‘Thank you,’ I said, looking for the right words to say. ‘I got back earlier today from my grand uncle’s house, one of the FBI’s main suspects. And I felt like all the profile points were lurking in the back of my head and I was seeing signs of his guilt everywhere. But then there’s this other relative who I’ve only spoken to on the phone, their other main suspect, and he gave me the creeps. I think I’ve caught him in a lie too, about a boat show he claimed he was going to. But maybe he made that up just to get off the phone with me quicker. I don’t know what to think anymore. I feel like I’m going crazy. Can you talk me off the ledge here?’ I said, a pleading in my voice. Any hesitation about asking for information was long gone. I figured I didn’t have a whole lot to lose at this point.

‘Oh Liz, I’m so sorry you’re going through that. It must be so frightening, wondering each day if you’re talking to a killer. Once again, I feel I need to emphasize that you should look out for your safety here, but I know if it were me, I wouldn’t be able to stop searching either. Hell, I haven’t been able to stop searching for TSK after all these years and I’m not even related to him.’

I smiled a bit at this. Everyone else in my life seemed to be telling me to stop. But Beccah got it. She understood my need to know despite the danger, and for that I was grateful. Maybe if I shared a new detail with her it would gain enough of her trust that she’d spill the beans on everything else she knew about TSK. It was worth a shot.

‘One of the reasons they think it’s my grand uncle I’ve been spending time with,’ I said, preparing the bait, ‘is that he’s a veterinarian. I’m not sure if you’ve seen the details of the coroner reports in the cold case files but the FBI told me that ketamine was found in the victims’ bodies.’

Beccah was quiet for a second. Then she said, very carefully, ‘And they think that connects to your grand uncle because of his profession?’

‘Yes, well that, and when he was just getting started at his own practice a large supply of ketamine went missing. He never reported it.’

I felt like I could hear the wheels turning as Beccah took a moment to process this. ‘Wow, Liz. I know that’s not a smoking gun but it’s certainly a red flag.’