She was beginning to think she might never get a good night’s sleep again.

Darby was inside an interview room with Elliot Byrne and another one of the FBI agents from Quantico. She remembered Jed Brennan from the news the year before last. He’d saved the president from an assassination attempt, had even taken a bullet meant for the guy. Lincoln Frazer had asked her if he could take first crack at interviewing Corinne Brown as soon as she woke up in the hospital. Signy had said yes. She wasn’t an idiot.

This time, Corinne was shackled to the bed and two armed officers guarded her at all times. This was an opportunity for Signy to learn from a master, and she wouldn’t squander the opportunity to become a better cop. Although, hopefully, Brown was her first and last serial killer.

“Good work, Torgerson,” Chief Jacobs told her, walking past.

She opened her mouth to set him right.

“This is going to look great when the board reviews your promotion application.”

And just like that she shut her mouth. Sometimes police work was hard graft, but there was always a degree of luck. Being in the right place at the right time, having a good team on her side.

This time she’d been lucky and, hopefully, learned a few things along the way.

Kim Gleeson was being released. She watched Allan Robertson escort him past her out of holding. Gleeson was fortunate no one had died after his false confession. The DA was still considering charges, especially related to his son who seemed like a piece of work who could do with therapy of his own.

It appeared likely Corinne Brown had tailed Darby for some weeks and determined the best place to discover what she wanted was via her therapist. So, the theory was, she’d befriended and killed Debbie Abbot. Then emailed Gleeson with Debbie’s resignation letter. Then she’d been Johnny-on-the-spot when Gleeson had needed a receptionist in a hurry and, apparently, he’d failed to check her references.

No one remembered Corinne being at the dance. Presumably, she’d gone late and watched from a quiet corner. The fact most people had been drunk had worked in her favor, plus she was kind of forgettable. Maybe it was something she’d developed as a kid trying to avoid the dubious attentions of a predatory stepfather. Maybe it came naturally. Whatever the reality, it had worked in her favor when it came to the police looking for a vicious serial killer. No one had looked at Corinne Brown twice.

Signy felt someone come to stand near her shoulder. “Ready for that drink yet, Detective?”

She stared up into the heat of Elliot Byrne’s dark blue eyes. It was going to be hours until Corinne was cleared for questioning and Signy would get a call as soon as she was. When she’d gone home earlier, she’d been disappointed to discover Aiden had gone to play video games all night with one of his best friends. She’d texted the mom to make sure it was legit, and it had been.