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Chapter Thirty-Three

DETECTIVE PAIGE WALKER

I stand silently behind the one-way mirror, my eyes trained on Sean as he reads Katherine the questions I carefully penned down. My heart races with anticipation as I watch their interaction, waiting for Sean to complete the test so I can make an arrest.

He finishes, walks out of the room, and steps inside the room behind the one-way mirror.

“Well?” I ask.

“She’s telling the truth about everything.”

“And you don’t think she’s capable of outsmarting it?” I cock my head.

“I was watching her carefully, and no. I’m confident she’s telling the truth.” He leaves the room.

“Damn it!” I shout, placing my hands on my hips and pacing around the room.

“You have to let her go, Paige,” Elijah says.

I sigh and enter the room, where Sean removes Katherine's electrodes.

“You’re free to go,” I say.

“I told you I wasn’t lying,” she says. “My parents taught me right from wrong. We were the picture-perfect family—family dinners, annual vacations, and no secrets.” Her voice trembled as tears welled up in her eyes. “I swear I'm telling the truth. My parents raised me with love and compassion. They would never condone something as heinous as murder. I’ve never even killed an insect.”

“Don’t leave town, Katherine.” I stare at her.

She leaves the room, and I fall into the chair, tapping my fingers against the table as I study Katherine’s polygraph results. Even though I’m back at square one, something isn’t right. I feel a knot forming in my stomach as I try to piece together the puzzle of Katherine’s life.

I return to the whiteboard and stare at it. Oliver Tate was the last man who was murdered. It’s been a month now, and there hasn’t been anyone else, which leads me back to Katherine. She hasn’t been back to work at the law firm yet.

“You do know the more you stare at that board, nothing changes,” Elijah says.

“How you ever became a detective is beyond me.” I shake my head.

“I take offense to that, Walker.”

“Good, because I mean it. Let’s go over the timeline. Katherine witnessed her father’s murder when she was five. At the age of sixteen, her boyfriend was murdered. Her first husband was murdered, and she moved to New York City and took a job at a law firm. Not too long after she’s moved from property law to divorce, cheating husbands start getting murdered. Then, her second husband was murdered. All the victims, including her father, were stabbed twenty-two times. Twenty-two. At least now we know why that number is so significant.”

“But if Katherine didn’t commit the murders, who did? Who else knew about her father?” Elijah asks .

“I don’t know. It could be anybody from her past. Or, it’s her.”

“Come on, Paige. She passed the polygraph. She’s telling the truth. You’re so fixated that she’s the killer you aren’t seeing what’s in front of you. Besides, there’s absolutely no evidence tying her to the murders. For God’s sake, she was almost killed herself the first time.”

“Which makes no sense,” I say.

“Her husband was found a few feet away from her in the other room. Why wouldn’t the killer finish what he started?”

“Like we said before. Maybe he got spooked and ran out of the house.”

“Then why didn’t he try and kill her again the second time?” I arch my brow. “She was right upstairs passed out from that pill. He could have done it within seconds.”

“I don’t know,” Elijah sighs. “This case is a shitshow of nothing.”