Page 94 of The Sleeping Girls

He shook his head. “I was so pissed, I tore it in pieces and burned it in the fireplace.”

Dammit. If they had the note they could analyze the handwriting and see if the wife had actually written it. She also had to consider that Gil lied about the note.

“Did you look for her?” Ellie asked.

“I called and called, but she didn’t answer. She’d left a couple of times before but she always came back so I thought she would that time.”

“But she didn’t? Not even when Anna Marie died?”

Anguish streaked his face. “That really tore me up. I couldn’t believe she didn’t come to the funeral.”

“Mr. Landrum.” Agent Fox tapped the autopsy report. “Were you aware Anna Marie was not your biological daughter?”

Gil turned ashen. “What makes you think that?” he asked.

“The autopsy report and DNA prove she wasn’t your child,” Agent Fox said. “Perhaps you learned the truth when you were tested to see if you were a donor match.”

His jaw clamped tight but he didn’t respond.

“Do you know the name of Anna Marie’s biological father?” Derrick asked.

Gil squeezed his eyes closed. “No, Mary refused to tell me. Now what the hell does this have to do with anything?”

“Because of your statement about Darnell, the police never looked for another suspect in Anna Marie’s death. And Darnell told the prison counselor that he thought someone else was in the house the night Anna Marie died,” Ellie said.

Landrum’s eyes widened. “You think the biological father came to see her? That he might have been in the house?”

Ellie shrugged. “It’s possible. In one of Darnell’s interviews with the prison counselor, he said he heard a noise and thought someone else was in the house. That he moved the pillow and tried to do CPR.”

“Good God, he’s lying to get out of jail,” Landrum said.

Although he wasn’t backing down, for a second, she saw hesitation in the man’s eyes as if he was considering the possibility that he’d been wrong about Darnell.

“Mr. Landrum,” Derrick said. “Where were you three nights ago?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Home.”

“Can anyone vouch for that?” Derrick asked.

The man looked confused. “I live alone.”

“How about two nights ago?”

“What the hell is this about?” Landrum snapped.

“It’s about Kelsey Tiller and Ruby Pruitt,” Ellie interjected. “Do you know who they are?”

“No. But I saw the news about them missing. Do you think Darnell killed them, too?”

“That’s what we’re trying to determine,” Ellie said. “We actually think someone may be framing him to send him back to jail.”

Derrick leaned forward. “You had reason to be upset when you learned Anna Marie wasn’t your daughter. Is it possible you took out that anger on Anna Marie yourself?”

Landrum shot up from the chair, enraged. “What the hell? I loved that girl…”

“Maybe it was an accident,” Ellie suggested. “And you already had trouble with Darnell, who wasn’t your real son, so you blamed him.”

Ellie’s phone buzzed. Cord. “Excuse me, I need to take this.”

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