“Enough to kill more than a decade later?”

“He had been in prison at one point. Maybe Banks had moved by the time he was out and he couldn’t initially find her. A series of events could have happened and by then he located her, right around the anniversary of his wife’s death—a death he believes could have been prevented.”

“So we should talk to the sister-in-law.”

“Do you have another suspect?”

“No. Hell, we could be going at this all the wrong way.”

“Do you believe that?”

“I don’t know what I believe at this point, but right now this is all we have.”

“Psychology is not a hard science. This pattern is so clear now that we’ve identified it. I agree with your assessment about Brian Maddox being the likely target because so far he’s one of only two law enforcement officers from Liberty Lake who had a run-in with Hamilton. You also need to make sure the officer who arrested Hamilton for his third drunk driving offense is covered, too. Officer—” she flipped paper “—Theresa Corrigan. That arrest led Hamilton down the path where he lost his job, his freedom, his son, then his house. That’s a lot of losses in a short period of time, on top of the rage he felt at the death of his wife just the year before. He seems to have had no other support structure besides his son and sister-in-law—both of whom lived hours away—no one else, no close friends, no church or civic organization. So he moves out of state...then disappears. You need to find him. Before he finds you.”

“I have two agents from Seattle who came in to help. They’re working with Andy Knolls on all the arrest files from Liberty Lake to make sure we haven’t missed something, but I’ll pull them tonight to sit on Corrigan. She has a partner for the duration, but I can spare the agents.”

“Are you on Maddox? Or local cops?”

“Detective Quinn is staying with him. He’s sending his family out of town today, and two of his own officers are going to watch his house 24-7 for the next two days. But Corrigan has no connection to Liberty Lake—she lives in Spokane, she works in Spokane, and has never lived or worked in Liberty Lake.”

“Except she arrested Hamilton,” Catherine said. “Remember that Manners worked in Spokane, but was killed at the lake. Ogdenburg worked in Spokane, but was killed at the lake. I don’t think you can take Officer Corrigan off the potential target list, not yet.”

“Point taken.”

“And remember—don’t go anywhere alone.”

“I have Michael with me. I took your warning to heart. Now that I’m the face of the investigation, if we thwart him, he could come after me. I get it.”

“Good to know. Be careful.”

“I knew you cared.”

“You’re impossible.” Catherine hung up.

Matt grinned. I’m wearing her down.

Michael said, “I guess we’re going to Kennewick.”

“Yep. I’m going to call the Seattle agents and tell them they’re on Corrigan, starting at ten tonight. Andy’s people can relieve them in the morning.”