Fear Nothing (Detective D.D. Warren #7) - Lisa Gardner Page 0,90

“He can give us a description? Such as we’re definitely looking for a male suspect?”

Adeline paused.

“Oh no,” Phil murmured, already seeing the answer on her face.

“It turns out,” she began.

“Oh no.”

“Upon further examination, Mr. Daniels isn’t exactly sure who he saw. The gas company worker was wearing a hat, pressed low, while carrying a clipboard held high. In fact, he’s not even sure he saw the person’s face.”

“So gas company worker could be a gal or a guy?” D.D. asked, confused.

Adeline shrugged. “Mr. Daniels had the impression of a male. I tried to press as delicately as I could, without influencing his recollection. Not a large person, so height and build could go either way. But a gruff voice. That’s what decided his gender impression. Not the look of the person, but the sound of the fake gas company employee’s voice.”

“Oh geez,” Phil muttered.

Adeline nodded. “Exactly. Gruff voice could be a man. Or it could be a woman disguising her voice.”

“You think this person was the Rose Killer,” D.D. stated.

Adeline’s turn to appear confused. “Don’t you?”

“And based upon that,” D.D. continued slowly, “your sister predicting such behavior from the Rose Killer, you now believe your sister is using her superpowers for good instead of evil?”

“Such thoughts have crossed my mind. She’s my sister. It’s in our nature to assume the best about our families. So, yes—”

“Or she set it all up,” D.D. interjected. “Your highly manipulative sister, who we have reason to believe might be in cahoots with the Rose Killer. She told the person to enter your unit. Told her puppet exactly what to do. Then went to spring the information when it would be most to Shana’s advantage. Say, when you were beginning to doubt her. What better way to bring you around?”

Adeline blinked, then stated quietly, “Or there is that possibility as well. I want to be objective when it comes to my sister, but I doubt that I am. Hence, I am here, sharing this information with you. Maybe you can tell me what to believe.”

“Posing as a gas company employee fits the Rose Killer’s MO,” Phil spoke up. “We already know that he or she is using social engineering to access people’s homes, including posing as a security company employee to break into D.D.’s house—”

Adeline stared at D.D.

“Killer left me a very thoughtful note,” D.D. supplied. “‘Get well soon.’”

“Bottom line is,” Phil continued, “D.D.’s right: Your sister could know all this because she’s in contact with the killer. Not despite her lack of communication.”

“Have you been able to determine how’s she reaching out to the killer?” Adeline asked. “Code, letter, messenger?”

D.D. shook her head. “But your sister’s clever; you’re the one who keeps saying that. Not to mention, we’ve been a little busy with yet another murder to process. You know who the victim is?”

“Charlie Sgarzi’s mother.”

“Who, for the record, doesn’t fit the killer’s type. First two vics were young side of middle-aged, single women. Janet Sgarzi was an elderly widow, already dying from cancer. Serial killers rarely change victim type. It’s all part of the fantasy for them. Change out the victim and you might as well change the whole crime. Which makes this murder the outlier, especially as it happened so quickly after the second homicide. Maybe this attack wasn’t in response to some deep-seated compulsion, but a matter of cold, hard calculation. Janet Sgarzi needed to die. And according to Charlie Sgarzi, it’s your sister’s fault.”

“Shana doesn’t target women.”

“No, but this was a helluva way to target Charlie. Get revenge on a reporter who’s asking a lot of nasty questions about your sister, including accusing her of continuing her life of crime while behind prison bars.”

Adeline set down her coffee. Sighed heavily. “Prove it,” she said simply.

“Well, that’s kind of what we’re working on right now. Until you interrupted, of course.”

“Why did your sister ask to talk to you?” Phil spoke up. “If not to negotiate for her freedom, then what?”

“Oh, she still believes we should furlough her from prison and set her up in my apartment—”

“Aha!” D.D. exclaimed.

“But it’s not in return for her helping catch the killer. It’s so she can protect me. And, well, kill the killer. In her own words, she’s good at getting such jobs done.”

Another moment of silence.

“What does that mean?” Neil spoke up nervously.

“I asked the superintendent for more information on my sister’s alleged incidents behind bars. My sister has killed three times. The first occurred shortly after her incarceration and involved a female inmate