‘That’s not all that we are basing our case on but I’m afraid that’s all the evidence we can comfortably share with you at this time. We want you to understand why we have to continue to look into him,’ Hannigan said. ‘We need to ensure that there are certain things only ourselves and TSK know about the murders, so we know who is telling the truth if we get a confession. With big cases like these you get people coming out of the woodwork trying to claim they’re the killer in order to fulfill some twisted desire for notoriety.’ Like last time, Beck seemed to be studying my reactions carefully. Perhaps they were concerned about the relationship I’d been developing with Cris, especially after I fought to defend him. All of a sudden, I was very aware of every facial muscle and what they were each doing. ‘We just want you to be aware of the potential danger so you can be observant and proceed with caution if you continue to spend time with Cristian. Until we conclude our investigation, you need to be careful.’

‘But there’s so many ways someone could get access to that drug,’ I pressed, desperate.

‘Yeah, I mean, I know some people—’ Andie laughed, then abruptly stopped herself when she remembered who we were talking with. ‘Never mind,’ she said, taking a sip of her cocktail and averting her eyes.

My face flushed and I couldn’t help but wish she would leave the room. Maybe I should have had her leave when they asked. Then I could have at least decided how much to tell her.

‘When we questioned Cristian about ketamine use in his office,’ Hannigan continued, thankfully ignoring Andie’s outburst, ‘he eventually admitted to us that a large stash of ketamine went missing from his storage room years ago, around the time when we think the paired abductions began. He never reported it, suspecting it was someone he knew and preferring to handle it personally rather than get them into trouble. But because he didn’t report it, we have no way to confirm his story.’

My head was spinning and the headache bloomed stronger behind both eyes now. I rubbed my temples with my fingers. None of this proved anything but I could tell they were confident in their assumptions. I didn’t know what to say.

I shook my head, trying to clear out my conflicting emotions and gather my thoughts. ‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘Well, first of all, we want you to be safe,’ Hannigan said. ‘We know you’re actively trying to establish relationships with your biological family and because of this situation with the familial DNA there is a level of danger inherent for you. You need to be careful regarding both Cristian and Adam until we are able to clear them conclusively.’