Page 22 of Murder in the Lighthouse

As they dug further, they unearthed old news articles linking Keith Shepherd to shady dealings within the force. There were whispers of him being involved in drug trafficking and evidence tampering long before the scandal broke. And then, they stumbled upon a crucial piece of information—a connection between Shepherd and a rookie female cop named Jill Vosberg, who left the force before finishing her probationary period. She was later found strangled and stabbed in her apartment in June, just ten weeks after Connie’s murder.

It wasn’t exactly the smoking gun they had hoped for. The police connection to Connie Upland’s murder was tenuous at best. It still left them questioning what Bethany had discovered that had been so damaging.

Was it possible that Keith Shepherd had been involved in Connie’s death? Had his younger brother Kenneth beenassigned to the case to make sure there was never a connection made to him? Had there been a coverup when Kenneth Shepherd and Pete Davito worked on Connie’s case?

Brogan finally broke the quiet tension. “It’s not a stretch to think Keith Shepherd might’ve killed Jill Vosberg. What if it’s not about the corruption scandal but about something far more personal that he didn’t want to get back to his wife? Like another affair.”

Lucien raised an eyebrow, intrigued by her line of thinking. “You think he could’ve gotten wind Bethany came across his name in the Upland file and connected him to Vosberg?”

“Possibly. He probably still has friends on the force, even though Kenneth retired five years ago. This time, he couldn’t rely on his brother to save him by derailing the investigation, so he had to act on his own.”

“How on earth would we ever be able to prove Bethany met Keith Shepherd that Sunday morning? Maybe this case is hopeless.”

Brogan stared at her husband. “What’s up with you? It’s not like you to be so negative. We’ve solved tougher cases than this one.”

He pointed to their whiteboard, meticulously detailing each victim. “I don’t know. It seems like we need more than that to keep it all straight.”

“What if we lay this out for Theo, layer by layer?”

He glared at Brogan. “You want to take this wild theory to a cop who just arrived in town, one who is already battling the perception with the public that he screwed up at the lighthouse? He’ll likely tell us to pound sand. And I couldn’t blame him.”

“We won’t know that until we try. It’s worth trying, Lucien.”

“Okay. But don’t say I didn’t warn you when we get the cold shoulder.”

Brogan held her husband’s gaze, her resolve unwavering. “Theo is a good cop. Surely, he’ll see the connections once we lay it all out for him. We owe it to Bethany and Sam, no matter how far-fetched the idea may seem.”

Lucien let out a heavy sigh, knowing she was right. They couldn’t hold back something they both saw as important. “All right, let’s do it. We’ll gather everything we have on Keith Shepherd and his possible connection to both Connie Upland and Jill Vosberg and take it to Theo. We’ll let him decide how he wants to proceed. But if he kicks us out, we’ll still need to do our own thing.”

“Absolutely. No way will we let that deter us. Theo either gets on board, or we move forward without him.”

6

The icy reception didn’t happen until they reached Theo’s workstation. The man was up to his eyeballs in paperwork and didn’t act the same way he had over dinner at their house. He sat at his desk, flipping through case files, his mood dark and brooding.

A few feet away, Lucien and Brogan stood waiting for an opening. Brogan finally cleared her throat. “Look, we know you’re busy. But we have some information about Bethany.”

“That’s not my case,” Theo stated absently. “Take whatever you have to the sheriff’s office.”

“We don’t think that’s a good idea,” Brogan started.

“Why not?”

“It’s a long story. It’s the reason we’re here now. Were you aware that Bethany worked for the sheriff’s department in records? That detail wasn’t in her missing person report.”

Theo looked confused. “What? You’re saying she has ties to law enforcement at the county level? No way. How did they leave that part out?”

“No idea. But her entire job is logging evidence into the system, taking it from boxes covered in dust to digital format. She was, in fact, digging into a cold case on her own from 1999.”

“The Connie Upland murder,” Lucien provided.

“How do you know that?”

“We talked to Bethany’s parents. According to them, Bethany had been obsessed with the case since late August. Starting in October, she began to receive hang-up phone calls, perhaps they were threatening.”

Theo cocked a brow in doubt. “Maybe threatening? Which is it? Some kid who had the hots for her found out her phone number and did the heavy breathing thing? That’s not threatening.”

“That’s not how her mother described the calls,” Brogan defended. “Bethany argued with someone on the phone shortly before she went missing.”

---