He’s known as a good guy, trustworthy, loyal and hardworking. When Petal rejected him and took off to California, Christopher and her father weren’t the only ones to mourn that decision.
He’s so good for her, they said.
How could she do this to him, they said.
His popularity, the nice smile, the hurt boy look—all of it helped to fool them. They trusted him. No one saw it coming.
No one ever had a closer look at him, until I asked them to. Until I asked them to check the autopsy report of the latest victim. Until I told them to check on the other victims as well, trying to find anything that might have been unusual.
They did. And while what they found is not enough evidence to accuse him of the crimes committed, they certainly shed a different light on Christopher.
The autopsy report of the latest victim had been tampered with. There was no mentioning of sedative in the original report, but that copy had been overwritten, using Christopher’s login data. He added that information in an apparent attempt to frame me for the murder. I don’t know if he already suspected Petal to be with me at the time he started his little intrigue, but boy must he have been elated when Malia showed up at the station to tell them where they could find her.
I was already in contact with Carlos and his colleagues then, and I told them to play along, to let Christopher be the hero who rescued Petal from my grip. They knew about the legal contract I had with her and had no reason to suspect me of foul play, especially because Malia backed my story, albeit not with the right intention.
I wanted to see what would happen. I wanted to see if Christopher would actually be stupid enough to take the bait and take Petal all to himself. Yes, I used her as bait, trusting in the fact that he wouldn’t hurt her, at least not right away. If he really is the Bridgewater murderer, he has killed before and would probably lack the inhibition to do it with her, too.
But so far, that is nothing but a theory. He may just have tampered with the autopsy report to frame me, not caring whether they’d arrest the wrong man while the actual Bridgewater murderer was still out there—continuing with his sick deeds while enjoying his greatest catch yet.
Petal.
If he plans to take her into hiding, he’ll bring her to the same place as the others, I’m sure. And the fact that the green dot on Carlos’ tablet has passed the police station and is now leaving the town area, speaks for my theory.
He took the bait.
Now we’ll just have to wait and see what he does with it. With her.