Thursday, September 3 at 9:39 a.m.
Jo and Bryan had not talked anymore after Bryan openly confessed he could not take her growing obsession with another case. For the past two days, Jo’s investigation of Laura Finney’s death had taken a slow dive of no progress, despite the captain’s daily veiled threats. This morning, the weight of Bryan’s words sunk in as Jo realized the case had taken a drastic turn in a direction she could have never seen coming. A little over two weeks after finding Laura Finney’s body, they had another murder scene.
Jo looked down at Sarah’s body. A mixture of shock and fear coursed through her. Sarah was found in her home with her wrists bound behind her. Jo found herself not being able to focus. Her mind raced backwards to the Maddock case. Sarah’s death appeared to almost match Maddock’s m.o.
Is someone playing some sick game here?
Jo glanced at Pete. He looked as grave as she felt. She shifted her eyes to Lou as he walked and recorded notes. Jo held her hand to her head as if it would keep her from losing her mind. What she needed to do was separate all of the other crime scenes in her head and focus solely on this one. Jo tried to recreate the scene inside her head.
Sarah had struggled. She didn’t just let her assailant inside. Jo imagined someone caught the young woman off guard as she entered her house. A scuffle ensued in the hallway. The lamp on the table was knocked over. Sarah’s purse had been flung against a wall. All the items were scattered everywhere. She must have been attacked from behind holding mail in her hand because envelopes and a magazine were strewn across the floor. She had no idea how long Sarah was tied up. The ligatures around her neck indicated strangulation was most likely the cause of death.
Just three days ago, Jo had listened on the phone as the young woman begged them to leave her cousin alone. She provided an alibi for Matt that Jo and Pete had since confirmed with the Uber driver, Sarah’s roommate and the bartender at Nick’s Place. Matt was no longer a suspect, but he was still connected.
Pete looked at Jo and nodded to his right. “Not-so lucky for him having to find her and call it in. Still thinking he’s not involved?”
Jo looked at Pete. “This is someone else. Sarah cleared Matt. She was his alibi. What would have been his motive?”
Jo swung around and looked at Matt who sat on the stairs weeping openly. Jo could not deny she felt bad for him. First, his fiancée and now his cousin. Matt had told them Sarah’s roommate was out-of-town, and was having a hard time getting in touch with Sarah. Matt drove over to the house to check on his cousin.
Jo walked over to Matt and crouched.
Through his tears, Matt moaned. “Sarah always looked out for me.”
Jo sympathized, “I’m so sorry, Matt. Had you and Sarah talked since Monday? Did she mention a man to you? He would’ve been tall with dark hair. Do you know someone who fits that description that would have come to see you Monday?”
Matt shook his head. “What? Nobody came to see me on Monday but Sarah.” He stuttered through tears. “I haven’t talked to Sarah since Monday.”
Jo turned and walked back towards Pete. “Sarah must have found this guy. She got too close to him. He knew she’d made a connection to him and Laura. This was about keeping Sarah quiet.”
Pete smirked, “So we’re still trying to track down the mystery guy we can’t seem to find. The captain is going to want to strangle us.”
Jo thought for a minute. “There was one other person who saw this guy. We need to talk to her and this time she needs to give us something we can use. Sarah was her friend too.”
Thursday, September 3 at 4:50 p.m.
When Jo and Pete walked into the Paradise Lounge, there were already several people sitting at the bar enjoying happy hour. Jo spotted Reece shaking a canister behind the bar. They stood at the corner of the bar and waited as Reece finished pouring the drink. Reece’s smile disappeared when she spotted them. Jo walked closer. “Hello, Reece, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. Can we talk?”
The young woman stopped what she was doing behind the bar and strolled towards Jo and Pete. She crossed her arms.
Jo said, “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Sarah was found dead today in her home.”
Reece stared as if she didn’t quite comprehend Jo’s words. She held her hands to her face and cried. “No, no, no. What? How can this happen?” Reece wiped her wet face. “Sarah was the best. She had such a good heart. I just told her the other day she was pretty and could do anything she wanted.”
Jo stepped closer. “Reece, I’m so sorry. I know Sarah was your friend more so than Laura, but we really need your help. Why don’t we walk over here so you don’t upset your customers?”
Reece shuddered. Her tears spilled down her face making her seem young and vulnerable. “This is probably all Laura’s fault. Right? She’s still messing up people’s lives even though she’s dead.”
Jo noticed Reece’s boss look with concern in their direction. She did a head nod to Pete, directing his attention to the manager. Pete returned her head nod and walked over to the manager, while Jo pulled Reece to the side. “Reece, we need to know more about this guy you saw Laura with.”
Reece whined. “What? Why? That was only one time.”
“Are you sure he hasn’t been in here again?”
Reece took a deep breath and wiped her face with a sleeve, smearing her mascara down her cheeks.
Jo looked around and grabbed napkins from a dispenser off a table. “Here.”
Reece took the napkins. Jo waited as Reece tried to make her face more presentable. “Thanks. Why do you want to find this guy? Did he do this to Sarah?”
“We don’t know yet, but we think Sarah may have had contact with him.”
Reece took a deep sigh. “I’m serving drinks all the time. I know my regulars. I haven’t seen that guy again, although he could have been here before. So you think he killed Sarah and Laura? Why Sarah?”
“I don’t know, but he’s the only lead we have now, Reece. Sarah thought she saw him recently, but that he looked different. He could be someone you’ve seen before, but maybe something about him looked different so you didn’t really recognize him.”
Reece shook her head. “Like a new haircut or maybe he changed his hair color?”
Jo thought for a minute. “Or contact lenses. Sarah mentioned the guy had really blue eyes. What do you remember about his eyes?”
“I was far away. I couldn’t tell you his eye color. Just that he was tall, with black hair. His hair was short on the sides and full at top like he used mousse or something to make it stand up.”
Jo pulled out her card. “Okay, Reece. I may have given you my card before, but I really need you to let me know if you remember anything else or if you see the guy again.”
Jo turned to walk away, but Reece called out.
“Wait, I remember something when Sarah and I were talking not too long ago. I asked her how she felt about Laura cheating on Matt. Sarah was really angry. I remember she said one of these days Laura was going to get caught.”
Jo inquired, “Was there something that prompted Sarah to say that?”
“I remember Sarah saying if she was going to cheat, not that she would, but she would at least go someplace where no one would see her having an affair.”
Jo thought about Bryan. His affair happened out of town at a conference in Atlanta. Her older half-brother, Jax, lived in Atlanta. Still, it was a big city.
Reece continued, “Sarah said Laura was seen at Ryder’s. It’s a restaurant not too far from where Matt worked. That’s pretty risky.”
Jo frowned. “Sarah never mentioned that to me. Did she say she saw Laura with a man?”
“No, Sarah didn’t see them, but she had an ex-boyfriend that works at Ryder’s. They’re still friends…or they were. Anyway, he was the one who mentioned seeing Laura with some guy.”
Jo wasn’t sure if this lead would help or not, but knowing someone else saw her person of interest felt like an unopened Christmas gift to her. “Do you have his name? I need to talk to him.”