Page 46 of Crossing Lines

Thorne laughed, but there was no mirth, only evil. “You think I killed that pet? That wasn’t me, that was Robert. He always did have a mean streak.”

* * *

Jo’s instincts told her that Thorne was telling the truth about Robert being the one who killed the pet. Considering that and all the other things that had come up, not the least of which was Bascomb and Thorne’s claims about the golf shoes, she was starting to worry that maybe Thorne hadn’t killed those five girls after all.

“Maybe we should be looking at Robert Summers more carefully,” Jo said as they exited the visiting area. “Sending Wyatt to watch the house was a good idea.”

Sam glanced sideways at her and said sarcastically, “Gee, thanks.”

Jo’s laugh earned a genuine smile. “I guess that did sound a little condescending, but I’m a bit off-kilter now, because if Robert Summers is involved in Kirsten’s death, then maybe he was involved in the deaths five years ago.”

“Yeah, I know.”

They lapsed into silence as they exited to the lobby, where they ran into Sheriff Bev Hatch.

“Hey, how are you guys?” Bev smiled at Jo and Sam. “You must be happy about the news.”

“News?” Jo looked at Sam. She hadn’t heard any news to be happy about.

“You didn’t hear?” Bev looked pleased to be the one to tell them. “Looks like Bascomb didn’t get a win with those golf shoes. He submitted them to an independent lab to find alternative DNA, but turns out Thorne’s is the only one on there, including a smudge of blood that matches.”

“That’s great news.” Jo was relieved but now confused, given what Thorne had said about Robert. Maybe he was lying. Probably was. He wouldn’t be the first pathological liar that didn’t exhibit nervousness when not telling the truth. Especially when it came to something that lent itself to their own survival.

“So the shoes are Thorne’s?” Sam asked.

Bev nodded.

“Bascomb must be mad about that. I wonder what else he has up his sleeve.”

Bev shrugged and headed toward the inner door. “Who knows. I’m just glad we got over this hurdle. Thorne is exactly where he belongs, and I don’t want him getting out.”

Sam and Jo continued to the Tahoe in silence.

“This is good news but doesn’t help with our current case,” Sam said.

“True, but maybe we can get Bridget to identify Thorne before Bascomb comes up with something else. At least that will be another nail in his coffin.”

“It might be smart to show Vicky the picture of Robert just in case.”

Jo thought about Thorne’s words again. Robert had killed the pet. Killing pets was often the first step before serial killers turned to killing people. “We might as well, because even if Thorne did kill those girls five years ago, he can’t possibly be the one that killed Kirsten Stillwater. That person is still out there.”

* * *

* * *

Apparently Bridget had made further progress with the cat, as evidenced by the fact that it was sitting beside her and submitting to being petted when Jo pulled into the driveway that night. Pickles looked warily at Jo as she approached. He must have decided that she was okay, because after a few minutes, he came over and rubbed his face on her ankle.

“Wow, he’s really coming around. Kind of reminds me of our first cat when we were kids,” Jo said as Pickles trotted off to the woods.

“You remember? I loved that cat.” Bridget stood and brushed off the seat of her pants. “I put a cat bed in the box and some food. Maybe he’ll come back to stay on the porch tonight.”

“That would be great.” Jo turned her attention to her sister. She looked happy. At ease. And since she’d brought up their childhood—“I have something to tell you. It’s about Tammy.”

Bridget didn’t appear to be the least bit disturbed or surprised at the revelation. “Have you been investigating it?”

“Yes.” How had she guessed that? Had she seen something in the house? Jo thought she’d locked everything in her armoire. Though maybe it wasn’t a big stretch for her to guess that her cop sister was investigating their other sister’s unsolved abduction case.

“Makes sense. So what have you found?”

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