Page 42 of Only Girl Alive

“No.”

“Are there questions I haven’t asked that could help us solve this case?”

“No.”

“We will ask this next question of everyone we interview. Would you agree to provide DNA and fingerprint samples?”

Her gaze went to the side window. Eve didn’t look at Collin but she knew they were both thinking the same thing. This was a simple question and there should be no hesitation in answering it.

“If my husband commanded me to provide those things, I would,” she finally answered and glanced back at Eve.

“Do you have any boys in the home who may have associated with Elijah?”

“No.”

“Thank you. Those are my questions. Would you please send out one of your sisters? Your husband is providing their names. I do not have the list yet.”

“I will send Meredith next.”

Eve saw her relief. They had kept the questions simple for this reason. It laid their groundwork to uncover lies. If Kathryn had been inside the Tanner home, they could prove she lied. They still needed enough evidence to gain her prints and DNA with a body warrant. Eve was far from convinced Kathryn committed the murders. Eve also needed another woman to back up Candace’s story.

Slow and steady would get the job done. She took a breath and prepared for the next interview.

Meredith looked like Kathryn, though younger. She was possibly Kathryn’s blood sister or some other close tie. Eve asked her questions and then went to the next interview

Two hours later, they left the home. They stopped by the closest convenience store and grabbed junk food that passed for lunch. They went back to the parking lot Ray had stopped in the day before and ate their food in the van while discussing the interviews. The God squad stayed about fifty yards back. The media, which had tailed them from the Wilsons’, parked near the black truck.

“Craig Wilson said he had no contact with the Tanners outside of church. He said Bart Tanner was not someone he wanted to associate with but would not elaborate.” Collin rolled his eyes. “He knows what’s going on. I can feel it.”

“You interviewed four wives. Did anything seem off?” asked Eve.

“Yeah, four wives,” answered Clyde before Ray could.

Eve shook her head and gave a small grin. It broke the tension.

“We interviewed five. That’s a total of eleven once we add in Candace and Sheila,” Collin said with a slight quirk to his lips.

“Christ.” Clyde rubbed his hand over his bald head. “This is getting to me. We need to check on Hannah.”

“I’ll call Aaron right now and tell him we will speak to her today or get a court order. I can’t return the call to the judge until after three. We need him to put some teeth behind our request.”

Eve clicked the number to her brother’s office. She was transferred to him immediately.

“We are ready to interview Hannah and the other adults in the home with her. We will begin the interviews at two.”

He cleared his throat. “I spoke to Howard Wall this morning. Hannah remains distraught and she is under a doctor’s care. Your interview will not take place until the doctor gives his okay.” His smug tone ground on Eve’s nerves but she hid it in her voice.

“Have you physically seen Hannah Tanner or spoken to her?” Eve asked.

“I have not but I know she is safe.”

“We are investigating four brutal murders with one surviving child. We have not seen or spoken to her. It ends today. Hannah may have information that would help this investigation. If you can’t guarantee the interviews will happen before the sun goes down, I’ll alert the judge when I speak to him this afternoon.”

“Let me make a call,” Aaron said with a weary sigh and hung up.

Eve looked at her team who were listening to the exchange. “Interviewing the Walls will take us the rest of the day. Let’s go through our answers from the Wilsons and see if anything stands out.”

Bina and Clyde had taken written notes so they wouldn’t need to listen to each interview and they could do this quickly. The oral interview would be transcribed but that took time. It was almost two when her stepbrother called back.

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