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Reisman pursed his lips. “‘You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land ofEgypt.’”
They waited, but when he said nothing further, Ethan pressed, “So someone did come hereyesterday?”
“That’s my business, isn’tit?”
“Actually, it’s ours.” Ethan’s voice hardened. “We’re conducting a homicide investigation and we have reason to believe the perpetrator is the person who appeared at your door. We want to talk to you aboutthat.”
“I have nothing to say.” Reisman took a step back, as if making to close the door, and the realization hit Alexa like a fist to the solarplexus.
He didn’t recognizeher.
Somehow, the possibility had never occurred. But it should have. She’d never been more than a mouth to feed when she’d been living there. Another mind to bend and mold into his idea of a pious young woman. He’d kept her in line with beatings when she was younger, but he’d grown wilier by the time she was a teen. Any hint of less than total obedience from Alexa would be taken out on her mother. Once Alexa had realized that, Reisman had the control over her that he’d alwayssought.
She knew if she didn’t stop him, he’d shut the door on them and nothing would compel him to reopen it. She couldn’t allow that tohappen.
“He was asking questions about me, wasn’t he? And you welcomed him into your home. Shared our history as if you’d known him foryears.”
The man visibly started and then stared hard at her, his lips moving silently. “AlexaHayden? It’s you, isn’t it, Grace?” His mouth twisted into an ugly sneer. And that, too, was familiar. “You found yet another man to marry you? Your type always finds a soft place toland.”
“Mytypeearned doctorates in forensic entomology and forensic psychology.” She kept her voice hard. It was always a mistake to show any sign of weakness to the man. He’d used it as a weapon to bludgeon herwith.
“‘Pride goeth before afall.’”
“Your empty platitudes are just that. You were asked about the conversation with a stranger who came to your house yesterday.” The only way the UNSUB could have seen that photo was if he’d come here. And once Reisman started spouting Bible verses, the offender would have known just how to play the man. If Alexa was correct about the killer’s motivation, the two men might be kindred spirits. Both used religion to condone theiractions.
“I’ve never had much use for the police.” The man glowered at Ethan. “Always butting their noses into people’s privatebusiness.”
“You can answer our questions here, or come with us to the RCMP detachment to explain why you’re covering for a man who has killed fifteen people,” she said crisply. And watched the comprehension belatedly filter into his expression, before he shook his head indisbelief.
“A murderer? I don’t believe you. You were always a wicked girl, refusing to embrace the light I brought into your life. And you ended up exactly as I always expected. A penniless, pregnant tramp who slept with anyone who crooked a finger. Drove your mother to an early death, not that you’d care aboutthat.”
It was no more than she expected from him. But Ethan opened the screen and took a step toward the man, who must have sensed the threat in the movement. He shrank away. “Be very careful,” Ethan warned in a deceptively quiet voice. “She’s not a child anymore, to be bullied by the likes of you. She’s offered you a choice, and it’s one you need to makenow.”
Reisman angled his jaw. “Who said anyone stopped here?” he asked Alexatruculently.
“I say. Because you gave him a photo of my mother and me. Or showed it to him and he took a picture of it. And then he shared it with me, and I knew immediately where he’d gottenit.”
“I didn’t give him any of the pictures. They were Rebecca’s and now they belong to me.” Alexa couldn’t believe he’d even kept any old photos. Certainly, he couldn’t claim sentimental attachment. To Thomas Reisman, Rebecca’s life had begun the moment he’d walked into it. Nothing that had happened before was of consequence. IncludingAlexa.
“But you showed them to him,” she prompted. Her hand curled around the wrought-iron railing on the side of the steps. “Did he ask youto?”
“He came in the afternoon. Two or so. I was taking a nap. He said that he knew you, that the two of you had met and were becoming friends. He knew you’d grown up in Truro and wanted to pay his respects. You wouldn’t understand anything about respect,” he said to Alexa bitterly. “I don’t believe all these lies you’re telling about him. It was obvious that he was a godly man. A goodman.”
“Because he could match you in Bibleverses?”
“‘The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.’ I brought him a glass of water and we spoke of biblical things.” Reisman’s voice went sly. “I told him what a disappointment you’d been to us. How wickedly you’d turned away from the Lord. He understood, he said. He had family of his own. And yes, he wanted to see pictures of you. Asked a lot of questions about your life before I lifted Rebecca and you out of poverty and showed you the path towardGod.”
“Did he introducehimself?”
The man cocked his head. “Anas. Anos. Anis. I think he said Anis. AnisTera.”
A hard clutch of nerves tangled in Alexa’s belly. The UNSUB had used the same name when he’d contacted Simard. The offender had to know they’d come to talk to Reisman. He must be confident there was no way to tie the alias to his true identity. Certainly, the team’s attempts to do so had been unsuccessful. But the alias was important to him; it closely entwined the insect predator he emulated with his ownacts.
“You say he was here aroundtwo?”
Reisman answered Ethan sullenly. “I said about then. I don’t know precisely. We spoke a while out here before I invited himinside.”
A serial killer had elicited an invitation to step inside Reisman’s home. His wife’s daughter had been met with vitriol. The irony wasjarring.