Page 45 of Crossing Lines

“I was hoping I could fill you both in at the same time.” Jo nervously awaited his answer. The longer he didn’t say anything, the more nervous she felt.

She turned to look at him, and he smiled. “That would be great. I want to help you out, though we don’t have any bandwidth right now.”

“I know. We need to catch Kirsten’s killer first. And make sure Thorne doesn’t get off on some technicality about those shoes.” Jo took a deep breath, her nerves about Sam settled. “Bridget placing Thorne with the victims will help.”

“That would be great, though it doesn’t help us now. Thorne didn’t kill Kirsten Stillwater or write that last note to Menda.”

“But he could have killed those girls five years ago. We might just have a copycat. Wouldn’t be the first serial killer copycat—I’ve found several cases in my research.”

“And let’s not forget about Ricky Webster. There’s something suspicious about that story, and he works at the Thorne construction site.”

“That is a strange coincidence.”

Sam nodded as he turned into the prison parking lot. “Lots of strange coincidences in this case. Let’s see if Thorne can clear some of them up.”

* * *

Lucas Thorne was not happy to see Sam and Jo.

“What do you want? Going to make up some more charges against me?” He glared at them from across the stainless steel table in the visiting room.

“Nah, don’t need to. You’ve done plenty.”

Thorne turned smug. “You won’t be singing that tune for long. Some of your evidence is tainted, and soon you’re going to be the one in here and I’ll be out where you are.”

Jo snorted. “I doubt that. We got the evidence from a very reliable source.”

“You mean my wife?” Thorne laughed then looked at Sam. “I suppose you bought her innocent act. Most guys do.”

“What’s that mean?” Sam asked.

Jo wondered too. Mostly about if Sam had bought Beryl’s act.

Thorne leaned across the table, his eyes full of hate. “She’s no angel. She’s done things. Things that would make me look like a Boy Scout.”

“What kinds of things?” Jo asked.

Thorne leaned back in his chair, looking satisfied that he’d piqued their interest. “She’s ruthless. Cutthroat. Doesn’t let anything stand in her way. She gets what she wants, so if I were you, Mason, I’d be careful.”

Jo glanced at Sam, who simply cleared his throat.

Thorne nodded. “Yeah, at first, that ruthlessness was what I liked about her. Turns out she’s a traitor.”

“You’re no angel either,” Sam said. “In fact, your troubles go way back even to when you were a kid. Troubles that started your affinity for murder.”

Thorne made a face. “What are you talking about?”

Now Sam was the one who looked smug. “Being the police, we can get a glimpse into sealed records if the situation warrants it. And murdering five women definitely warrants it.”

Thorne shook his head. “Still not following you.”

“Seems like there was an incident where you killed a pet. That’s the first step many serial killers take,” Sam said.

“I didn’t kill any pet. Is this another of your trumped-up charges?”

“No. It happened in your younger days when you were a juvenile delinquent with your brother-in-law, Robert.”

Jo admired how Sam had deftly turned the conversation to Robert and put Thorne on the defensive. Robert was one of their suspects, and this could be a good way to get Thorne to give up some information on him without even realizing he was doing it. They could kill two birds with one stone—find out more about what Bascomb had up his sleeve with the golf shoes and get the scoop on Robert Summers.

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