Page 26 of It's One of Us

“Interestingly, Will, this is a phenomenon limited to the males of the species. While we might be in a situation where we don’t who a father is, we do have a tendency to know when a kid is ours or not. Considering we give birth to them.”

“Point taken,” he says, saluting with two fingers. “Still. Something just smells wrong about this. The way he reacted. Like it was inevitable that we’d come calling.”

Now she leans back in the chair and joins his makeshift footstool. “Don’t you think that’s got a lot to do with his past? He was a suspect in a murder. Even though it turned out to be someone else, that’s gotta fracture a guy, right? He was a kid, and it went unsolved for a while. That’s hung over his head all these years.”

“Yeah. Still—”

Joey’s phone rings. “Moore. Yeah? Let’s hear it.”

She sets her phone on the desk and hits the speaker. “Tip line got a call about Cooke. Says it’s a live one.”

A girl’s quiet but excited voice plays through the speaker.

“I need to report something that might help with the Beverly Cooke case.”

“Would you like to identify yourself?”

“Nooo. Um. So. There’s this group of people who are all related. And they are related to the killer, though I don’t know who that is.”

“A group, ma’am? Can you be more specific? You know the killer’s family?”

“Um, sort of. We...all have the same dad.”

“I see. So you believe your brother is the suspect in the Cooke case?”

“Oh, no. Not my brother. A half brother. A half sibling. We all have the same donor father. I don’t know who that is, though.”

“Donor father?”

“Yes. A sperm donor. There’s a whole group of us, and apparently, one of us is the suspect in the Cooke case.”

“Ma’am, I’m going to need more information. Would you please at least give me a callback number so the detectives can contact you?”

Whispers, then the girl clears her throat. “615-555-8796. But I’d like to stay anonymous. Thank you.”

“Thank you, ma’am. We will do our very best with this information, and the detectives will probably be in touch.”

“Probably?” Osley says, reaching for the phone. “Shit, call her now.”

Moore is already dialing the number.

“That didn’t take long,” a voice says. It is not the girl’s voice from the tip line, but an older woman.

“Ma’am? Detectives Moore and Osley from Metro Nashville homicide. I understand you consented to be contacted about a tip regarding the Beverly Cooke case?”

“Yes, but I must insist that we stay out of this.”

“Understood. The suspect we’re looking for, you’re saying he’s one of a number of children, all fathered by the same sperm donor?”

“Yes. My daughter is a member of an online forum that is comprised of multiple children from the same donor, all who’ve found each other through an DNA database. One of them is apparently matched to the woman who was found in the lake.”

“Ma’am, it sure would make things easier if you could give us some concrete details. Can we come talk to you and your daughter?”

“We prefer to talk by phone. For now.”

Osley gives Moore a thumbs-up.

“Fair enough. We’re all ears, ma’am. Tell us what you can, and we’ll investigate.”