Looking at Peyton and me, Lucas shook his head. “You do.”
I would have told the guy he was a fucking idiot.
“Leighton Clarke was a friend of Moulton,” Lucas continued. “She called you and reported that she’d seen the man with Moulton the night she was killed.”
“Clarke, yeah, I remember that one. We couldn’t confirm that sighting.”
I rolled my eyes. He couldn’t confirm it because they were incompetent for not following up with the determination it took to catch a psycho serial killer.
“Sergeant, she’s here with me right now. Leighton, did you or did you not see your friend Cassandra Moulton eating dinner with a man the night she disappeared?”
“Yes, I did,” Peyton said confidently, but with a bit of a slur.
I stepped in quickly to prevent her inebriated state from affecting her credibility. “She called the tip line about it and later told Detective Flynn. He wanted her to return to Boston, but she was too scared, because the Strangler had already threatened her.”
“And you are? How many people are on this call?”
“Zane March, Hawk Security,” I filled in.
“Zane is assigned to Leighton’s security,” Lucas explained. “And Zane, myself, and Leighton are the only three on this call.”
“How did he threaten you?” O’Connor asked. He seemed reluctant to believe Peyton.
I put a hand on her knee and spoke for her. “Because he sent her the same flowers and handwritten note that he’d sent her friend Cassandra.”
“Hmm… What flowers?” he asked.
“Pink roses,” I said. “A dozen of them.”
Peyton nodded. “Blush pink.”
“Shit.” The sergeant blew out an audible breath. “Sorry to sound like I didn’t believe you guys. For as long as we’ve been on this investigation, we’ve been getting a dozen tips a week, and none of them fucking pan out.”
Still, that was no excuse for not following up on every single one. Police work could be hard and tedious, but that was the job.
“Do you believe us now?” Lucas asked.
“Absolutely,” O’Connor said. “No hard feelings, I hope. The pink roses and the handwritten card are details we’ve never released. So tell me more about this sighting of my guy where you are.”
“He sent Leighton a double batch of flowers and a card today,” I told him. “It was the same handwriting, right?”
“The same,” Peyton confirmed as she set her glass down.
“And she saw him when he followed her to a local shop.” I didn’t elaborate that it was a pawnshop, or that she’d been on the way out of town. “He was gone by the time we arrived to escort her home,” I added.
“Okay, but hey, we’re keeping those flower details under wraps, understood?”
Lucas shook his head at O’Connor’s paranoia. “It’s your investigation. Getting back to this guy. We believe he’s been in town for at least a few days and hired some local thugs to terrorize Leighton.”
“We’d still like to talk to you, Ms. Clarke.”
Peyton shivered under my hold.
I made the decision for her. “You’ll have to come here for that. She’s not going back to Boston, period.”
“Got it. We really want to get this guy, so I’ll send somebody. You said you’re in LA, right?” he asked.
Lucas relaxed. “That’s right. Your guy can reach me day or night at this number. Have him bring a copy of your entire case file for us to review.” It was a long shot, and Lucas held up two crossed fingers.
