“Will do.” Marge nodded. “Go eat. The rest of your messages can wait.”
“You’re the best. Seriously.” Bree meant every word.
Her phone went off, and she glanced at the screen.
Adam!
She answered the call. “Hey.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you back,” Adam began. He sounded out of breath. “I had a date last night, and my phone battery stopped charging yesterday. I replaced it today.”
“Thanks for calling me back.” Relief sang through Bree. “Who was your date?”
“Her name is Rachel.” He didn’t sound very interested.
“Going to see her again?” Bree asked.
“Probably not. She doesn’t like art or books.” Which were Adam’s main interests. “What kind of person goes to a bookstore and doesn’t buy anything?”
Bree laughed. “I stopped at your place last night. I got worried when your Bronco was there and you weren’t.”
“I’m sorry. The Bronco is having issues. I bought a new vehicle yesterday.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“You bought a new car and a new phone. What brought on this desire to be part of the modern world?”
Adam chuckled. “I went on a date last week, and the Bronco had a moment, which made me late. Then it wouldn’t start afterward. I had to use her car to jump-start mine. No shock she doesn’t want to see me again. I felt like such a loser.”
“I’ll bet. What kind of car did you buy?”
“It’s a little embarrassing. I totally got sucked into an impulse.”
“What is it?” Bree teased.
“A Porsche Cayenne.”
“You bought a Porsche?” Bree asked. Adam forgot to comb his hair, put no thought into his appearance, and he usually dressed like he was homeless. “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?” She couldn’t believe how much he’d changed.
Adam chuckled.
“You deserve it. You’ve given so much to the kids. You supported them and Erin for years. It’s time you treated yourself.” Bree was happy for him. “Will I see you before Sunday?”
He paused. “I doubt it. I was stuck on my painting. I thought I was going in the wrong direction, but I’m feeling the urge to get back to it.” His voice drifted off. She recognized his distracted tone. He would be buried in his art for days.
“I love you,” Bree said.
“Love you back.” Adam ended the call.
Bree felt better for about three seconds, until she remembered her plastic-wrap killer had struck again. The prospect of a serial killer in Grey’s Hollow—one who had taken a personal interest in Bree—started her nerves churning again. She checked in with Dana by text. After being assured all was OK at home, she headed for the conference room. She wasn’t hungry, but her body needed food. Matt was staring at the murder board and chowing down on a foot-long meatball sub. He’d updated notes and added printouts of digital photos. She told him about Adam.
Matt wiped his mouth with a napkin. “That’s great. You must be relieved.”
“Definitely.” She sat across from him and looked up at the murder board. Photos of the suspects and not-so-lucky victims stared down at her.
Matt handed her a white-paper-wrapped turkey sub that was half the size of his sandwich. She unwrapped her food. The first bite tasted like paste. But the meal improved the more she ate. She finished the last bite, crumpled the wrapper, and tossed it into the waste can.
Matt did the same. “That’s better.”
“I need to update the press, which is about the last thing I want to do.”
“The reporters will want to use the serial killer label.”
“They might be right.”
Matt reached for the evidence bag that contained Julius’s cell phone and slid it toward him. “I know.”
“That sums it up,” Bree agreed. “Do we have any updates? I hate to take questions when I have so few answers.”
“Still waiting on reports.” Matt tapped the bagged phone. “I’ll call forensics and dig into Julius’s phone.”
Bree nodded. Matt stepped out of the room. Bree’s own phone buzzed on the table, and she read the screen. The ME. Grateful, she snatched up the phone. “Sheriff Taggert.”
Dr. Jones wasted no time. “I finished the autopsy on Julius Northcott.” The sound of the doctor tapping on a computer keyboard came over the line. “The cause of death is asphyxia due to suffocation. He was smothered by plastic wrap. Under the plastic wrap we found duct tape over his mouth and the word cheat carved into his forehead with a sharp blade. The mutilation occurred antemortem.”
All of it. The same as Spencer.
Dr. Jones continued. “I found multiple sites of stun gun burns on the neck and torso. Despite the sexual elements at the scene, there is no evidence of sexual assault. I’ll send you a written preliminary report.”
“Thank you.” Bree ended the call.
Matt hurried back in. “Forensics found one cat hair in the plastic wrap, and they’re checking some dust recovered from the duct tape on the victim’s mouth. They’ll get back to me as soon as they know what it is.”
“OK.” Bree rubbed her temples with both hands and repeated the information from Dr. Jones. “It doesn’t feel like we’ve made enough progress on two murders in two days.”
“The lab and forensics techs are working nonstop.” Matt slid the phone out of the bag. It had already been fingerprinted and swabbed for DNA. Therefore, the device could be handled.
“I know,” Bree said. “If there’s another murder, we’ll need assistance.” She had no issue with calling the state police or FBI if necessary. “We might need to form a task force. We can’t process the sheer volume of evidence fast enough.” Bree’s rural county simply didn’t have the resources for an investigation of this magnitude.
“Maybe I can help.” Todd stood in the doorway.
“You have something?” Bree dropped her hands.
“I do.” He summed up his interview with Julius’s neighbor. “She saw a white SUV and recognized Farah Rock as one of Julius’s ‘floozies.’ Her word, not mine. She also said she caught him leering at her teenage granddaughter and threatened to shoot him and feed his carcass to her pets.”
“How old is this neighbor?” Bree asked.
“About seventy-five.” Todd grinned and held his hand about five feet above the floor. “And about this tall.”
“Are we adding her to the suspect list?” Matt deadpanned.
Bree snorted. “In my mind, Farah has moved to the top slot. Jasper is still in the running, but unless we establish a connection between him and Julius, Farah looks more promising. Northcott’s father gave us the passcode to his cell phone, so we can access his dating apps, text messages, et cetera.” She gestured toward the cell phone in Matt’s hands. “While we’re doing that, let’s get Farah’s financials and phone records. We know she dated Spencer. We have a witness who says she dated Julius. She lied and tried to convince a friend to lie for her as well.”