“That’s Alice Groden. She was murdered in 1997 in her home one week after giving birth to her son. Her husband was at work during the event, and her son was with her mother-in-law, who had offered to take the baby that morning so Alice could get some rest. The detectives working the case first suspected her husband’s friend, who had made her uncomfortable on a few occasions and had no alibi for the time Alice was murdered. But they never had any evidence to connect him to the crime, and he passed a polygraph, so they felt they had no reason to keep looking into him.

“Then, four years after her murder, Charles Feller was arrested for the murder of Debra Oshae.”

My brows drag together, Charles's name sounding familiar.

“Charles has been convicted of murder-for-hire here and in Florida. He’s also been charged with the homicide of three women, who he killed just because he’s trash.”

“Right,” I mutter, and she nods.

“While Charles was being interrogated for the murder of Debra Oshae, he confessed to the murder of Alice. The detectives at the time were not convinced that he was telling the truth, even after he gave the layout of the apartment and details about the crime that no one else would know.”

“Okay.”

“After he was convicted for killing Debra and sentenced, he recanted his confession of Alice’s homicide to the media, claiming that it was coerced. He wasn’t. There is an audio recording of the conversation, and he gave that information without even being prompted.”

She sighs, then continues, “The case had been tucked away and forgotten until recently, when a woman with a podcast started looking into it and contacted the department, asking questions. They shared what information they had but made it clear there were not enough funds to perform the most recent DNA testing.”

This doesn’t surprise me. Most police departments barely have money to do DNA testing on cases as they come in. They wouldn’t prioritize a cold case.

“When they told her this, she offered to pay for the testing herself and to share the information she was able to gather through her own investigation of the crime. So, they opened the case back up and submitted what evidence there was for DNA testing.”

“Did it come back as Charles?”

“Yes, but as you know, with these things, it’s never as easy as just saying that the DNA is a match.”

I nod, knowing she’s right.

“I spoke with Billy, and we have decided to let you take the lead on this case.”

I try to keep the surprise off my face, but I can’t this time. Normally, I’m in the background, working the cases that are brought forward, so either she or Billy can go to court with all the information I gather.

“How long do I have to prepare?”