Diana looked troubled. "And sometimes I catch her looking at him with this... I don't know how to describe it. This hatred. Like he did something unforgivable and she can't stand to be in the same room with him."
"Catherine died in a construction site accident," Maria said. "Why would Rebecca blame Charles for that?"
"I don't know. Maybe just because it was his project, his company, his responsibility." Diana shrugged helplessly. "Or maybe there's more to it that I don't know about. Rebecca keeps everything locked up inside. She's polite to me, civil, but she never lets me in. But God knows she needs to let someone in." She said the last few words under her breath.
"What makes you say that?" Kari asked.
Diana made a vague gesture with her hand. "She's just… I don't know. I worry about her. She's functional on the surface, alright. She goes to work, does her job with the foster care system, maintains the appearance of being okay. But underneath..."
Diana shook her head. "She's not okay. She's obsessed with her mother's memory. She keeps Catherine's room exactly asit was when she died—like a shrine. And a few months ago, she found boxes of her mother's old files in storage. Work documents, personal papers, I'm not sure exactly what. But she's been going through them obsessively ever since."
"What kind of files?" Kari asked.
"I don't know. Rebecca doesn't share with me. But whatever she found seemed to upset her even more, made the tension with Charles even worse." Diana paused. "Around that same time, she started volunteering somewhere. Legal aid work, I think, or some kind of advocacy organization. She mentioned helping with environmental causes or indigenous rights, something like that. She'd leave for a few hours several times a week, come back looking... I don't know. Purposeful. Like she'd found something meaningful to focus on."
Kari exchanged glances with Maria. Environmental causes. Legal aid. That could easily be Hatathli's office, which might mean access to his DNA.
"Did Rebecca know the victims?" Maria asked. "Garrison, Hoffman, Sheridan?"
"She met them at business dinners here at the house. Charles would have investor meetings or contractor dinners, and Rebecca would sit through them because Charles insisted on 'family presence.'" Diana's expression grew thoughtful. "Now that you mention it, Rebecca asked me questions about them. About Garrison's investment structure, about Hoffman's role in approving permits, about Victor's construction practices. I thought she was just making conversation or maybe finally taking an interest in her father's business. But the questions were specific, detailed."
"When did she ask these questions?" Kari asked.
"Over the past few months. The last one was maybe two weeks ago, asking about Victor—about how well he knew Charles, whether he'd been involved in the resort projectfrom the beginning, whether he would have known about..." Diana stopped. "She asked whether Victor would have known about problems with Catherine's death. Whether he'd been the contractor on that project too."
Kari felt her pulse quicken. "And was he?"
"Yes. Victor's company did that project. The one where Catherine died." Diana looked between them, confusion and dawning concern on her face. "Why are you asking about Rebecca? You don't think—"
"And she's with Sterling now?" Kari asked urgently.
"She and Charles went for a walk about an hour ago. Maybe longer." Diana checked her watch. "She said she wanted to talk to him privately about something important. About Catherine, I think. She specifically asked him to walk with her so they could discuss 'Mom.'"
"Call him," Kari said. "Right now."
Diana pulled out her phone. She dialed, putting it on speaker. It rang six times before going to voicemail.
"Charles, it's Diana. The detectives need to speak with you urgently. Please call me back right away."
She tried Rebecca's number next. Same result—straight to voicemail after several rings.
"Where did they go?" Maria was already standing. "Which direction?"
"Toward the back of the property. There's a trail that leads to an overlook about half a mile from here." Diana stood too, fear clear on her face now. "What's happening? Why are you asking about Rebecca?"
Kari was trying to process everything Diana had revealed. Rebecca blaming Charles for Catherine's death. Rebecca finding Catherine's old files and becoming obsessed with them. Rebecca volunteering at what could be Hatathli's office—giving her access to collect his DNA. Rebecca asking specific questionsabout the three victims before they were killed. Rebecca knowing all three victims from business dinners at this house. Rebecca specifically requesting this walk with her father to discuss Catherine.
"Diana, you said Rebecca found her mother's old files," Kari said. "Did Rebecca ever say what was in them?"
"No. But whatever it was upset her. Made her angry." Diana was pulling on shoes now, preparing to go look for Charles and Rebecca. "She wouldn't tell me specifics, but she said something once about how people needed to pay for what they'd done. About how her mother deserved justice."
"Justice for what?" Maria asked.
"I don't know! Rebecca doesn't confide in me." Diana grabbed her keys. "But you're scaring me. What do you think Rebecca is going to do?"
Kari looked at Maria, seeing the same realization in her partner's eyes. "It's possible Rebecca has been eliminating everyone who knew about illegal practices at your boyfriend's construction projects—practices that may have led to her mother's death. It's also possible she specifically asked her father to take this walk so she could confront him away from witnesses."
Diana's face went white. "No. No, that's insane. Rebecca is a social worker. She helps children. She's not a killer."
