“Then I’ll just have to look into it myself,” I say preparing to hang up the phone.

“Fine. Who’s your lead?”

“I reviewed that interview you had with Jesse, and I noticed that Jesse said he always saw Kelly with a cop.”

“Yeah, so—her husband Scott is a cop,” he interrupts.

“True and that’s who I assumed he was talking about, but what if he wasn’t? What if Kelly was having an affair with Scott’s partner, Deputy Marcus Hudson?”

“That’s quite the accusation, Sarah. Do you have any proof of that?” He sounds irritated, and I guess he has every right to be. In the past week, one of his deputies has been accused of being a wife beater, and now I’m accusing another deputy of having an affair with his partner’s wife, and possibly murdering her. It doesn’t really have the wholesome look you’d want for a small-town sheriff’s department.

“No, but Kelly would have known Deputy Hudson very well. They could have easily grown close, and it explains why he used a burner phone and why they were never seen together in public. That’s something you would want to hide,” I explain.

“I’m not bringing Deputy Hudson in for questioning nor testing his DNA without any evidence. That’s ridiculous, Sarah.” He raises his voice.

“Then let’s bring Jesse in again. Let’s ask him to specify.”

“Sarah, this is over. There is no let’s. This is my investigation, and it’s closed. Please do not call me again.” Sheriff Stevens hangs up the phone.

I slam my phone down. “Fuck.”

Anne enters the office with a worried look on her face.

I drop my head into my hands and let out a groan.

“Are you okay?”

I pick my head up and look at her. “No. I’m not.” I flop my hands on the desk.

She scurries to me and takes a seat. She takes my hand for comfort. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything. My marriage is over. My husband is on trial for murder. I’m not getting any help from the Prince William County Sheriff’s Department, and I’ve hit a dead end in the case. I’m going to lose.”