The woman’s rate of breathing increased audibly. “I can’t be there but will ask Jason or Haylee to go with him. I trust them and give permission or consent or whatever for you to talk to Davie while they’re with him. I’m sure he’ll want to help you. What do you think he could possibly know?”

It was a fair question from a concerned and harried mother. “Davie knew Sharon Lamber, who is one of the victims in this case. He and Tommy Bearing assisted her at her greenhouse with various tasks, and I want to know if he saw or heard anything odd. I need to question him about this case in general, Ms. Tate.”

“Oh. Well, okay. I’ll call Jason now.”

“I appreciate it.” Laurel wanted to schedule a time to question Ms. Tate directly but wouldn’t make that request until she’d already spoken to Davie. “How about I call you after interviewing Davie to update you?”

Ms. Tate sighed. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll speak with you soon.” Laurel ended the call. Should she feel guilty about manipulating Davie’s mother? She was trying to catch a murderer who beat his victims to death, so her own feelings didn’t matter right now.

Her cell phone rang and she reached for it yet again. “Snow.”

“Hi. It’s Dr. Ortega, and I have a preliminary report for you on Christine Franklin. Blunt force trauma to the head as cause of death. There were signs of a sexual assault but no bodily fluids, and no DNA so far.” Papers rustled. “Same as the other victims. You thinking he tries to rape them, can’t keep it up, and then goes into a rage?”

“Yes,” she said, dropping into a leather chair.

The sound of liquid being poured into a mug came over the line. “I’ll email you an off icial report by the end of the day.” He cleared his throat. “I know you’re swamped, but have you found out anything about Tommy Bearing? My niece is just head over heels.”

Laurel winced. “High school gossip is that he was climbing out of a girl’s bedroom, where he’d been invited, and the dad caught him. Tommy assaulted the dad. I haven’t been able to get my hands on a juvenile report, but just between us, he’s a person of interest in this homicide investigation.”

“Are you kidding me?” Ortega snapped.

“No. I don’t have anything concrete on the young man. His family has connections to each of the victims, but that’s it. I initially put him on the list because of what you’d said about voyeurism, and so far, that hasn’t panned out. I don’t have enough on Tommy to obtain a warrant for anything. Even so, I want you fully informed.”