Thinking back to my call with him, I returned to Google and tried searching for boat shows this weekend in Rhode Island since Adam claimed he was attending one. Even though he said he would be too busy to see me, Rhode Island was accessible by train. Despite it being a four-hour trip, I could still just show up and surprise him, make him talk to me more. Running into him in a public place full of people seemed safer than meeting him on his home turf. I tried several combinations of search terms with no success. I couldn’t find any event postings for the current weekend. With one last attempt, I removed my dates on the search and finally stumbled onto an article highlighting the Newport International Boat Show, but it had occurred two weekends ago. Biting my lip, I snatched up my phone and decided to try calling him again. It rang several times before clicking over to the answering machine.

Grunting in frustration, I threw the phone back down on the couch. I’d have to try him again later. Either there was another boat show this weekend that I somehow hadn’t found in my search or he had lied to me. Considering my research skills, it seemed the latter was more likely.

I turned on the TV to take my mind off the case until Andie came home. NY1 came on and two photos of the missing women took up most of the screen. The photos minimized to the bottom right corner and the brunette newscaster looked gravely into the camera.

‘The search intensifies for the latest suspected victims of The Tri-State Killer, Addie Wilson and Zoey Davis …’

I groaned loudly, hit the power off button and downed my glass of wine. I was just getting up to pour another when my phone rang. When I saw Beccah’s name appear, I quickly pulled it up to answer, almost smacking myself in the face with it in my haste.

‘Hi, Liz. It’s Beccah. I saw a missed call from you.’

‘Beccah, thank you for calling me back.’

‘Oh, it’s no problem. What’s on your mind? Has something major happened in the investigation?’

‘Are we off the record again?’ I asked, nerves and adrenaline pumping through me in harmony.

‘Sure,’ she replied.