Page 72 of The Sleeping Girls

“Reba Boles,” she said when she answered.

Derrick apologized for the late hour and explained the reason for his call. He’d talked to her several times regarding other cases and appreciated the fact that she was a consummate professional. “It’s Special Agent Derrick Fox.”

“Frankly, I’m surprised Darnell is a person of interest already in another crime. Especially one involving teenage girls.”

Derrick exhaled, aware confidentiality limited the information she could share. But general impressions, especially hers, could add insight. “Why do you say that?”

A heartbeat of silence passed. “Because he exhibited remorse over what he’d done. In fact, he seemed tortured over it, and confused about the details.”

Derrick ran his fingers through his hair as he considered her statement.

“I think that’s one reason Caitlin O’Connor chose to take on his case.”

“Sociopaths can be charming and fake remorse,” Derrick pointed out.

“True, but I wouldn’t describe him as a sociopath,” she said with confidence. “Believe me, I’ve been doing this job a long time and I can usually spot them during our first session.”

“He confessed to killing his sister,” Derrick said. “And he was only sixteen at the time.”

“About that…” she began.

He let the silence linger, a technique he used in interrogations.

“I’m not certain he was guilty.”

She was the second woman who believed him. “Why do you think that?”

Her sharp breath echoed over the line.

“During our sessions, he seemed confused. He couldn’t recall exactly what happened,” she continued. “The details were inconsistent.”

“According to the original report, his father found him smothering Anna Marie and shoved him off of her.”

“I know,” Ms. Boles continued. “But I did some memory recall work with him and once, he saidheperformed CPR to save his sister, not his father.”

Derrick stewed over that. Shock could cause confusing memories. So could the Ambien in Darnell’s system.

Was it possible someone else had killed Anna Marie and Digger did try to save her?

SEVENTY-NINE

RED CLAY MOUNTAIN

For the next hour, chaos ensued as the fire died down and investigators flooded the crime scene. Ellie instructed the medics to have a forensic nurse check for DNA on Caitlin’s body. ERT searched for forensics while Cord and Benji combed the woods. The firefighters finally extinguished the last of the blaze but had to wait until the embers died down and cooled before they could go inside to search for evidence.

Ellie had a feeling they wouldn’t salvage anything. Melted metal and plastic lay in the remains.

Heath approached, a desperate expression in his eyes, his hands in his pockets.

“Did you find anything in her car? Back-ups of her work?” Ellie asked.

He shook his head. “No laptop. Nothing.”

“Hopefully she has back-up discs or tapes at her house. Or in the cloud.”

Heath squared his shoulders. “I can go to her house.”

Ellie studied him for a long moment. “No, it’s a conflict of interest, Landrum.”

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