It clearly wasnt a match but there was still one remaining question. If Nicholas Harding had not been seeing Peter Deringer, then why was the same blocked number on his records?

Did he ever deal with a man named Dr. Peter Deringer?

No. He found Dr. Wickline and they gelled really well. The only therapist he ever saw was Dr. Wickline.

Rachel could tell that Amanda wanted to go on talking, but she did her best to end the call politely. After all, she now knew that two out of the four victims not only had connections to the same therapist, but had received calls from the therapists office in the days leading up to their deaths. Also, that same therapists number was on a third victims records as well even though there was no apparent link between the two of them. It made no real sense, but that was why it was such an intriguing lead.

That was not just a leadthat was a very strong lead.

First, of course, she needed to try to patch things up with Jack. Because at the end of the day, hed been right; if they did not work as a unit, the case would suffer. And now, with Dr. Peter Deringer serving as a massive suspect and lead, there wasnt a single second to lose. And if she had to eat some humble pie in order to wrap this case quickly, she was more than willing to do it.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Rachel sat on the edge of Jacks bed, watching as he processed all shed just told him. Shed not yet attempted an apology or any sort of reconciliation, but had gotten straight to the point. Because when all was said and done, it was the case that truly mattered the most.

So what youre saying is that at least two of our victims were seeing Dr. Deringer, but at least one of the others was not. But even still, the number is on the phone records of all of the first three victims.

Jack said this all very slowly, trying to properly digest it all as he heard it spoken out loud by his own voice.

Yes, thats exactly what Im saying. And if Im being honest, the part of it that seems the most off-putting is the fact that Deringers number showed up in Nicholas Hardings phone records even though Deringer never had him as a patient.

Yeah, that rubs me the wrong way, too. You got an address for Deringer?