Page 120 of In Cold Blood

“That’s because you haven’t seen it all.”

She understood what he meant. Law enforcement saw the underbelly of society, the darkest side of humanity. It could weigh a person down, and destroy them if they allowed it.

Noah took a sip of Pepsi. “When do you take the position?”

“Hmmm?”

“The position?”

“In two weeks. I have to find a place up here before I begin but I’m sure I’ll find something suitable. A lot of open space, right?”

“For sure.”

Savannah eyed him and Noah could tell she was biting at the bit to say something. “You know there are senior investigator positions available.”

“Me? Working alongside Parish? I think not.”

“Rumor has it Parish won’t be back. With the damage thatwas done to his body, they don’t think he’ll be back out in the field. However, I got word today that he’s out of the coma, so who knows.”

Noah nodded. “Yeah. I need to swing by and see him.”

Savannah lifted her eyebrows. Noah brought her up to speed on the investigation and all that had been uncovered. She listened intently, never butting in, never probing deeper. She looked more concerned for him than for what the outcome would be. That’s what made her great to work with. Unlike many, she genuinely enjoyed law enforcement and cared for people. That’s what would make her a great lieutenant. Someone he would gladly work under.

“So, what news have you got?”

“Right,” she said, dabbing her lips and reaching into a leather briefcase.

She handed it to him.

“Parabon NanoLabs was able to create a raw DNA file and upload it to GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA. From that our genetic genealogist friend was able to get a list of matches of those who shared matching segments. With that, they can determine if it’s a grandparent, cousin, and so on. You know — someone who shares DNA with our witness. Anyway, once she found the common ancestor by working backward, she moved forward using census records, social media, birth records, marriage records, and death records to create a tree and locate children and their children and so on until she landed on two women. One whose DNA is in the database. Now she’s from one state over in Burlington, Vermont, but she matches the gender and age of the witness whose DNA we ran. We believe it’s her sister. We have a number and address for her.” She slid it across the table. “Judy Gordon.”

“Thanks, Savannah.”

“I hope it helps.”

31

Phone calls could be ignored, but showing up in person, not so much. It had always yielded the best results. Also, with this woman potentially being the only link to the witness, he didn’t want to take the chance of losing the lead, so he opted to drive out to Burlington.

The city was located roughly two hours east of High Peaks. It had many nicknames. B-town, the People’s Republic of Burlington, or what it was commonly referred to, as Queen City. It was perched on the edge of the eastern shore of Lake Champlain just south of the Canadian border. Noah could just see it in the distance as he crossed the bridge between Essex and Charlotte.

On his journey east, he’d received several calls from Callie but had just let them go to voicemail. It was easier that way. It was clear from his conversation with Roberts that in the eyes of the Adirondack County Sheriff’s Office, Luke’s case was in the bag.

It wasn’t. At least not for him.

He still had to know what occurred that night.

What had led Luke out to the middle of nowhere?

It would have been easy to assume that Cyrus killed his brother over a grudge but somehow that didn’t ring true. There was more to it and he intended to find out.

Judy Gordon resided in the South End, in a very ordinary-looking neighborhood north of Market 32. Noah pulled onto Lyman Avenue and veered to the edge of the road across from a two-story house. As it was Sunday, the chance of finding someone home was high.

Still, when he strolled up to the white clapboard home with a wraparound porch and knocked on the door, he got no answer. He noticed there was no vehicle outside. The unattached garage was closed. He made his way over and peered through the glass.

“Can I help you?” an elderly man with white wispy hair asked. He was wearing yard gloves and holding gardening shears. Noah noticed several green branches on the ground. He was trimming up the hedge dividing the two properties. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, sending a sweet aroma his way as he walked over.

“I was wondering if Judy Gordon was in?”