Page 7 of The Last To Know (Hallowed Halls Series #2)

H e’d never been to Grand Island. Before the nightmare became part of every waking moment of his life, Cooper had grown up in Rochester. Went to school there until shortly after his thirteenth birthday.

But even though he hadn’t been here before, that feeling inside his gut was the same as when he’d been taken to the station in Rochester. Asked dozens of questions he couldn’t answer.

“Cooper?” Hannah’s tone confirmed two things. She’d been trying to get his attention for a while, and she was worried by his lack of response.

“Sorry. Shall we?”

Zeke took his ability to form an answer as the green light and climbed into the back seat behind Cooper. Hannah went around to the passenger side.

“I’ve pulled up directions to the Witherspoon house,” Zeke told them. “Looks like it’s a couple of miles away.”

Cooper backed up, left the airport, and turned onto Grand Island Boulevard.

“Staley is coming up in less than a quarter mile,” Zeke said. “Turn left there.”

Cooper followed his instructions while glancing Hannah’s way. She’d been unusually quiet since they got into the Suburban. Was it the case or his past or what he’d done wrong to drive her away ?

“There’s Staley.” Zeke seemed oblivious to the tension radiating from the front seat.

Cooper pushed whatever was wrong between himself and Hannah aside and made the turn. He drove until he spotted the Witherspoon’s turnoff.

The road wound through a tree-lined driveway where each curve provided glimpses of a manmade lake.

Once the house became visible, Zeke blew out a whistle. “That’s some place.” Past a manicured yard, the gray shake-sided house sprawled before them.

A police cruiser and an unmarked vehicle waited for them. Two men and a woman got out as they approached.

Cooper parked a little away from the two officers.

Zeke climbed from the SUV right away.

Before Cooper could follow, Hannah grabbed his arm. “Are you sure you’re up to this?” She clearly wasn’t.

Cooper reached for the door handle. “Of course, I am. This is what we do, right? The job comes before everything else.” Yeah, it was a jab at her, and the way she flinched confirmed it had hit home.

Feeling like a heel at the childish comment, he waited for her to follow.

Hannah glared at him over the top of the SUV, confirming he’d hurt her.

Zeke looked between them. “Whatever you two are fighting about, knock it off.” He directed most of his anger at his sister, confirming Zeke knew the reason behind his sister’s cold behavior toward him. “We have work to do.”

Cooper kept his questions to himself. Zeke was right. They had to figure out what kind of creep would want to copy his father’s work.

“Chief Milam?” Cooper addressed the man wearing a uniform.

“That’s right.”

Cooper shook the man’s hand and introduced himself and the team .

“This is Detective Kate Siegler. She’s the lead detective on the case. And Detective Alex Jordan. They’ll be assisting you in any way necessary.”

“I appreciate it.” Cooper told the two detectives. “Can you tell us what you have so far?” He’d hold off looking at the crime scene until the detectives had run through the case for them.

“Not much more than what we gave your commanding officer earlier today. The state police lent us access to their crime scene techs and lab since we don’t have one ourselves.” Siegler seemed young to be the lead detective and all business. With her light-brown hair secured in a ponytail, her brown eyes assessed his team. Her dark-gray business suit, which wasn’t something she appeared comfortable wearing, seemed to indicate she might not have been a detective all that long.

“The medical examiner puts time of death between ten and eleven yesterday evening. That lines up with the timeframe her husband gave us. He received the call around ten.”

“CSI come up with anything useful?” Cooper asked the detective.

Siegler shook her head. “We haven’t found the murder weapon. No knives were missing. He obviously brought the weapon with him and probably took it. No fingerprints. No DNA so far.”

“There was evidence that he may have watched her before he entered the home,” Detective Jordan inserted. “Some of the plants were tramped down. Techs made impressions of the shoeprint. They’ll let us know what type of shoe made it soon.”

“Why don’t we take a look inside the house now?” Zeke said.

Siegler looked to Cooper for confirmation, assuming he was in charge.

Cooper suppressed a smile. Zeke was the senior agent.

Siegler hesitated briefly. “Absolutely.”

“I’ll leave you in the hands of my detectives. If I can be of any further assistance, please let me know.” Chief Milam shook their hands before leaving.

“Looks like Mrs. Witherspoon left the garage door unlocked.” Siegler continued her oratory. “The killer must have entered through here.” She opened the door with a gloved hand.

The kitchen was off the garage. Though it had been hours since the murder occurred, the metallic scent, like rust and iron, from the massive amount of blood overpowered all others.

Cooper stopped dead. Everything except that word faded away.

Siegler’s voice became background noise to the drumming of his heart. He was back in the basement watching as his mother breathed her lasts breaths.

“Coop? You okay?”

Cooper forced himself to focus on Zeke’s face. Perspiration beaded his upper lip. He clenched his hands while trying to steady his breathing. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

Zeke wasn’t convinced. Past Zeke’s troubled expression, Hannah’s sympathetic one made him angry. He didn’t want her pity. He wanted . . .

“According to Giselle Witherspoon’s husband, she had fallen and hurt herself at rehearsal several months back, basically ending her career as a ballerina.” Jordan shrugged. “A shame. I saw her perform once.”

A broken wine glass littered the floor. Signs of a struggle.

“She fought for her life.” Hannah pointed to the state of the living room and kitchen. Items were knocked from the end table. A chair had been turned over.

“Giselle’s phone was tossed across the room.” Siegler indicated a spot on the floor near the kitchen devoid of blood.

“She called the one person she believed could help her.” Cooper remembered thinking his father would save his mother.

“Unfortunately, no one could have saved her.”

Cooper frowned at the undertone in Hannah’s comment while wishing he understood what had changed between them.

“Nothing taken from the home?” Zeke asked Siegler who shook her head.

“No sign of a robbery. The husband did a walk-through. ”

“We’ll need to speak to him.” Cooper walked to the living room window. Below he noticed the crushed plants where the killer had hidden and wondered why someone had chosen to use his father’s MO after so long. It wasn’t as if Oliver Ellison were a particularly famous serial killer. He’d taken lives within a hundred-mile radius of his home. He’d been caught and shanked in prison. There were many more well-known killers out there to imitate. What had attracted the killer to the Embalmer?

He turned from the window. “We need to speak with any prisoner or anyone else who might have spoken to my father while he was incarcerated.”

“Your father?” Siegler was clearly surprised.

Cooper didn’t choose to enlighten her.

Hannah came over. “What are you thinking?”

“My father may have had an apprentice. Someone with whom he shared the tricks of his trade.”