‘Ahh, twenty-seven,’ he said, drawing out his syllables. ‘A young woman then. You must have a boyfriend or a husband, I’m sure.’

I swallowed hard, trying to quiet the unsettling feeling that was growing in me the longer we stayed on the line. ‘No, no boyfriend or husband quite yet,’ I said. Then, trying to get the conversation off me and back on track, ‘So you’re Cristian and Frank Dominio’s cousin, right?’

After a beat he said, ‘Yes, yes. I am. But I’ve had no contact with the Dominio family in a long time. My own family is a bit of a handful themselves, you see.’

My hopes soared. ‘Is there other family? Someone else you could put me in contact with as well?’

‘Oh, no Lizzie. There’s not.’ I cringed again at the way the nickname rolled off his tongue. When he spoke, he was somehow simultaneously intriguing and eerie. ‘The only family I have left is from my mother’s side and they’ve got no relation to you, so I’m afraid it wouldn’t be much help at all.’

‘I’m not sure if you heard but your cousin Frank passed away.’ It exploded from my mouth before I could stop myself. I was torn between my desperation to get to know another biological relative and my desire to uncover if he could be The Tri-State Killer. Either way, I knew I had to keep him talking as long as I could.

He paused before saying, ‘No, I hadn’t heard but I haven’t spoken to Frank since we were kids.’

Chewing on my lip, I scoured my brain for some way to keep the conversation going in a helpful direction. ‘I just want to know who my family is. Is there anything you can tell me? Please.’

For a few agonizing seconds all that came through the phone was the sound of his deep, measured breathing. ‘Well let’s see, my dad passed away from prostate cancer when I was young.’ He gave a large, exaggerated sad sigh. I couldn’t tell if he was being authentic or acting. ‘My mom never really liked his brother, Rodrigo. She said he was a jerk who talked down to her and was always trying to control every situation. He and Aunt Dorina fought constantly and my mom always suspected he was cheating. I think it worried her that he might encourage my dad to do the same. So, after my dad died, we moved to the West Coast near her family.’

‘What about Frank? Can you tell me anything else about him?’ I asked, curious for his take on the only other male relative I knew about.