Did it work? Rachel asked.

Edwin Newkirk paid five grand. I had another oneNick Hardingthat was setting up a time and place to drop the money off but it never panned out.

The first tear rolled down his face and he lowered his head to wipe it awayas if shedding a few tears was somehow more shameful than what hed attempted to do.

Would you be able to provide alibis of where you were for the last several nights? Rachel asked. She suddenly wanted to be out of the room. If she stayed this close to him for much longer, she was afraid she might say or even do something very stupid and out of line.

I was at a bar two nights ago. Closed the place down. The only other evidence Id have is online activity.

Rachel could see him thinking about something…something more than just his whereabouts for the last few nights. She wondered if he was trying to figure out if what hed just admitted to was an actual crime. The tracing was, for sure. And hed certainly lose his job once it all came to light.

Thank you, Mr. Spears. She said this quickly and then hurried out of the interrogation room. Without waiting for Jack, she returned to their makeshift office of a conference room and plopped down in a chair.

In her mind, she placed herself in the shoes of one of the four victims. She tried to imagine what she might have done if shed gotten a call from a piece of shit like Alberto Spears. What if someone had called her and said: Im going to tell everyone about your brain tumor and your suicidal thoughts unless you pay.

It unnerved her. More than that, the idea of it made her furious. For a moment, even the idea of it was too much. She started to feel overwhelmed and as it settled in, a dark cloud rolled along inside of her head. How much longer do you really think youre going to be able to do this?

Hey, are you okay? came Jacks voice from the door. She turned and saw that he hadnt entered yet, wanting to make sure he gave her some space.

Yeah, I think so. What he just admitted to…it hit me the wrong way, I think. I mean, thats pretty messed up right?

Yes, Id say so.

But I do think it pretty much proves that hes not the killer.

Hows that?

Well, if hes legitimately trying to blackmail them for money, it doesnt really play to his advantage if they die.

He could have been lying about the whole blackmail thing.

I thought about that, too. But he seems smart enough to know what we could easily check up on that. I think he was being mostly truthful about the blackmail aspect. And I think as he voiced it out loud, he started to understand how fucking monstrous it is.