Page 30 of So Lethal

The next morning found Faith refreshed and able to think more clearly. She didn’t like that they were back to square one, but that was where they were, and Faith needed to deal with it. That meant going back to good old-fashioned police work.

To that end, the two of them were interviewing the other members of Sarah Martinez’s support group. Beth Rosenberg had volunteered to attend as an interpreter. That required them to clear her completely as a suspect, easily done when she proved she was out of state the night of James Porter’s murder.

Their first several interviews went much like the interview with Beth the night before. Sarah was polite but aloof. She didn’t seem to really be looking for healing. She clung tightly to bitterness. A few other responses that said pretty much the same thing.

Faith noted with some irritation that most of the respondents were sorrier for Sarah’s sister than for Sarah herself. Obviously Faith felt bad too, but it wasn’t just Sarah’s sister that had suffered. Sarah had lost her life. Sure, she was having a harder time than the others were, but it bothered Faith that they had just written her off so easily because she wasn’t as eager to heal as they were. Faith didn’t know if she was justified feeling that way, but it was how she felt.

By lunchtime, they had worked their way through eight of the twelve members of the group. They took a break to eat sub sandwiches catered by a local shop that donated regularly to the community center.

“I’m not sure exactly what you’re hoping to learn,” Beth said. “I don’t think anyone here could possibly be involved in this.”

“We don’t either,” Faith replied. “But we think the killer is targeting deaf people.”

“Well, Sarah wasn’t deaf,” Beth clarified. “Deaf people are born without the ability to hear. Sarah had hearing loss.”

“I don’t think the killer would make that distinction,” Faith said.

Beth’s brow furrowed. Then her eyes widened. “Those other two people—Monica and John.”

“James,” Michael corrected.

“Right. Those are other victims, aren’t they?”

“Yes,” Faith said. “We’re trying to keep this case low-profile right now, so I’d appreciate if you didn’t spread that news. But yes, we believe that there’s a serial killer targeting deaf people in the Bay Area.”

Beth’s hand came to her mouth. “Oh my God. That’s horrible.”

“Yes,” Faith agreed. “It is. We’re still not sure how this killer is selecting his or her victims, but it could be that the others in your support group have interacted with or seen the killer at some point.”

“Oh my God,” she repeated. “Are they in danger?”

“It’s hard to say,” Faith replied. “The victims were killed at distant locations from each other. Still in the Bay Area, but…” She stopped herself. She had already shared more about the case than was prudent. “Anyway, we’re trying to see if anyone noticed something or someone suspicious.”

“Oh my God,” Beth breathed a third time. “I just can’t… Why are some people so evil?”

Faith smiled grimly. “I’ve had this job for over twelve years, and I still don’t know the answer to that question.”

“They don’t always see it as evil,” Michael offered. “In a lot of cases, serial killers manage to convince themselves that what they’re doing is good. Sometimes it’s due to mental illness, and sometimes it’s just an incredibly powerful ability to justify bad behavior, but…” His voice trailed off when he saw Beth’s expression. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, we should get back to the interviews.”

The group returned to the conference room. Beth left to bring in the next interviewee, and Faith scolded Michael. “Way to make it worse, dummy.”

“Hey, you started all of that,” he retorted.

She glared at him for a moment, but he was right. “Yeah. I guess I did.” She shook her head. “We should learn ASL. There are too many hearing-impaired people in America for us not to know how to communicate with them.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Michael said. “If we can ever find the time.”

“What are you talking about? We have a lot of free time.”

“No, you have a lot of free time because you have a very kind partner who’s willing to do almost all of the paperwork for you,” Michael replied. “I do not have nearly the same free time.”

She rolled her eyes, but once again, Michael was right. If she had a weakness as an agent, it was her contempt for paperwork. She really appreciated that Michael was willing to handle as much of it as he could.

"So, do you think this killer is evil?" Michael asked.

She frowned. “Do you think he isn’t?”

“I’ll rephrase. Do you think he knows that what he’s doing is wrong, or do you think he’s convinced himself that it’s right?”

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