Page 63 of Girl, Accused

Canton had confessed to Torres' murder with the desperate eagerness of a child claiming responsibility for a broken window. But his reaction to the other deaths carried the genuine bewilderment of someone watching their reflection move independently in a mirror. Could Canton have killed James Harper before Ella caught him? Technically, yes. Realistically, no. But realistically didn’t matter, not in law enforcement. If it could happen, then a prosecutor would find a way to convince a jury that it did.

Her phone vibrated against the desk. Ripley's name flashed on the screen.

‘Tell me you've got something,’ Ella said by way of greeting.

‘Oh, I've got something all right,’ Ripley replied. ‘Turns out the tech guy had an easy job. Harper's assistant came through with the access codes to his appointment system. Westfall got the clearance fast-tracked.’

‘When the council president gets killed, things move fast. What did you find?’

'And our friend Adam Canton booked a consultation with Harper three days before the murder. Email correspondence confirms it. They had a meeting scheduled for today at 12 PM.'

Ella sat up straight. ‘How’d you know it was Canton?’

‘His name is right in front of me. Adam Canton. Email address is Pastor Canton at SeeMail dot com.’

Ella battled for an opposing comment, but she had to admit that this wasn’t looking good. ‘Anyone could have set that up. You don’t need ID to register an email address.’

‘I was getting to that part. The tech guy ran a check on the IP address the email came from. And guess what the IP address was?’

‘What?’

‘Hostname 66.213.22.193, according to these notes. That mean anything to you?’

‘No.’

‘Me neither, but that IP address led us to a real address. And that was 221 Wexford Street.’

Ella should have shouted in triumph. This kind of evidence was enough to secure a charge before the night was out. ‘First Light Assembly.’

'Yup. Canton's church. Oh, and this James Harper guy? Westfall says he's known around town for being pretty sketchy. He's been incourt a bunch of times for botched surgeries. I think Canton really is our guy, Dark.'

Ella looked over at Canton again. The revelation should have brought clarity and should have collapsed the wave function of possibilities into a single definitive reality. Instead, it only deepened her confusion. The evidence pointed in one direction, but instinct pulled her elsewhere.

‘It doesn't make sense,’ she said.

‘What doesn't make sense? We've got surveillance photos of one of his victims. We've got his public freakout at city hall. We've got emails to his last victim sent from his own network. He’s got motive coming out of his ass to kill Torres. If it quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.’

‘But there’s no motive to kill the others.’

‘Ted Bundy didn’t have motive to kill thirty-odd women but he still did. Have you interrogated Canton about James Harper?’

‘No.’

'Well, you should. Westfall is about to come back and officially charge him.'

‘Wait,’ Ella snapped. ‘Not yet. Ask him to hold off. One hour.’

‘Dark, don't go rogue on me here. We've got Canton gift-wrapped with a body count-‘

‘Please. I just need to see if I can get through to this guy. Ask Westfall to stay back.’

She ended the call before Ripley could mount a counter-argument. If she could just get one thread of truth out of Canton, she might just be unable to unravel this whole thing.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Ella didn't waste time on pleasantries when she stepped back into the interrogation room. Small talk was for people with unlimited time. She and Canton had neither. She briefly studied the topography of his face and found it was all written right there. He wasn't their killer. He was something far more interesting: a man who'd rather wear someone else's sins than face his own emptiness.

‘You’re back,’ Canton said.

---