Then another thought hit me, when I mentioned Rosie. If it was Cris, how much did she know? Was she complicit? Or was she another victim, blissfully unaware of his actions? Or maybe aware but too afraid to say anything? I thought back to my last visit and the way Cris had given her a stern look when she’d initially suggested showing me Frank’s belongings upstairs. At first, I thought it was simply a difficult moment due his brother’s passing. But now I wondered whether it was more ominous than that. More controlling. But what about Adam? What if he fit the bill even more than Cris? I still hadn’t even gotten him on the phone.

‘Wait,’ I said, interrupting as Travis tried to show Andie how to line up a certain play on the pool table. ‘I just thought of something. Adam’s phone number is a Massachusetts number and these new women were taken from Boston. The original article I found with him in it was from when he worked a job in Boston.’

Andie walked over and grabbed me by the shoulders. ‘Take a deep breath for a sec, okay? Can we please just enjoy our time out tonight? This whole thing is crazy and dangerous and I’m worried about you. But also … damn, I don’t know, Liz. I just want to play pool and have fun with my cousin. Not rehash your obsession with The Tri-State Killer when you should be leaving the investigation up to the professionals.’

I shrank back. ‘That’s the second time you’ve called me obsessed. Tell me Andie, how would you feel if you found out at the age of twenty-seven that you’re adopted and that, quite possibly, the only person you knew from your biological family is a serial killer?’ I realized my voice had risen but I didn’t care. Several guys from the neighboring table looked at me.

Andie inhaled and dropped her gaze to the ground. When she looked back at me she shook her head. ‘You’re right. I have no idea what this feels like. I’m sorry that I don’t want to talk about this right now but it’s all we’ve talked about for weeks. This isn’t some movie or distant news article anymore, Liz. This is real life. You could be inserting yourself into the life of someone who kills women like us. I’ve tried my best to be supportive through all of this but now that we know TSK is active, this is really scary, okay? I just want to have one normal night out without a cloud of danger hovering over us. Is that too much to ask?’ Andie’s eyes pleaded with me.

But I couldn’t drop it. As much as I wanted to put it out of my head, it wasn’t happening. Maybe I was obsessed. But maybe that was natural given the circumstances.