WMC - First to Die

Chapter 104

OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, I went back over everything we had on Joa

Chapter 105

THE NEXT DAY, as we shared a hot dog and a pretzel in front of City Hall, I told Chris what I had found. He looked at me in much the same way the girls had a few days before. Shock, confusion. Disbelief. But he didn't get negative. "She could've set the whole thing up," I said. "She knew about the book. She lobbed it out there for us to find. She knew Jenks's taste- champagne, clothes- his involvement with Sparrow Ridge. She even had access to the house." "I might buy it," he said, "but these murders were committed by a man. Jenks, Lindsay. We even have him on film." "Or someone made up to look like Jenks. Every sighting of him was inconclusive." "Lindsay, the DNA was a match. " "I spoke to the officers who went to the house when he beat Joa

Chapter 106

I FOUND MYSELF COMING TO on a wooden park bench in Chris's arms. He held me tightly while my strength returned. Orenthaler had warned me. It was stage three. Crunch time in my body. I didn't know which held more apprehension for me: going on chemo and gearing up for a bone marrow transplant or feeling my strength eaten away from the inside. You can't let it win. "I'm okay," I told him, my voice getting stronger. "I was told to expect this." "You're trying to do too much, Lindsay. Now you're talking about reopening a whole new investigation." I took a deep breath and nodded. "I just need to be strong enough to see this through." We sat there for a while. I could feel the color in my face reviving, the strength in my limbs returning. Chris held me, cuddled me tenderly. We must've looked like two lovers trying to find privacy in a very public place. Finally, he said, "What you were describing, Lindsay, about Joa