Every Deadly Suspicion

Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

J OE’S ARRIVAL WAS ANTICLIMACTIC. The activities of the day, the walk up to the house all served to wear him out.

“I tried to get him to use the wheelchair,” Tom explained. “He wouldn’t have it.”

Grace had him settled into the hospital bed in the guest room. She raised the back of the bed so he was in a sitting position and busily arranged his oxygen tank.

“He needs to calm down and rest. Too much exertion makes it difficult for him to catch his breath.”

Hanna stood in the doorway for a moment and saw him in the bed, chest heaving, Grace helping him with a nebulizer. Giles had carried in a small valise and set it on the chair next to the bed. He said it contained all of Joe’s belongings. Next to the valise he set a large well-worn Bible.

How am I supposed to feel? The pit of her stomach had that funny feeling you get when you’re on a roller coaster at the top of the ride, preparing to drop down at high speed.

After stepping out of the doorway, she went to the kitchen and filled her travel mug with coffee. She had to go to work. Her insides were a jumble. She wasn’t certain adding caffeine to the mix was a good thing, but the smell and taste of coffee was a comfort.

“He’ll be better after he rests a bit,” Tom said.

“It looks as if Grace has things under control.” Hanna screwed on the mug’s lid.

“I agree. The entire hospice team are good at their jobs.”

“How long will you be here?”

“I’ll stick around for a bit. I know you have work to do. Things will be fine here if you’re worried.”

“I’m not worried.” She paused. “I don’t know what I am, to be honest. This is just strange.”

“I can imagine. You’re a cop; he’s a crook. Look past that, Hanna. Try and look at him as a soul who will be facing his maker soon.”

Hanna considered Tom’s advice as she got in her car and headed to the station. It didn’t help. Seeing Joe, having him in her house was Twilight Zone territory. She wanted to talk to Jared. Maybe Mandy. Hanna winced when she realized Nathan was last on the list. As great as he was, Nathan wouldn’t understand her mixed feelings regarding Joe. The realization made her sad.

When Hanna pulled into the station, she recognized Everett’s truck parked at the curb. She bet he wanted to talk to her about Joe. He waited in her office.

“Good morning, Everett.”

“Chief.”

“How can I help you?”

“Is Joe settled in?”

“Yes. The whole transfer here wore him out. He was out of it when I left.”

Everett seemed to consider this. “That Marshall is certainly trying to stir things up.”

“He is. I haven’t noticed that he’s been successful, as hard as he’s trying.”

“True. This is a good town, a compassionate town.” He steepled his fingers. “Joe’s presence does stir up a lot of pain for me.”

“I’m sorry, Everett. I’m really hoping he’ll tell Mandy what she wants to know. Then maybe this will be worth it.”

He grunted. “When will she talk to him?”

“I guess when he’s up to it.”

“Let me know before Marcus finds out.”

“I don’t plan on telling Marcus anything.”

“Hmph, he always seems to hear about everything. Don’t let any of this distract you from your job.”

“I won’t. I’m on top of things.”

“I’ve got to get back to the fire line.”

“I heard things look good there.”

Everett nodded. “The weather is in our favor right now. The wind has calmed, and what there is of it is blowing away from us. That fire will be burning for a while though, especially if we don’t get any rain.”

“It doesn’t look like any rain is in the forecast.” Was something else on Everett’s mind? He didn’t appear to be ready to leave, and she had work to do. She was about to ask when he spoke up.

“That was a dark time in this town, a horrible crime.” Everett seemed to be staring right through her. “I know your mother filled you in on what specifics she knew. The thing is, no one really knows all the particulars except for Joe. Chase doesn’t, that’s for sure. It’s as if he lost time after the acid burns. If Joe cares to share those details, please let me know.”

“Count on it.”

Nathan glanced at the clock. Joe was most likely settled into Hanna’s house by now. He’d wanted to be there when Joe came home, but the case kept him away. He hated to admit it, but he wanted to talk to Joe. If he’d been running the investigation thirty-five years ago, there were a lot of questions he’d have asked Joe that had not been asked. Would he get the chance to talk to the guy?

As far as the investigation into the Lonely Heart Killer was going, Manny had compiled a list of black SUVs to check. The number of black Chevy Tahoes registered in the county was huge. It needed to be pared down.

Edda’s red VW Bug had not been discovered yet, but Nathan was not anxious for that. The other two victims’ cars had not yielded any evidence, and he doubted that Edda’s would either. It would probably just turn up somewhere like the other victims’ vehicles had.

It still bothered Nathan that Edda was not on a dating website. He wasn’t leaning toward there being two killers anymore. What he feared now was that the killer was evolving. He’d gotten some type of thrill by killing women who thought he wanted to be their boyfriend. Maybe it wasn’t enough of a kick, so he moved to a different platform.

If Nathan was correct, would the killer stay on Facebook, or would he move on from there? Heaven knew there was no shortage of lonely and/or naive people online. How could they stop him when there was an abundance of social media platforms for the killer to exploit? Nathan hated it when his job depended on something other than his own hard work. They were waiting on DNA. That could be the big break, but how long would they wait?

He was running on little sleep and knew he’d not get much more until this guy was caught. They needed to stop a killer.