Fear Nothing (Detective D.D. Warren #7) - Lisa Gardner Page 0,75

attended four years of medical school.

When Adeline said nothing, D.D. moved on, voice still brisk, asking for information, not sharing suspicions.

“When Superintendent McKinnon was talking,” she continued, “she mentioned that Shana’s mood changed a few months ago. She grew more depressed. Do you know why?”

“No, but Shana is hardly the type to sit around and talk about her feelings. From a clinical point of view, my sister suffers from depression. The condition is ongoing. Some periods of time are simply better than others.”

“But given that she suffers from depression, something could have happened that triggered the down cycle?”

“That’s possible.”

“But you don’t know what?”

“No. Her life is very . . . contained. Though”—Adeline’s voice picked up—“the thirty-year anniversary of Donnie Johnson’s murder is approaching, combined with Charlie Sgarzi reaching out and demanding an interview . . . That certainly could’ve triggered an emotional response in Shana. Despite what you might think, her feelings regarding Donnie are very tangled. She won’t talk about him, even now, which is almost a sure sign that day still bothers her. If she was truly remorseless, she would speak of him and/or what happened that day easily and often. But she doesn’t.”

“Okay.” D.D.’s mind was still churning. Alex had raised a good point. Timeline mattered. All killers had an inciting incident. So two, three months ago, what had happened to suddenly spring the Rose Killer onto the world?

“What do you know about so-called partner killings?” D.D. asked now, given that she was speaking to a trained psychiatrist. She continued: “Such relationships are rare. There have been a handful of husband-and-wife or otherwise ‘romantically linked’ killing teams. Couple of male cousins who killed together. Either way, there’s always one partner who’s the alpha, and one who’s the submissive.”

“You think Shana and the Rose Killer are partners?” Adeline asked sharply. “She gives the commands, he performs the deed?”

“Maybe she performs the deed,” D.D. said, then waited again.

Adeline simply sounded confused. “My sister? She’s the one behind bars.”

“No, the Rose Killer. What if he is a she?”

“That’s extraordinarily rare,” Adeline said immediately. “Most serial killers are male, as men are much more likely to externalize their rage than women. The few women who have been serial predators mostly fall into the category of black widows—they aren’t motivated by sex or violence but by financial gain, making hired killers or poisons their MO of choice. The Rose Killer, personally assaulting, then skinning victims, well . . .”

“Sounds more like your sister?”

Silence. Then: “In fact . . .”

“No sexual assault,” D.D. provided. A risk. That detail hadn’t been revealed in the paper; she was now officially releasing privileged information to someone outside the case team. But D.D. was fishing, and she had to use something for bait.

“I see.” Adeline’s tone relented, turned more contemplative. “So maybe the Rose Killer is a fellow inmate. That’s how she got to know Shana, where they came into contact. It would certainly explain how Shana could meet someone without having had new visitors or fresh pen pals. Then again . . .”

D.D. waited. Adeline sighed heavily.

“I just can’t picture it,” the doctor said at last. “And not just because my sister is so antisocial, but because if such a thing had happened—Shana took a friend, even had a lover—Superintendent McKinnon would know. Don’t let her modesty from this morning fool you. As directors of major incarceration facilities go, McKinnon is more than up to the task. There’s nothing going on behind those walls she doesn’t know about. Meaning if such a relationship had happened, she would’ve told us about it.”

“Unless she didn’t want anyone to know,” D.D. said. Couldn’t help herself. The words just came out.

“What do you mean?”

“What if it wasn’t an inmate? What if it was a guard? Male guard, female guard, it wouldn’t matter. Such a thing wouldn’t look good for anyone, especially for Superintendent McKinnon. She obviously takes a great deal of pride in the fact that Shana hasn’t killed any more COs on her watch. If word got out that’s because Massachusetts’s most infamous female killer had taken to sleeping with them instead . . .”

Adeline sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I suppose, when it comes to my sister, the honest reply is, anything is possible.”

“Let’s assume there is a relationship. Male, female, guard, inmate, whatever. For someone like Shana, how would that work?”

“Shana would be the alpha,” Adeline provided without hesitation. “She has no empathy, no ability to bond with others. Meaning if she’s in a relationship, the other