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I pointed to my forehead. ‘Glioblastoma. Inoperable. Only got a few weeks left to live, if that.’

‘I see. I’m sorry to hear that.’

I shrugged off the pity I could feel emanating from him. ‘It’s fine. Not the first time I’ve had cancer, but it will be the last. I’ve made peace with it. My point is that I understand this sounds a little… out there, but it’s true. Kali and Chance are dead, but there is a woman who needs help. That’s why I called. Thisfucker needs be behind bars before he can hurt anyone else, and his victims deserve justice.’

He leaned back and lifted his shades so we could finally have an unobstructed view of one another. His eyes were squinty, and a dark brown shade that blended into the pupils and made his eyes look black. And beady.

‘You truly believe what you’re saying,’ he said disbelievingly.

‘I do. I know it sounds insane, but it’s the truth. A serial killer is living next door, and he’s just murdered my friend, and he’s about to murder someone else. Iknowit.’

He studied me in silence for a few minutes, and I let him. I let him see how serious I was, how desperate I was for him to believe me.

But I wasn’t that lucky.

He leaned forward with a sigh, resting his elbows on his knees as he levelled me with a concerned expression. ‘Mr Emeric, I hate to ask this question given your… delicate condition, but how sure can you be that this isn’t a product of your brain tumour?’

I blinked at him, taken aback by the question. He thought I was hallucinating, that it was all in my head?

‘Look, Detective. I know how insane this sounds, and I know how this looks, but I swear to you, this is real. I’m not making it up, and it isn’t my imagination running wild because of a tumour in my brain. I get seizures and dizzy spells, and sometimes my memory isn’t that great, but this isn’t a case of forgetfulness. My cancer has no bearing on the information I have given you, beyond allowing me to communicate with the dead woman who told me.’

But I could tell I had lost him.

He stood, eyeing me up like he felt sorry for me, but not like he believed me.

‘Thank you for your time, Mr Emeric, but I should be going now.’

I huffed a sad breath, disappointment dragging me down. ‘You’re going to regret this when she dies. When you realise you could have saved her.’

His next words, however, were so unexpected they shocked me to my core. ‘We have recently opened an investigation on Blake Dodd. Your statement today will be entered as evidence against him, even if it is circumstantial. I understand your concerns, and however your information may have been obtained, unconventionally or otherwise, I can assure you it will not be dismissed. Thank you for your time, Mr Emeric, and I wish you the best of luck in battling your cancer.’

He let himself out, and only once the sound of his cruiser trailed off into the distance did Mikey make his appearance.

‘They were already onto Blake,’ he stated, just as shocked at these turn of events as me.

‘You heard that?’

‘I heard it all. I thought he was going to run, not admit that Blake was already under investigation.’

I hummed, then grimaced at the reminder of the detective’s favourite frustrating response.

Mikey stared off into the distance in the direction the detective had left. ‘Don’t cops usually work in pairs?’

‘Oh, yeah. I think so. Maybe his partner was waiting in the car, or they split up to investigate next door?’

‘Hmm. Maybe.’

I dismissed that line of thinking. It wasn’t my business who DeLuca worked with, and I had more pressing matters to concern myself with.

‘How’s Dakota?’

‘Sleeping. She crashed as soon as I tucked her in.’

I ran a hand down my face, the stress giving me a headache. Or maybe that was the tumour. It didn’t really matter where it came from, only that it hurt. ‘Poor woman. I can’t imagine what must be going through her head right about now.’

‘Nothing good,’ he said glumly.

‘No.’ I heaved a world-weary sigh and settled my exhausted body back into the cushions. ‘I wouldn’t expect so.’