Page 39 of The Girl and the Lies

“What is it?” I ask.

“I got another threat yesterday. It was in the mailbox, but there was no stamp or anything. I think that someone just walked up and put it in there,” he says.

“What did the note say?”

“That I had to quit by the end of the day or I would be out of time,” he says. He shakes his head and puts his face in his hands again. “This is my fault. I caused this.”

“Ander,” I say, moving to sit down beside him and rest my hand on his back. “I know this is extremely hard. I understand. But you can’t let yourself think that way. We need to find out who did this to Sabrina. You said you think that the note was just put into your mailbox.”

“Yes,” he says. “I got it yesterday after work. I meant to call you about it this morning.”

“Do you have cameras on your house?” I ask. “Something that would show the mailbox?”

“I do. I put them up right after the first threats came to make Sabrina feel safer at home,” he says, sounding pained at the thought.

“After you go to the hospital to check on your mother, I need that footage,” I tell him.

“I’ll get it for you,” he says.

“Can I give you a ride to the hospital?” I ask.

“Please.”

Ander is silent for the drive from the police station to the hospital. He stares out the window, watching the world go by. It’s totally changed for him now. He woke up this morning with a wife, and now, only a few hours later, he’s a widower, that wife brutally murdered right in their home. He’s going to have to learn to navigate this new reality. It’s a heartbreaking thought, but even as I watch him walk up to the entrance to the hospital, my mind is still focused on the investigation.

His mother lives in the next town over, and I go directly to the police department there. I show my shield to the officer at the reception desk.

“There was a fire at a home this morning. A shed burned down. I need to speak with the officers who responded to that,” I tell her.

“Give me just a second,” she says.

I wait in the lobby area until an officer comes through the doors and extends his hand to shake mine.

“Jody Ferris,” he introduces himself.

“Agent Emma Griffin,” I say.

“Come on back,” he says.

We walk into the back, and he leads me to a room similar to the one Ander was just in. Two more officers are already inside.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Officer Ferris asks.

“No, I’m fine,” I tell him. “Thank you.”

“This is Officer O’Connell and Officer Alridge. The three of us responded to the fire this morning.”

“Then you spoke with Ander Ward, the son of the homeowner?” I ask.

“Yes,” Officer Ferris says. “He arrived shortly after we did. The fire was already under control by the time he got there, but Mrs. Ward was frantic. She wouldn’t calm down until he got there. He was very calm, so it was a relief to be able to talk to him to let him know what was going on and have him settle her down.”

“I’m sure she was upset,” I point out. “It was early in the morning, and a building on her property was on fire. That’s not something that most people would take in stride.” He looks adequately chastised, and I move on. “Ander told me that there were other incidents like this recently.”

“Yes,” Officer O’Connell says. “There have been reports of several other fires to outbuildings in the surrounding areas over the last few months. No residential structures have been targeted during any of these incidents, but there has been a considerable amount of property damage. We’ve been hoping that someone would have camera footage that would show who is setting the fires, but so far nothing has come up. It looks like something bored teenagers would do to amuse themselves. They don’t realize how serious it actually is.”

“Once Ander Ward arrived at the house, was he there the entire time?” I ask.

The officers look at me slightly strangely.

---