“Because his mother’s death removed him from being a suspect, while simultaneously giving him the insider’s perspective for selling the novel. I was wrong about the inciting event for the Rose Killer. It wasn’t Charlie investigating Donnie’s murder. It was his mom getting terminal cancer. That brought him back to town, remember? Got him on this path of thinking about the past. Once he realized he couldn’t sell novel A and started considering novel B . . . Well, by then his mother was pretty near the end, right? You saw her. And frankly, compared to what the cancer was doing to her, the days, even weeks, she had left, I bet Charlie convinced himself the Rose Killer’s method was kinder. She’d never feel a thing. But doing the deed was still harder than he’d anticipated. The hesitation marks, remember? For all of his planning, some things were easier said than done.”

Phil grimaced, clearly not loving the theory, but no longer arguing. “And you? You don’t even know Charlie Sgarzi. Why shove you down the stairs?”

“Like we thought, I must’ve caught him off guard. He returned to what appeared to be a vacated crime scene and ended up coming face-to-face with a homicide detective. Split-second decision, he shoves me down a flight of stairs. Then probably ran the hell out of there, grateful to have gotten away with it. Except, like you and Alex said, I came back. Started hunting again, which I’d like to think scared him, but most likely got him thinking, too. What does every villain need? An archnemesis. And planned or not, the Rose Killer now had one. Scary for him as the killer, exciting for him as a future bestselling author. Another reason to egg me on with a personal note left in my house; Charlie’s earning a larger book advance by the minute.”

Phil grunted. “And helping Shana escape?”

“That I don’t understand.”

“Finally, an honest answer.” He rolled his eyes.

“It’s Sam Hayes that seals the deal,” D.D. informed him impatiently. “How else do you explain the materials from Harry Day appearing on his doorstep? Charlie placed them there in order to position Hayes as the red herring. Or maybe, if Hayes hadn’t fallen off the ladder and injured his back, the lead suspect. But again, every great drama needs suspects. So Charlie created one: Samuel Hayes, who once upon a time had a relationship with Shana Day and now has her father’s personal documents in his possession. Looks guiltier by the minute, right? Especially when all Samuel can say is that he found the items. Come on.”

“But Hayes is crippled,” Phil rebutted. “Makes him a piss-poor prime suspect.”

“Ah, but his injury is recent, and according to Hayes, he received the materials before he fell off the ladder. In fact, the envelope would’ve arrived shortly after the Rose Killer’s first victim.”