as Jessie would have hoped.
