"Her younger brother," the young man answered."I was first on the scene after the 911 call.Apparently, he lives in Florida but was staying here for the week.He said he was out partying with some old high school friends and got back a little after 3 A.M.He walked into the kitchen to get a late-night snack and found his sister like this."
“Where is he now?
“In the guest bedroom,” the officer said.
“Has he been questioned beyond that?”
“No, just the basics.We wanted to leave him to you.Besides, he’s pretty messed up.”
“Messed up how?Upset?”Castiglione asked.
“That too.But he’s also very drunk.”
“Wonderful,” Castiglione groaned.
He glanced at his phone again.His partner said he'd be here by 3:45, and it was currently 4:03 A.M.Castiglione decided to have a seat in the living room.There was no point in questioning the brother by himself.He'd just end up having to repeat everything later.Besides, if the guy was really that drunk, he probably wouldn't be very coherent anyway.
Castiglione settled into the couch and called Carver to rip him a new one.After all, there was no reason to bethislate.This wasn’t L.A.It was the middle of the night and there was no traffic at this hour in San Diego.
While he waited for the call to connect, he went through his mental rolodex, trying to recall if he’d ever encountered a murder where the victim was tased and then had their throat cut.He couldn’t think of one.This was a first.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Why are you so giddy?”
Jessie was taken aback by the question.
“What do you mean?”she asked.
“We’ve been in this car for twenty minutes,” Karen told her.“And for the last ten you’ve been sitting there silently with a goofy grin on your face.”
Now that her partner said it, Jessie realized it was true.Even though it was barely 8 A.M., which was early for an interview, they were on their way to talk to Lauren Mitchell’s sister, Molly.That should have been her focus.But it wasn’t.Of course, she couldn’t tell Karen the reason why.
What was she going to say—that she was still on a tingly high from the late night and early morning romantic wrestling that she and Ryan had engaged in?That felt inappropriate.Should she admit that in recent weeks, since they agreed to table the talk of starting a family, they’d been immersed in the kind of activity that could very possibly create one?Karen might be a parent herself, but she wouldn’t want to hear any of that.Jessie stifled a giggle.
“Sorry, I was just daydreaming a little,” she said.“How far away are we?”
“Just a few blocks, actually,” Karen said, her sidelong glance suggesting she didn’t buy Jessie’s answer.
“Let’s hope Molly can offer more insights into her sister than her husband could,” Jessie replied, doing her best to get her partner to shift her focus.
“I’m optimistic,” Karen said, taking the bait.“When I spoke to her last night after you left the station, she offered to let me come over and talk with her then.But I told her this morning would be fine.She was the one who suggested we come this early.”
She pulled to a stop in front of a pleasant cottage house.They were on a tree-lined street in Atwater Village, a suburban community about twenty minutes northeast of her sister’s home.They were just getting out of the car when the front door opened and a young woman that Jessie assumed was Molly Mitchell came out.
She was wearing a professional blouse and longish skirt.Jessie wondered if she was dressed for work or for the unpleasant duties associated with helping put her sister to rest.As the young woman walked over, Jessie couldn’t help but notice that she looked more like Lauren’s twin than her younger sister.They had the same thick brown hair, and eerily, the same brown eyes.The only difference was that while Lauren’s were now vacant, Molly’s were alert and red-tinged.It was almost like staring at a ghost.
“Detective Bray?”she said as they got out of the car.
“Yes, and this is our police consultant, Jessie Hunt,” Karen told her.
“Yes, I recognize you from the news,” Molly said, unsettled.“Don’t you mostly go after serial killers.Is that what this is?”
“Not that we know of,” Jessie answered.“I’m a criminal profiler, so my job is to try to create a suspect profile for any case I’m assigned to.That’s what we’re trying to do with your sister’s killer.And that’s why we want to talk to you: to give us details about Lauren’s life that might help us determine what kind of person could do this.”
“Well, thanks for coming by so early,” Molly said, “Please come in the house.”
“Thank you,” Jessie said as they followed her back up the path to the house.“We’ll try not to take up too much of your time.It looks like you’re dressed to go somewhere.”
