"You hurt my sister," she said in that same flat, no-nonsense tone, "and I'll bust your balls from here to kingdom come."
He smiled faintly. "Fair enough."
She nodded. "Then talk."
He did. She said nothing, listening intently, nodding every now and again. When he'd finished, she said, "There's one problem with the idea that Iyona or Betise or both might be involved with these murders — "
"The black hairs found at the murder scene?"
"How did you know about them? Neva?"
"Yes."
"Then she trusts you."
With knowledge, but certainly not anything else. Yet. "She came after me at the mansion because even you think I'm not the murderer."
"That doesn't mean the rest of your pack isn't. Betise or Iyona might be working with one of them."
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the plastic bag he'd fished out of the river earlier tonight. "Try matching this with those hairs you found." He placed it into her hands.
She felt through the plastic. "A wig?"
"A black wig. We were following Betise earlier and saw her throw it into Hunter River. I fished it out."
"We? You and Neva?"
"Yep. So you've got a believable witness as well as me."
The smile that touched her lips held true warmth and in many ways reminded him of Neva, which wasn't all that strange, considering they were twins.
"A wig doesn't make her the murderer. It's a silver wolf attacking these women, not a golden."
"But both Betise and Iyona have a better motive than anyone else. My pack aren't saints, but none of us are behind these murders. I'll guarantee it."
"Well, a guarantee like that is certainly going to go a long way in a court of law." But she said it with a smile, and he took no offense.
"Has anyone seen Betise's coat color?" he asked. "If she is the child of one of the Bitterroot Sinclairs, she might very well be silver."
"Possibly." Savannah's voice was noncommittal. "I'll have this checked out along with the samples we took tonight. Hopefully, we'll get an answer."
"We have something else you might be interested in, too. Martin took skin and blood samples from under Betise's nails the night she was attacked. They're currently being analyzed at the forensics lab."
"Any samples not taken by us under controlled conditions won't be accepted as evidence in court."
"Perhaps. But it may provide a link to the women who were killed. Once you have that link, you can concentrate on collecting evidence that is rock-solid."
"Maybe." Her voice was noncommittal.
He hesitated, then asked, "Can you remember anything of your own attack?"
"No. It's all still a blur."
"Have you asked Neva?"
She was silent for a long moment, then swore softly. "I didn't even think of it."
At least he wasn't the only one. He rose and put the chair back. "She was there with you in spirit."