Chapter 35
“Now, why would you want to search my place?” Earl asked.
“I’ve never been inside these apartments, and I just wanted to see the layout. They look nice.”
“Call the main office and schedule a tour. I’m sure they’ll be most accommodating.”
I smiled. "But I want to see inside this unit."
"You’ll have to get a warrant. Just what is it you think I've done?”
"I think you know damn good and well what you've done. Now you’re back on the street, you're doing it again. Just like you were 15 years ago. Right?”
Earl’s nervous eyes darted between the two of us. "I think you've made some kind of mistake.”
"No, I think I'm pretty spot on,” I said.
Earl stepped back and closed the door.
I shared a look with Denise. We plunged down the steps and strolled the walkway back to the parking lot.
"That guy gives me the creeps," Denise said. "Did you see the way he looked at me?”
"I told you he was a scumbag."
"It was like he was looking right through me.”
We hopped into her SUV and returned to the station. We found the sheriff, and I gave him my theory. “Jenna Keating confirmed Earl as her attacker.”
The sheriff gave me a doubtful look. “She also confirmed Ray Corbin. That was 15 years ago. Not enough for a warrant.”
"Agreed. But we need to put a unit on his apartment. Follow him around. See where he goes. It's only a matter of time before he strikes again.”
"I don't have the manpower to babysit that guy 24/7. Unless you want to do it.”
"Just put a squad car on his apartment for the next 24 hours while I run down a few more leads.”
After a moment, the sheriff agreed.
Denise and I filled out a report, then we headed over to Ray's wife's house. She lied to me before. That became clear after I talked to Chris.
We drove to her house and knocked on the door.
Dana answered a moment later, and I smiled and introduced Denise.
"I've just got a few follow-up questions for you,” I said. “It won't take long."
"Sure. I was just about to run to the store. But I've got a minute for you. Are you making any progress?”
"Actually, I'm making good progress. I think we’re getting closer.”
"Oh, that's fantastic!” It sounded hollow. “Who are you looking at?"
"You mind if we come inside? There are a few things I need you to clarify for me.”
Dana hesitated a moment. "Sure.”
She stepped aside and motioned us into the foyer. Dana closed the door behind us, then escorted us into the living room and offered us a seat on the sofa.
"Can I get you anything to drink? Water, coffee, soda?"
"No, thank you," I said.
Denise smiled, and Dana took a seat catty-corner.
“I recently spoke to a journalist,” I said. “Chris Johanessen. It seems he's done a lot of work on this case. He’s discovered valuable information.”
A look of panic crept into her eyes. “Oh, is that so?”
"He mentioned he spoke to you already," I said.
Dana cleared her throat. "Yes, I do believe he's called here to the house a few times.”
"He said he stopped by and talked to you personally."
The muscles in her jaw flexed, and she shifted uncomfortably. "Yes. That's right."
"You knew. This entire time, you knew about the allegations.”
Dana hesitated, and her eyes flicked between the two of us.
"I…" She took a deep breath. "You have to understand, Chris came to me with shocking accusations. He said horrible things about my husband. But upon reflection, it made sense. It made me question a lot of things about Ray and about our marriage. Chris told me the stories of the horrible things Ray had done to those poor girls. He was a monster. I wanted him out of my life.”
"How far were you willing to go to get him out of your life?” I asked.
Dana swallowed again. "Chris showed me photos of Ray's victims. Crime scene photos. I don’t know how he got them. It was horrible. To think that Ray had gotten away with all those things for 15 years and that he was doing them again.” She frowned.
“I look back and think about all the times he left the house with an excuse that he was going to fix an AC.
How many of those times was he out there raping and murdering an innocent girl? "
"New evidence has come to light that suggests Ray Coleman or Ray Corbin, whatever you prefer to call him at this point, was not involved in any of those prior murders.”
Dana's eyes rounded, and her face froze. She short-circuited again, then finally twitched and said, "What do you mean?”
"I don’t think Ray was the Bay Strangler. We have another person of interest. Earl Vernon Maddox. He's been identified by Jenna Keating.”
Dana swallowed hard. "She’s the girl who survived, right?”
I nodded.
“Are you sure about this?"
I nodded. "I also know that you've been in contact with some of the prior victims’ families."
Isabella had looked into her call logs and made the connections.
"How do you know that?"
"Stephen Pike. He's the brother of Catherine Pike, one of the Bay Strangler’s victims. He must have gotten your information from Chris. He's called you on several occasions. I believe you've even met for coffee.”
Dana looked like she'd seen a ghost. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Not in and of itself. But conspiring with him to kill your husband is illegal. That would be conspiracy to commit murder.”
Dana swallowed hard again. "I did no such thing!”
"Dana, I know you thought you were doing the right thing, getting a monster like Ray off the street. But Ray wasn't the monster."
Regret tortured her face, and her brow knitted. Her eyes brimmed.
"I think Ray was an innocent guy, and now he's dead."
The tears spilled over and rolled down her cheeks.
"As it stands, you're going to go down for conspiracy to commit murder unless you become a prosecution witness. I promise, I can get you a reduced sentence as long as you agree to testify and fully cooperate with law enforcement.” I didn't have anything conclusive. Just a solid hunch and a list of phone calls and texts. "You’ve got two kids to think about. You don’t want them in a foster home. I will do everything I can to make sure you don’t see any jail time. ”
I didn’t have the authority to make a deal, but I wanted answers.
The thought of losing her kids put the fear of God into her.