Bray gave him a condescending smile.
“Because it looks like both Sarah Winters and Lauren Mitchell have a personal connection to the same man.”
“Who is that?”Carl asked.This was new news.
“His name is Jason Mannix,” Hunt told him.“He was ‘married’ to Mitchell and it looks like he spent at least part of the night of her murder at Winters’s home.”
Carl screwed up his face in confusion.“That’s an interesting connection.But if he was in San Diego at the time of Mitchell’s murder, that seems like a pretty ironclad alibi.”
“His phone and car were at Winters’s place,” Detective Bray said.“We’re not sure thathewas there.Just like it appears that his phone and car were at the Peninsula Resort in Palos Verdes last night while Winters was killed in San Diego.But we have yet to verify that he was there.”
“Wait, you think that he left his GPS-enabled devices in one city while taking a different vehicle to another city to commit murder?And that he did that on two consecutive nights?”
“We don’t know what to think,” Hunt told him.“But his connection to both women is curious to say the least.That’s why we’re having him brought in.An officer should be back here with him within the hour.”
Webb crossed his arms in frustration.
“But wouldn’t this guy Mannix know that he’d be the prime suspect in both killings once his GPS data was unearthed?What could possibly be the motive for taking such a risk?”
“Who knows?”Bray told him.“Maybe he was having an affair with Sarah Winters and realized that she could destroy his alibi, so he decided to shut her up?He’s already made one mistake by lying about where he was staying on Tuesday night.He said he was at a buddy’s.It’s possible that he was trying to cover that lie up.Maybe he just panicked.”
“Or maybe it’s not him at all,” Hunt proffered.“Maybe someone is setting him up to take the fall for these women’s murders. We’re hoping to get some clarity when we talk to him.”
Carl wanted to revisit something else Hunt had said earlier.“When you referenced Mannix’s marriage to Mitchell earlier, you used air quotes.What was that about?”
Hunt sighed at the question.Clearly the topic bothered her in some way.
“It looks like they weren’t officially married,” she said.“They had a wedding, complete with guests.But so far, it looks like it was a sham, perpetrated by Mannix to make Lauren Mitchell think it was legitimate when it wasn’t.”
“Why would he do that?”Carl asked, befuddled.
“I have no idea,” Hunt told him.
“Okay, do you have any proof of this potential affair with Winters that might serve as a motive to kill her?Phone calls between them maybe?”
“Not a single one,” Bray replied, “which is kind of suspicious, don’t you think?”
“We’re wondering if he maybe had a burner that he used to communicate with Winters,” Hunt suggested.
“Well,” he said, tugging at his suit jacket again, “if heisthe guy, then this should be an easy case to close.I appreciate all your hard work.It will come in handy when I interrogate Mannix.”
“You mean whenweinterrogate him,” Bray said.
Under normal circumstances, he would have felt a little bad about what he had to say next.But Detective Karen Bray had been dismissive and rude, and he actually took some churlish pleasure in breaking the news.
“Nope,” he told her.“I’m relieving you.You’re more than welcome to continue to do research to lock down helpful details, but as far as frontline case work, CBI will handle things from now on.”
The stunned looks on the faces of Bray, Hunt and even that Susannah person told him he might have been a little too harsh.
“Don’t feel bad though,” he said quickly, trying to compensate.“It sounds like we may be close to a confession, right?”
“You’re a real piece of—,” Susannah or whatever her name was started to say angrily before Hunt cut her off.
“I wouldn’t make that assumption, Special Agent Webb,” she said.
“Why is that?”
“There’s just too much we don’t know at this point.Nothing adds up.If Mannix planned all these details out in advance, why was he so sloppy in other ways?And having met the man, he doesn’t give off the vibe of a double murderer.That doesn’t prove anything, but it’s worth keeping in mind.”
