He nodded. “I’ve been meaning to get out here. We’ve had a couple of calls. There’s plenty of families with young children or those who just plain don’t want their homes featured on television. And this street’s pretty narrow. And right now nobody’s living next to you anyhow, which means the burden of that harassment is falling on you and your little one. You’re entitled to some protection, in my book.”

As he was talking, Rahmia came down the opposite side of the street. I hadn’t seen her since the night everything happened. Now her eyes widened, and her steps slowed as she walked past. She probably thought I’d fooled her, just the way Lena had fooled me.

That was our life now. Even the nicest constable in the world couldn’t make things okay. Clearing the reporters would only remove the visible proof that all my neighbors, all of Sugar Land and Houston and beyond, all of Texas had a taste of what had happened, and now they were thirsty to know more.

I knew Michael was innocent, I knew trauma could heal, and I knew it was up to me to get us both out the other side. If finding the truth was the only way through this nightmare, I would get those answers, and the rest of the world could choke on them.

C2C TRANSCRIPT

9

Helen: So why did Brady Voss get caught? Up to this point, he’d been committing murders and he hadn’t even had a close call. He wasn’t devolving, he was making smart decisions, varying his hunting grounds, his victim types, and his disposal sites.

Julia: Pacing himself. Twelve victims chosen from six different counties, all spaced about six to eight months apart.

Helen: There’s actually no reason to believe he wouldn’t have—couldn’t have—continued what he was doing. Maybe even for years. All he had to do was keep on keeping on. But then he invited Michael Tremaine over—

Julia: Do we know that?

Helen: According to both Michael and his wife’s testimony, Brady invited him over that night. Now, we do know for the past year they’d been getting together a couple times a week, working on some garden projects and yard construction and hanging out. Maybe Brady was “grooming” Michael?

Julia: And his wife’s not around …

Helen: We’ll get back to that in a minute.

Julia: So Brady thought he’d have a “guys’ night out” for murder?

Helen: It’s happened. Consider the Hillside Stranglers, cousins Bianchi and Buono; or the Tool Box Killers, Bittaker and Norris, who met in prison; or the Railway Killers, childhood friends Duffy and Mulcahy.

Julia: But it’s a huge risk. You can’t just come out and say, “Hey, wanna commit some hideous crimes together?” He must have started by dropping little hints.