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“Personal to her,” Jo asks, pointing toward my phone, “or me?”
I purse my lips, and Jensen shrugs. He’s here, mainly, to ensure I don’t spiral while talking to the two of them. “It makes sense that it’s for whoever wronged the copycat. It could be personal to them or personal to the killer they idolize. In this case, we’re positive it has to be a threat towards you, Jo.”
We go over some details again after Jo and Vinny give Murrey what he needs to file the report. Vinny closes the front curtains shortly after and I briefly spot the SUV outside is in the same place. I’m kind of surprised with two trained killers sitting out there that someone managed to get a shot off to begin with, but at the time the gun went off I was already climbing out of my car with Jensen. They could’ve been startled to see the two of us arriving, but from what I’ve heard the last week about the Ajello Family those two shouldn’t be surprised by much of anything. Especially if they work under Massimo.
Jo was colder to me before Vinny drew me aside to talk about the book, and I shot off a text to Soto as he spoke. As Vinny tells me about some book his sister has, Jensen speaks with Jo. She’s a little less tense with him, but Jensen is good at making people comfortable. I catch bits and pieces of their conversation when Vinny falls silent, glaring out the window. “Konrad, really?”
“Guilty as charged,” Jensen tells her with a laugh. “That’s why I just always introduce myself as Agent Jensen. My first name isn’t that important for most people anyway.”
“We know about the book,” I tell Vinny, trying to zone out their conversation again. “Soto said it’s not online and the places it does claim to be available all pop up as scams or incomplete text files. The author never made a specific ebook for it. She’s searched the name C. Harrowths and a lot of results came up, but for the most part the information she finds related to the author mentions their passing a few years ago. Your sister doesn’t have any other information on it?”
“It’s supposed to be outdated,” he says, frowning at me. We’re standing together by the kitchen sink, leaning on the counter. This is about as informal an interview is going to get between us. “What was that name?”
I raise a brow. “C. Harrowths? She - or he - was the author. There isn’t a ton online about them so it’s probably just a pen name.”
“Huh.” He scratches his chin, before looking towards Jo. I missed what she’s talking to Jensen about now. “Darling? Does the name C. Harrowths mean anything to you?”
“What?” she asks, looking over. Recognition drifts through her gaze a moment later and her eyes widen. “Oh! There was an applicant for the club under that name. Remember I thought it was fake? Lots of people do that when they are afraid of applying with their birth names. Why?”
I meet Vinny’s gaze. There’s no way two people with that name get mentioned in a serial killer case and as an applicant to a sex club several states away, managed by someone involved in said case. “Your club. Would it save any information for the applicant?”
Jo raises a brow. “Of course. There's a general application with a lot of questions and then a simpler contact form. I don’t know which one Harrowths used, but it should be saved into the system.”
I nod, pushing off the counter. “We’ll need that information. We can draft a warrant with the Colorado Judicial Branch-”
She waves a hand. “It’s fine. I’m pretty sure the user just entered a few questions into a contact form. I don’t think there’s much you can get from it, but you can look if you want. I can find it for you.”
I nod, rattling off a text to Soto as we speak. “We’ll get something drafted so the information is obtained legally, but if you have access to the application or contact form and can send it to my analyst that might save time. A dead woman shouldn't be applying for sex clubs.”
Jo nods, and I glance down as a text comes in from Soto. I’ve blown up her phone over the last half hour, and now she’s finally gotten a moment to respond between my requests.
Soto
I ran the new images you sent from the Thompson crime scene and the key you found in her bag appears to match the same skill level as the other two keys. They appear to all be cut by the same locksmith with the same amount of skill. They are not perfect duplicates, but if you send someone to test the key I bet it will almost open Thomspson’s front door.
Soto works fast. The key from Odell’s crime scene is the same type of blank from Swan’s place, and although blanks are pretty hard to distinguish, both of those keys had slight imperfections when compared to the originals. A third one just creates a pattern.
But this seems to confirm that the same locksmith cut these keys for the original CGS and the copycat.
“I want to go back to the prison,” Jo says, cutting off my train of thought. I lift my gaze, and we’re all staring at her with different levels of confusion. “To speak with Alastair one more time.”
“Why?” I ask her. After the last several weeks I expected her to hate going there, and from what I’ve seen she’s never once been excited about it.
“Your new victim,” she says, nodding to my phone. I tuck it away in my pocket again. “You said she looks a little bit like me, and she shouldn’t if the new killer has a different type. Alastair always killed women who resembled me. I want to hear him admit why. Maybe you can use that for your new killer.”
That’s not how it works, but Vinny speaks before I can. “You know why, darling. His obsession with you reached an unhealthy level. You don’t need to-”
“I know why,” she agrees with a snap, “But knowing and being told are different. He never said it to my face. He never said the exact words in court. I want him to say why.” She blinks, looking away. “He owes me that much.”
I glance at Jensen. We personally made a house call because I knew that the reality of the victim change could trigger Jo. It could bring up repressed memories or old fears that she hasn’t had to deal with, but she also needed to be aware of the very real possibility that the killer is switching his attention to her.
This is an emotional response, and it could make her unpredictable if she speaks with Alastair again. Even chatting over the phone could cause a scene, but this whole time she’s not looked as emotionally wrecked as she does right now. And we haven’t been the nicest when it comes to bringing up the past. I expected our persistence to bother her more than this.
But if Alastair sees her emotional and hurting, that could trigger a response of his own. Good or bad, it would be something.
My eyes look between Jo and Vinny, weighing my options. If they can’t help us after this, going home is safer. I want answers from Alastair and to lock up his copycat, not to put Jo or her husband in danger. “Okay, we can go tomorrow and have one more meeting. We’ll see if it’s enough to get Alastair to talk. If it’s not, I’ll buy your plane tickets myself. If Alastair doesn’t talk when he sees how upset you are, Jo, he’s never going to.”
Chapter 16