Page 55 of Montana Manhunt

“That’s what I thought. I wonder how much of a bite this will take out of my paycheck?”

“I just sent you the address of another hotel. It’s in a town almost an hour from Morrison. Will that work?”

“That’s perfect. Thanks, Z. I owe you.”

“How is Violet?”

“Coping. Losing her twin sister is hard.”

“I can’t imagine that kind of loss. Anything else I can do to help?”

“Background on the major players.”

“Names?”

Noah rattled off the names of the lawyer boyfriend, the nosy cop and his father, the detectives assigned to Camilla’s case, and Violet’s aunt. “Something is off with the aunt, Z.”

“What do you mean?”

“She told the girls she didn’t have any money, so raising them was a hardship. The aunt provided the sisters with only essentials. However, right after kicking the girls out on their eighteenth birthday, Rosalie bought a ranch-style house.”

“Huh. If she was so strapped for money, how did she come up with a down payment for the house?”

“That’s what I want to know. Violet said her aunt lived in an apartment the whole time she and Camilla were with Rosalie. In order to survive, Violet and Camilla worked full time, paid rent for an apartment, food, and utilities while completing their senior year of high school.”

A soft whistle from the tech genius. “That was cold. What did the girls do after graduation?”

“Violet joined the Army. Camilla put herself through college to become a social worker.”

“I’ll set up the searches and let you know the results.”

“We’ll start preliminary searches, but the local police refuse to believe a serial killer is hiding in their midst. Two other things you should know. Some of Camilla’s kids had disappeared, and she suspected something bad happened to them. She asked her aunt if anyone at the country club had mentioned the disappearances.”

“What did Rosalie say?”

“She blew it off. Rosalie said if a killer was in the area, the police chief would have warned the public. She believed the girls who went missing were runaways and deserved whatever happened to them.”

Another soft whistle.

“Yeah, but get this. James Hanson, the police chief, and Rosalie Trevelyan are in a relationship. Since her man isn’t sounding the alarm, Rosalie says the problem was Camilla’s overactive imagination.”

“Wow. If that’s how she treated Violet and Camilla while they were growing up, it’s no wonder Violet never talked about her aunt.”

Noah glanced around to be sure Violet was still in the other room. “As we left Rosalie’s home, she told Violet not to come back, that she wouldn’t be welcome.”

Zane growled. “You sure I can’t do something other than run a background check on that woman? She sounds like a piece of work.”

“That, she is, my friend. However much I’d love to turn you loose on her, I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize the case against the perp.”

“Please tell me you think it’s the aunt.”

“I wish. Can’t do that, though.”

“If you change your mind about my offer….”

“You’ll be the first to know. Thanks for the fast work of finding another hotel.”

“If you think of anything else I can do to help, please let me know. We’re all eager to help Violet.”

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