I felt like I was on the verge of hyperventilating as panic took over. I leaned forward and tilted my head down. Pulling in deep, focused breaths, I closed my eyes and tried to calm the storm of emotions. There was no way around it, I was related to a psychopath. What if I was already spending time with him? I pulled my head back up sharply. It just couldn’t be Cris. It had to be someone else. I needed it to be someone else.

I felt the weight of Andie’s hand on my arm and her words brought the room back into sharp focus. ‘Liz, are you okay?’

Trying to compose myself, I was suddenly very aware of all the eyes trained on me. I swallowed hard and muttered, ‘Yes, sorry, I’m fine. It’s just … a lot to take in. I just can’t believe I’m related to TSK—’

Hannigan and Beck nodded sympathetically, giving me another moment to compose myself. As the initial shock began to wear off, the familiar itch deep inside me urging me to dissect, investigate, learn, reared its head. I had to know why they felt so strongly that it could be Cris.

‘Please,’ I said, with a calmness that surprised even myself. ‘Explain to me why Cris and his career as a vet makes him a suspect. I saw you share a look in our first meeting when I mentioned what he does for a living and you’ve brought it up again today. Just tell me something concrete.’

Hannigan nodded, taking a second before he continued, ‘Liz, hair strands from The Tri-State Killer’s victims showed trace evidence of ketamine in their systems, which if you don’t know, is an animal tranquilizer frequently used by veterinarians. Cristian would have and still does have access to it through his business. We know that TSK has been dormant, but we don’t believe that makes him any less dangerous an individual. There’s no guarantee he’s done killing and we need to get justice for all the families he’s already destroyed.’

I swallowed the lump in my throat, frustration and confusion mingling with panic, eager to come to Cris’s defense despite how short a time I’d known him. ‘Is that all? Couldn’t someone else, like Adam, have figured out how to get ketamine, maybe illegally?’ I countered.