Page 34 of The Perfect Deception (Jessie Hunt #40)

They were halfway to Elise Prager’s home when Ryan called.

Jessie picked up, though she kept an eye on Devery as he drove. The kid was so excited to be out in the field with her that he’d already had two near-accidents in the first few minutes on the road. He’d settled down since but she was still gripping the armrest hard.

“Hey,”

Ryan said.

“Beth called and explained your Vanessa Winston theory. She also said you wanted me to call.”

“That’s right. Did she tell you the questions I wanted you to ask Walter?”

“Yes, and I’ve already asked one. Why do you sound like you’re in a car?”

“Officer Devery and I are on our way to Elise Prager’s. I’m hoping she can give us potential addresses that Vanessa might have listed. If she did, we’ll send teams to check them out. What have you asked Walter so far?”

“About other property they own,”

Ryan said.

“He told us that they have a lake house up at Mammoth Lakes. He’s been meaning to sell it but hasn’t gotten around to it yet. I’m skeptical that she’s there. That’s over five hours away from L.A. Seems too far to use as a safe house in between murders.”

Jessie was disappointed but couldn’t dispute his analysis.

“We can ask law enforcement up there to check out the lake house, but I tend to agree. Is Walter there with you?”

“I’m sitting across from him right now.”

“Does he know our new theory?”

“He does,”

Ryan said.

“He’s having trouble processing it.”

“Can you put him on speaker?”

“Doing it now.”

A second later he spoke again.

“Mr. Winston, you’re on speaker with Jessie Hunt.”

“Mr. Winston?”

Jessie said.

There was no reply.

“He’s still in a bit of shock at the idea of his wife being the killer,”

Ryan said, explaining the silence.

Jessie felt for the guy but there wasn’t time for shock right now.

“Mr. Winston, I know this is a lot to take in but I need you to push past your emotions right now. Your wife likely killed four people and could be planning to do it again tonight, so I need straight answers from you. Do you understand?”

“He’s nodding,”

Ryan said.

“Okay, first of all, you said that beyond her depression, your wife was dealing with ‘other issues.’ Are we talking mental health issues?”

“He’s nodding again,”

Ryan said.

“Mr. Winston, we need you to respond verbally.”

“Okay.”

His voice was low and detached.

“What mental health issues are we talking about?’ Jessie asked.

“I don’t think she’d want me to say.”

He sounded completely broken.

“Mr. Winston,”

Jessie said, trying not to let her frustration get the better of her.

“we’re well past that. What issues did she have?”

Winston sighed deeply.

“In her twenties, she started having episodes where she became paranoid and thought that people were trying to persecute her. She knew something was wrong and went for help, where she was diagnosed as schizophrenic. She got on medication. By the time I met her, she had learned to manage it quite well.”

“Until?”

Jessie prodded.

“The year after we got married, she was under a lot of stress and at some point, she stopped taking her meds. She deteriorated rapidly, to the point of being hospitalized. They stabilized her. She didn’t have another incident since, at least not that I was aware of.”

“That you were aware of?”

He paused for a few moments.

“In that stretch when I got obsessed with Miriam Spaulding, I’m embarrassed to say that I wasn’t paying close attention to what was going on with Vanessa. I might have missed the signs.”

“Do you remember if Vanessa, in the time between discovering your fixation on Miriam and her supposed suicide, ever blamed anyone other than you for what happened? Did she mention any of the victims’ names?”

There was another long pause in which Jessie wondered if Winston had returned to the silent nodding or head-shaking. She was about to prod him when he answered, his tone anguished.

“I do remember her saying once that she wished we’d never met Elise Prager. She said that if it wasn’t for her, our lives would still be normal.”

A surge of adrenaline shot through Jessie’s entire body. She suddenly realized why Prager might not be answering her phone and turned to Devery.

“Turn on the siren and punch it. We need to get to Elise Prager’s ASAP!”

As Devery did both, Ryan’s voice came over the speaker.

“We’ll meet you there. Don’t go in until we get there. We’re only ten minutes away.”

“We’re less than half that far,”

she said, shaking her head even though Ryan couldn’t see her.

“And we can’t wait. We need to check on Prager’s welfare. Don’t worry—I’ll be fine. Devery is with me. Just send the cavalry.