CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
"Good morning," Allen murmured, rolling over to face her with a smile that made her remember exactly why she'd fallen in love with him.
"Good morning," Kate replied, reaching up to touch his face. "Thank you for last night."
"Thank you for coming home to me. And for… well, the other stuff."
They got out of bed together, moving through their individual morning routines with a synchronicity that felt natural and comfortable.
Kate pulled on her robe while Allen headed for the shower, and she found herself humming softly as she made her way downstairs to start the coffee.
The house felt peaceful in the early morning light, with dust motes dancing in the sunbeams that streamed through the kitchen windows.
She knew that the peace would be short-lived, though; Michael would be awake soon enough.
Kate poured herself a cup of coffee and opened her laptop at the kitchen table.
She logged into her work email while the house remained quiet around her.
The familiar blue glow of the screen brought her back to the reality of the case, but somehow the transition felt easier this morning.
The balance between her personal life and professional obligations seemed more manageable after the reminder of what waited for her at home.
DeMarco had sent updated case files overnight, and Kate opened them immediately, scanning through the new information while sipping her coffee.
The forensics reports on Linda Harper's scene were consistent with their previous victims, confirming the same method of poisoned pills mixed with legitimate medication.
Dr. Walsh had prescribed Atenolol for Linda's blood pressure, but the deadly pills had been added by someone with access to her home.
DeMarco had also sent bank statements, employment histories, and other small details to look through.
Kate was deep in reading the toxicology details when she heard Michael's voice calling from upstairs.
"Mama! Mama, up!"
She smiled and saved her work, closing the laptop before heading upstairs to get her son.
Michael was standing in his crib, his hair sticking up at impossible angles, and his pajamas twisted from sleep.
When he saw her, his face lit up with the kind of pure joy that could make anyone forget their troubles.
"Good morning, sweetheart," Kate said, lifting him out of the crib and carrying him to the changing table. "Did you sleep well?"
"Sleep good," Michael confirmed, then looked down at his diaper with interest as Kate began changing him. "Mama, no more diapers?"
Kate laughed as she cleaned him up. "Soon, buddy. When you get a little bigger, we'll learn to use the potty like a big boy. And… you know, that might just be a few more weeks from now. I think you might be ready."
"Big boy!" Michael announced proudly.
"That's right!”
Michael nodded seriously, as if this was a matter of great importance that required his full agreement. Kate finished getting him cleaned and dressed, then carried him downstairs to the kitchen, where she settled him into his highchair.
Allen appeared in the kitchen doorway, dressed for work and looking much more awake than he had twenty minutes earlier. "How's our little man this morning?"
"Big boy!" Michael declared, apparently having decided this was his new favorite phrase.
"He is indeed," Allen said, ruffling Michael's hair before turning to Kate. "I've got him for breakfast if you need to wrap up some work stuff." He nodded toward her laptop on the table, letting her know that he was fully aware of where her head was.
"Thanks," Kate said, giving Allen a quick kiss before returning to the case files. "I'll just be a few more minutes."
She reopened her laptop while Allen began preparing Michael's breakfast, the familiar sounds of their morning routine providing a comfortable backdrop to her work.
Kate pulled up the phone records for all three victims, deciding to review them more thoroughly now that she had access to the complete files.
She spent the next several minutes going over it all.
The records went back several weeks for each victim, showing the usual pattern of calls to family members, doctors' offices, and service providers. Kate methodically compared the numbers, looking for any connections between the three cases that might have been overlooked.
"Mama, banana!" Michael called out from his highchair.
"Coming right up," Allen replied, slicing fruit while Kate continued her analysis.
Kate was scanning through Linda Harper's phone records when something caught her attention.
A phone number appeared in all three victims' call logs, sometimes as incoming calls, sometimes as outgoing.
In Linda Harper's case, the number appeared just three days before her death.
It was the sort of detail that never really stuck out, but stayed hidden in the weeds.
But Kate had noticed it, and now it stuck to her like a thorn. Feeling the stirrings of hope, she ran a search on the phone number using the bureau database. The results came back in less than ten seconds. The number belonged to a business called "New Beginnings Home Design."
Kate quickly opened a new browser window and navigated to the company's website.
The homepage featured professional photos of beautifully decorated rooms and a mission statement about helping clients "reimagine their living spaces during life's major transitions.
" The site explained that New Beginnings specialized not only in home staging for sales but also in renovations and remodels, with a unique service model that allowed clients to experience new decor and furniture for a couple of weeks before making final purchasing decisions.
Major transitions, she thought. Maybe like a grown child coming back home?
Kate scrolled down to the "About" section of the website. There, she found that the owner of the company was a woman named Margaret Holloway. There was more information on the unique approach of bringing furniture and small items into clients' homes to let them experience the decor for weeks before finalizing transactions. Kate wasn’t sure she’d ever heard of such a thing before.
“Huh,” she said out loud as another bit of information registered with her. If Holloway was moving things in before an actual financial transaction, that could result in murky financial records for the victims. There could potentially be no paper trail between the victims and New Beginnings.
It also meant she had access to all three homes in the weeks before the murders.
Kate began to move a bit faster, really locked in now. She accessed the bureau database and ran a background check on Margaret Holloway.
Michael banged his spoon against his highchair tray, apparently satisfied with his breakfast and ready to move on to more interesting activities. Allen wiped his hands and face while Kate focused intently on her laptop screen.
“Everything good?” Alan said, apparently noticing her sudden focus and concentration.
“Yeah, I’m good. I think I may have just had a breakthrough.”
She poked around the results, and it took less than five minutes before she landed on something that made Kate stop dead for a moment. Her coffee cup froze halfway to her lips.
Margaret Holloway, age forty-nine, had a daughter named Sarah Holloway who had died in a car accident just five months ago.
According to the police report, Sarah had been twenty-six years old and was driving to her mother's house after ending a long-term relationship.
The accident had occurred late at night during a rainstorm, and investigators had ruled it a tragic accident caused by poor visibility and wet roads.
Kate stared at the information, feeling pieces of a dark puzzle clicking into place.
From a profiling perspective, the death of Margaret's daughter had created a textbook scenario for psychological breakdown and displaced anger.
A mother who had lost her adult child just as that child was preparing to return home during a crisis…
it was heartbreaking, but also a perfect frame for what she and DeMarco were currently investigating.
It could be psychologically tormenting to see other parent-child reunions as painful reminders of what she had lost.
The timing was particularly significant.
Sarah had died less than half a year ago.
Maybe it had taken those months for Holloway to build up the courage to carry out her plans…
to get her hands on those deadly pills. If Margaret Holloway was their killer, there was really only one huge question that needed to be answered: was she acting out a grief-driven delusion that other parents needed to be "saved" from the disappointment and heartbreak she believed was inevitable, or were these wretched acts of jealousy?
Kate's profiling training kicked in as she analyzed the psychological framework.
Margaret had lost her daughter at the exact moment when Sarah was seeking comfort and support from her mother.
The tragedy had robbed Margaret of the chance to help her child through a difficult transition, leaving her with unresolved maternal instincts and a distorted perception of parent-child relationships.
By killing empty-nesters whose adult children were returning home, Margaret was potentially acting out a twisted form of mercy. In her damaged psyche, she might believe she was sparing these parents the eventual pain of watching their children struggle, fail, or disappoint them again.
"Kate?" Allen's voice seemed to come from very far away. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I think I may have just found our killer," Kate said, already reaching for her phone to call New Beginnings Home Design. “I’m sorry, but do you mind…”
“I’ve got Michael. Do your thing.”
Kate stood up from the table and walked into the dining room to make sure things were quiet. She placed the call, and the phone rang twice before she realized that it wasn't even eight in the morning yet. Surely, it would be too early for someone to answer, right?
So she was surprised when a cheerful female voice answered. "New Beginnings Home Design, this is Jennifer. How can I help you?"
"Hi Jennifer, my name is Kate Wise. I'm trying to reach Margaret Holloway about a potential emergency consultation."
"Oh my. An emergency?”
“Well, that may be. Bit of an over-exaggeration,” she said, trying to inject humor into her voice. It felt like the ruse she and DeMarco had walked through in order to meet with Michael Torres.
“Well, Ms. Holloway is out with a client right now. Early, I know, but that’s just the way it is around here sometimes.”
“Do you know when she’ll be back?”
“She's not scheduled to be back in the office until after lunch."
Kate felt her heart start to thrum wildly in her chest. If Margaret was currently in someone's home, she might be in the process of selecting her next victim or tampering with more medication.
"This really is sort of an emergency," Kate pressed, injecting urgency into her voice. "Could you possibly give me the address where she's working today? I have a family situation that requires immediate attention."
Jennifer hesitated. "Well, I'm not supposed to give out client addresses..."
"Please?”
“Are you a former client?”
“Well, my sister is…” She left it at that, not wanting to dig too deep of a lie.
"Okay, let me check her schedule. She's at the Pemberton residence this morning." Jennifer provided an address in one of Richmond's most exclusive neighborhoods. “I’d expect you could probably swing by around ten or so. She should be done by then.”
Kate was already rushing upstairs to gather her things. "Thank you so much, Jennifer. You may have just saved me a ton of trouble. I really do appreciate it."
She ended the call as she quickly got dressed.
Her mind was rushing in a hundred places at once: she needed to call Demarco, she needed to explain to Allen why she’d be gone again today, she hoped she wasn't just overreacting.
These thoughts carried her back downstairs in a sort of tidal wave and were still pushing her when she hurried into the living room, where Allen was on his laptop and Michael was playing on the floor.
"I have to go," Kate said, grabbing her badge and gun from the counter. "I’m pretty sure I just located the killer, and they might be working on another victim right now."
Allen nodded, looking at her with a strange mix of pride and concern. "That sounds promising… and a bit dangerous. Be careful, Kate.”
She rushed over to him and kissed him. “I always try to be,” she said. She then kissed Michael on the top of his head and told him she had to be off to work. Fortunately, he was too engrossed in stacking two plastic blocks together that he barely even noticed.
"I love you both," Kate said, heading for the door. "I'll call you when I know more."
She rushed to the garage and as soon as she was in her car, she dialed DeMarco's number. Her hands were shaking slightly with adrenaline as she started the engine. The phone rang once in her ear before DeMarco picked up.
"Kate? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so early. What’s up?"
"I found her," Kate said, pulling out of her driveway faster than she normally would. "I found our killer."