Page 25 of Murder in the Lighthouse

“In a manner of speaking. We’ll explain all about it over dinner.”

“What we need relates to Sam’s murder,” Lucien said. “It’s a complicated theory going back to 1999 and a string of unsolved murders in Santa Cruz that might be connected to his case and Bethany’s disappearance. We believe someone might have insider knowledge posting on your blog, and we’re hoping you can help us track them down.”

Jade’s eyes widened with intrigue. “Oh, this is becoming more fascinating by the minute. Let’s dive right into it, shall we?”

As they settled around the dining table, Birk started the conversation by sharing the couple’s plans for the future. Brogan and Lucien couldn’t help but notice the genuine affection between the two, wondering if this partnership would lead to more than cohabitation.

“Obviously, you’ve decided not to buy Tazzie’s house,” Brogan surmised.

“I already told Nick at the bank. It was fine with him. He told me someone from out of town had shown interest in the property. Nothing stays on the market for long around here, and buying a house today usually means a bidding war. But not for Tazzie’s. Nick mentioned he knew the buyer personally and had already approved their loan. He even told me that she loved the house.”

“Hmm. The prospective buyer loves a house owned by a murderer. That sounds like someone right up our alley. I wonder who it is?”

“All I know is that it’s a woman.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because when I drove down Beacon Lane this morning, I saw a woman standing outside the house peering into the window. I figured it was the person interested in buying the house.”

“This is delicious tenderloin,” Jade fawned. “I wish I was a better cook.”

“Me too,” Birk teased with a wink.

Once dinner was finished, the plates were cleared and dessert was served, Birk was ready to dive into specifics about why they were there. “If we’ve finished with the niceties and personal anecdotes, how about letting us in on the murder investigation? Explain how a blog post figures into Sam’s murder.”

Lucien took them through Bethany’s obsession with the Upland murder and added one more, that of Jill Vosberg. “We believe there might be a connection that points to a former cop, a guy by the name of Keith Shepherd, who we suspect is the killer. We need your help to track down this mysterious online user who goes by the name Truthseeker22. This person seems to have insider information about these cases that could give us valuable insight. They even hinted at a cover-up within the police department.”

Jade’s eyes gleamed with curiosity. “Truthseeker22? I remember that poster. He or she always had a tidbit or two to add to the discussion about the high number of unsolved cases. Consider it done. I’ll pull up all the data from my blog and see what I can find. Birk’s even better at cracking those VPNs people use. I didn’t bring my laptop, though. I’ll need to borrow one.”

“You can use mine,” Brogan offered, shoving from the table. She led Jade into Lucien’s office and booted up her laptop.

While Jade went through her blog archives, Brogan hovered over the desk. “It occurred to me this afternoon, after reading your website, how much firsthand knowledge you have about the darkest corners of human nature. How do you handle it?”

“It used to get to me. But after meeting Birk—you have to remember that when we first met, he was so angry about his sister’s unresolved disappearance that we butted heads. He accused me of exploiting the victims, including Brigid, which is the last thing I was trying to do with the blog. But then something happened during all that upheaval. Even before I met Kelly, even before she put so much effort into finally solving Brigid’s murder for Beckett, Birk and I began to share our frustration and anger over the system that allowed these cases to fall through the cracks. Somehow, we bonded over that, over all the other unsolved cases in Santa Cruz. He helped me come to terms with the dark forces in the world he’d encountered firsthand. In the beginning, ours might’ve started out as a complicated relationship. But it shows that sometimes opposites can meet in the middle and make it work.”

Birk had been listening at the door. “She’s right. Because of Jade, I can approach things with a better understanding of how getting information out onto the web is imperative in solving these cold cases. As much as detectives protest their intrusion into their cases, it’s clear that getting the word out is much better than it languishing in some dusty file cabinet somewhere.”

“Ah, here it is in my website analytics,” Jade announced. “I found Truthseeker22’s data. They’ve posted three dozen times going back five years. Here’s the IP address that shows in the analytics. And it stays the same through all those posts”

Birk pulled up a chair and sat down next to Jade. “I can work with that. I might not have an answer for you tonight, but give me a couple of days, and I’ll know who owns that IP address or at least the general vicinity of its origins in Santa Cruz.”

Lucien leaned against the doorjamb. “That sounds promising.”

“Let me make sure I understand why this is important,” Jade said. “You think Truthseeker22 might have inside knowledge about Connie’s murder?”

“And Jill’s,” Brogan supplied. “Because we think it’s the same killer.”

“Okay. The former cop Keith Shepherd, right? If this poster has key information, they’ve posted about it for several years.”

“Hinting or at the very least pointing the finger at a cop and a cover-up,” Lucien stated.

Jade nodded in understanding. “And because Bethany opened up a can of worms, the killer showed up that Sunday morning and probably murdered Bethany, then a few days later murdered her brother Sam at the lighthouse. Do I have that right?”

“You got it,” Birk relayed. “What we don’t know is who the other murder victim is that Truthseeker22 keeps referring to. They keep mentioning a serial offender who has more than these two victims. If you’re right about Truthseeker22, there’s a third victim, at this point, nameless. You could be solving Sam’s murder, maybe Bethany’s, Connie Upland’s, and Jill Vosberg’s, along with another. That’s worth resolution for a lot of families.”

“I’m guessing you’ve already taken this to someone here in town,” Jade presumed.

Lucien walked further into the room and sat across from Birk. “Theo Woodsong, the new guy. He wanted physical evidence and proof of a link to the victims. We have no way of proving Keith Shepherd is still alive. He seems to have disappeared.”

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