“She was intoxicated at the time.” Jordan drew in a breath. “You see the similarities between the victims and my sister and me, right?”

“Yes.”

She sat silent, and he sensed she was debating whether to open up. “Two years ago, I found Avery in an apartment. Walker had sold her drugs. She was high and her hands bound. There was also plastic shoved in her mouth. If I’d not arrived when I did, she would have suffocated.”

That explained Harold Sunday’s comment about Jordan’s personal connection to Walker. “Does she remember anyone else being with Walker?”

“She doesn’t remember much. Whatever he gave her that night knocked her out so well.”

“And she never had any other issues?”

“That night scared the hell out of her. She sobered and so far has stayed clean. It might not have anything to do with this, but keeping it hidden won’t help anyone now.”

“How did Avery hook up with Walker?” he asked.

“She was young and struggling. Barely got out of high school and didn’t want to go to college. Worked odd jobs and then started to drift. He showed up and said all the right things, and she fell under his spell. When they were getting serious, I did a background check on him.”

“Did you really?”

A grin tugged her lips. “I did. And then I found drugs in her room. Immediately, I connected him to the drugs. We had a terrible fight, she stormed off, and I got worried. Like I said, I followed, found her in his apartment, suffocating. Five more minutes and she would have been dead.”

“You’ve good instincts.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I just got lucky.”

“I appreciate your trust.”

“I should have told you sooner, but I did not want to believe these two murders were attached to Avery. It’s been two years, and this killer’s MO is different.” She shoved out a sigh, and her frown suggested she already regretted her honesty. “But killers evolve.”

“Yes.”

“Where do we go from here?”

“I’ll call the hospital,” he said. “And hope Emma Powers showed up for work today.”

While Jordan and Spencer waited for a callback from Emma’s supervisor, he updated her on his visit to Sunday’s office as well as the findings from the medical examiner. Standard investigative information, but it felt good to think about the case and not herself.

“I’ve never been crazy about Harold Sunday,” she said. “If Satan paid Sunday’s price, then he’d represent him. But he’s good at what he does, and if there’s a loophole to crawl through or leverage to be found, he’ll take advantage of it.”

“How many times have you gone against him in court?” Spencer asked.

“Five or six times. He and I share a mutual dislike for the other.”

“Has he made any threats?”