Page 30 of The Girl He Wanted

Brink frowned then. "I don't even know who that is. What’s that name meant to mean to me?"

"El? From the group?" Paige said.

Brink shook his head, suddenly looking more confident. "El's real name was Louise. You don't know what you're talking about."

That caught Paige by surprise. When she'd seen the nickname on the group page, she'd assumed that it was short for Ellie. But now, she realized that she had been wrong.

"What do you mean, Louise?" she asked.

Brink hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "El was a nickname for Louise. Louise Grant. If you don't even know that, then my guess is that you have nothing here. You’re just fishing."

"We still have a connection between you and Bea Milling," Christopher said, taking a step forward, his body language threatening. "We still have a motive for you to have killed her."

"That doesn't mean anything," Brink said, obviously enjoying himself again.

He had a point, and Paige couldn't help but feel frustrated. They had a suspect, but they still didn't have any solid evidence to tie him to the murders.

"Do you do any climbing, Linus?" Christopher asked.

It was a question Paige hadn't thought to consider. After all, he'd been a member of an exposure therapy group focused on a fear of heights. Yet, if he'd only been there to record the others, or if the therapy had worked, there was no reason that he couldn't be a climber.

Brink shrugged. "I've been a few times. I have to climb trees sometimes in my job, but it's not really my thing."

Paige leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. "Butyoulike heights, don't you? The thrill of it? Everyone else in your group was scared, but you like it, right?"

Brink shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with where this was going. "I guess so."

"And you'll have climbing gear around here somewhere?" Paige asked.

"I don't see how that's relevant," Brink said, but his voice was unsteady.

"Do you, or don't you?"

"I have some gear in my truck," Brink said reluctantly.

"Then let's take a look," Christopher said, already starting to stand up.

They went out to the truck together, with Brink unlocking it and pulling out a harness and several lengths of rope. Paige took the rope in her hands. It was impossible to be certain without forensics taking a look, but it looked pretty close to the fibers that she and Christopher had found at the murder sites.

"At this point, Linus, you need to give us a very good reason why we shouldn't arrest you. Where were you five days ago, at around 8 p.m.? And yesterday, in the early hours of the night?"

Brink swallowed hard, his eyes darting nervously between Paige and Christopher. "I was here last night," he said. "But five days ago ..."

He smiled then and Paige knew that he had an alibi. "Five days ago, I was at my sister's house for her daughter's birthday party. There were a lot of people there, so if you need me to, I can give you their names and contact information."

Paige and Christopher exchanged a look. It was frustrating to have a suspect that seemed to have an alibi for the murders, but they knew that they would need to verify his story.

"Alright, give us their information," Christopher said, taking out his notebook. "And we'll need to take these ropes and harness in for analysis."

Brink nodded, looking relieved that he wasn't being arrested on the spot.

Paige found herself feeling frustrated once again. They'd had a suspect, but it seemed like they still didn't have enough to tie him to the murders. If the alibi checked out, then they didn't even have that much.

"Fine," she said. “We’ll need to verify your alibi, but for now, you’re free to go. But don’t think that this is over. And don’t go anywhere. We’ll be keeping a close eye on you, Linus.”

Brink nodded, looking relieved as the two of them stepped away from him.

Paige went back to the car with Christopher. She managed to contain her frustration until she was safely inside it and the two of them were starting to drive away.

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