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“The knife wounds are intentional, decisive. So were the gun wounds. 9mm. It’s murder, and the one who killed him was enraged by whatever he did…” she continued, but her words were like a distant roar as I kept staring at Logan. “His hyoid bone is fractured and…”
How was he here? When we left, he was at the bottom of the marsh. Who would go to such length? Why?
Rishi’s frown deepened. “Why didn’t you file a report? He stalked you, and you thought you’d deal with it by yourself?” There was no warmth in his eyes, no kindness. He crossed his arms across his chest, trying to be aloof, trying to be a cop. I had never seen him like that… not with me.
I could see the skepticism in his eyes. He didn’t believe my story, not fully, not yet.
“Yes, Detective Patel.” I nodded as Ryden joined me, shooting a glare in Rishi’s direction.
“You were aware of it. You went as far as finding him on AFIS, yet you never lodged a formal complaint?” Rishi asked.
He’s interrogating you, Kat said. He doesn’t believe your story.
“I suspected it might have been someone I helped put behind bars, and they were just trying to scare me or something,” I said, biting my lip.
“That was all the more reason to report it formally,” Rishi retorted with a grimace. “Given your line of work and what you do, you could have at least informally tipped us off, Doctor West.” The way he said Doctor West was a cold warning. “Where were you between three to five o’clock?”
“Are you asking for an alibi?” I frowned.
“Where is this headed, Patel? She didn’t do anything illegal,” Ryden said with a frown. “And she was with me. In bed.”
Patel shook his head and walked away, then whispered something to Detective Rosario.
“Don’t go anywhere else, Doctor West. We need to take your statements when we’re done here,” Patel said with a cursory glance at my hand on Ryden’s, and his brows furrowed. He didn’t look too pleased.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said with a frown.
“What crawled up your ass and died, Rishi?” Ryden growled with a glare in Rishi’s direction.
Rishi looked at Ryden and then at me. I knew he wanted to tell Ryden something, something he didn’t want me to hear.
“Nothing,” Rishi said, his lips pulled down. “It’s just weird. I’ll talk with you later.”
Sighing, I stared at Doctor Kavya Metha as she took notes of every wound and every laceration. Should I just walk away now?
“Detective Rosario,” I said with a frown. His face fell when he looked at me and then at Rishi Patel.
“You understand why you can’t work this case, don’t you, Doctor West?”
“I don’t,” I said with a shrug. “But I’ll respect your wishes. Now what should I do?”
“Go home. We will take your statement shortly after all the formalities here are done, Doctor West.”
“I’m in trouble, am I not?”
The detective shook his head with a kind smile. “No, you’re not. It’s just a formality, Doctor West. You have nothing to worry about.”
“If you say so. Bye, Detective.” With a sigh, I walked toward the car, and Ryden followed me. When we reached the car, I finally gathered the courage to meet his eyes. His brows were tangled together and he was tugging at his hair as if he wanted to pull them out one by one.
“Rishi gets this look… when he wants to keep digging. He’s not going to let this go, Yara.”
“I know,” I said with a sigh. “When he found out I knew both Daphne and Miranda, he started to suspect that I was somehow connected to all of this. He wasn’t wrong. I have no idea how I’m going to deal with this.”
I always found a way, but other than killing Detective Rishi… I could do nothing except wait and watch.
“We will find a way.” He tried to be strong for me, but I heard the agitation and thinly veiled desperation in his voice.
“At least The Strangler is dead. That’s something.”
