“Have you noticed any irregularities with your credit report or perhaps anything else missing?”
She moved her head slowly side to side. “Not that I’m aware of.”
Finley passed her business card. “You should check to ensure your identity is not being used by someone else in any other way.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Finley doubted she had anything to worry about. Alisha Arrington was likely a victim of circumstance. She’d been at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the woman who’d visited Holmes on all those occasions had stolen her license for that specific purpose. All the thief had needed was someone in the right age range and with the right color hair. Even the hair color wasn’t a necessity. Hair color could be changed easily. The same for eye color. Buying colored contacts was as easy as buying mascara these days.
Whoever was pretending to be Holmes’s sister had no intention of allowing her true identity to be known.
But why had she suddenly stopped the visits?
Was she the reason Holmes was so determined to revisit the case against him?
A deeper dig into his history was in order.
It was time to have a closer look at Charles Holmes’s childhood and life before prison. The fake sister may have been close to him, maybe one of his trusted followers.
Finley couldn’t think of a better distraction to keep her out of the backyard tonight. She longed to dig up the whole damned thing.
If there was anything back there, she wanted to know.
She was almost home when her cell shattered the silence in her car.
Seattle.
Finley pulled over. She needed her hands free for this conversation, in case notes were necessary.
“O’Sullivan.”
“This is Holly Thompson, returning your call.”
“I appreciate you calling, Ms. Thompson.” Anticipation gave Finley a kick of adrenaline. “As I told you in my voice mail, I’m investigating a case that involves your college roommate, Olivia Legard.”
“I’m afraid you must have me confused with someone else,” Holly said. “My roommate was Anna Patrick. I don’t know anyone named Legard.”
Was it possible Olivia had kept her identity secret from her roommate? Didn’t seem like a reasonable scenario. Roommates—even when they weren’t friends—shared intimate space. Big secrets were difficult to keep.
“Do you mind if I send you a pic to see if we’re talking about the same woman who’s using a different name?”
Thompson hesitated, then relented. “Sure.”
Finley sent a pic of Olivia and waited. Her heart rate accelerated with each passing second.
“No, that’s not Anna.”
Okay, then. “Have you and Anna been in contact since leaving school?”
“We were close, so I’m sure we would have, but she died sophomore year. A car accident. I moved off campus after that, so she was my only roommate during college.”
Finley was the one hesitating this time. “I’m sorry to hear that. Do you by chance have a picture of Anna?”
“I’m sure I do. It might take me a bit to find one.”
“I really would appreciate it,” Finley urged.
“Sure. Sure.” Pause. “What exactly is this about?”
“Probably just a clerical error,” Finley assured her. “You were listed as the roommate of Ms. Legard. Now that I’ve spoken to you, I only need to confirm the identity of your actual roommate.”
“How strange. I’ll send you the picture as soon as I can.”
“Do you have an address for her family?” It was possible Finley wouldn’t need any additional details, but better to have them than not.
“Oh, she didn’t have any family. She was an only child and her parents had both passed. She didn’t have a single relative. There were times when I envied her that freedom.”
Another thought occurred to Finley. “One last question. Do you recall her major?”
“Of course. Advertising. It was all she talked about. She had big plans for an LA-based job.”
Same major as Olivia. A new thread of tension tugged through Finley.
“Thank you, Holly, you’ve been very helpful.”
Finley tossed her cell into the passenger seat and checked the street before jetting away from the curb.
She needed to talk to someone at the university. Unfortunately, that likely wouldn’t be possible before Monday.
She damned sure intended to speak with both Sophia and Olivia before then.
Maybe this was as simple as a clerical error.