CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
May felt sick at the thought of where they needed to go next, but she couldn't back down from it. This case had taught her that nothing was what it seemed, and she was going to take this theory as far as it could go.
This could be an important new angle that could take them back into the past to explore a relationship in a whole new way.
"Who are you thinking we missed?" Owen asked. He sounded anxious. May didn't blame him. This entire situation was making her anxiety flare.
"It was something Dean said while we were interviewing him," she explained.
"And that was?"
"He said that Esther wasn't the person we all thought she was. That made me think, what if she is the person we've all been looking for?"
"Esther?" Owen sounded appalled by the thought. "You mean, Molly's best friend at school?"
"She would have known all the victims. Dean said she was different from all the other girls in her class. That she wanted to change society. And that she had a terrible temper. He told us she never forgot when people wronged her."
"I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm having trouble seeing Esther as the killer," Owen said, frowning. "I mean, I know she was a rebel, but could she have killed three people? Broken into the houses, gone to such lengths?"
"I don't know that yet, but it's the only thing that makes sense to me. And even Dean picked up that maybe, she and Molly weren't as good friends as everyone thought. What if Esther was someone who battled to have close relationships, because deep down, she's a psychopathic killer? I just don't like the difference in the way Dean described her."
"I suppose, but it seems like a big leap. What do you think she has to gain from this?"
"It's not just a question of gaining. When people kill someone they're close to, it can be out of revenge. Esther could have been harboring resentment over how she was treated. She could have perceived that she was wronged by those three victims. I think that's what Dean was hinting at. That she's been quietly, slowly, planning something. Going to these lengths is something she would do over time, I think. She would have been planning it for a long time."
"I still find it hard to accept," Owen said. "If you were frustrated and angry that someone had done something to you, wouldn't you want to get revenge on them sooner, if you were that kind of person?"
"Not necessarily. There could have been a triggering event in her life that could have tipped her over into this," May insisted.
They were standing in the police station's lobby, having the discussion in low voices.
Owen sighed. "I suppose I'm just not sure. I mean, she does seem like a good suspect, but I'm not sure about that link. It's a big leap."
"What else have we got? Owen, one of these victims is Sheriff Jack's son-in-law. Another is linked to the police also. This crime is close to home, and we still have no idea who did it. We need to explore all the leads we can. Even if she's not the killer, she was close to all the victims. She might be able to give us more information on them."
May felt frustrated. Why wasn't Owen as convinced by this lead as she was?
"I just don't know," he said, and he still sounded unsure. "But let's do this. Let's give it a shot."
They walked through to the back office, and May found a free desk with a computer. Quickly, they logged onto the database and looked up Esther's address details.
She lived in an apartment near Eagle Lake. May wrote down the address details, but then hesitated.
"She might not be at home. At this time, she's likely to be at work. Can we get her work details from any of these databases?"
"Let's take a look," Owen said.
May tapped keys, accessing the information that she hoped would be there. Of course, at this crucial time, it wasn’t.
"I'm not coming up with anything here. Are you coming up with something on your side?" Technology was not on May's side today. The database was slow, and it wasn't giving her the specifics she needed.
Yet again, May found herself wishing that she was part of the FBI. She guessed that anxious, competitive feeling would never leave her mind when she was on a case. She always had an urge to try and work faster and better than she was doing. The FBI databases always seemed to be up. Kerry had never had a problem getting any information.
But this wasn't Kerry's case. She couldn't ask her sister to log into the FBI databases to get background on something that was still only a hunch.
"What about a phone number?" Owen asked.
"There's no phone number listed here." May spread her hands in frustration.
