Free Stalked by Allison Brennan Page B

fought.”
    â€œBecause either she knew her attacker, or he acted quickly. No discussion, no hesitation.”
    â€œWhich holds with the preliminary coroner’s report.”
    â€œI saw that.” Tony flipped through his notes and read, “‘One six-inch thrust into the lungs and heart.’”
    â€œSome knowledge of anatomy.”
    â€œPerhaps. Or self-educated. The lack of hesitation tells me he planned on killing her, there was no other purpose of the meeting.”
    â€œHe.”
    â€œMost likely a male. During my flight I went through the Cinderella Strangler case and Weber’s previous books and numerous newspaper articles. There are many potential suspects, but I can narrow it somewhat.”
    â€œI wasn’t a fan of psychology in investigations until I worked with Lucy six months ago.”
    Tony smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, which looked sad and reflective. “You use psychology all the time. Most good cops do. Interviewing suspects, using what they say, what they don’t say, their body language, all as cues in how you question them. How hard you need to push. Assessing how reliable a witness might be. Knowing whether someone is lying. Most cops will say it’s experience, or their gut. It’s really psychology they learned simply by doing their job.”
    â€œSo you can narrow it down?”
    â€œIt is definitely someone who feels they or a loved one was damaged by what Rosemary Weber wrote.”
    â€œWrote. Past tense.”
    â€œYes. I don’t think her killer has anything to do with the Cinderella Strangler book she was writing.”
    Suzanne wasn’t certain she believed that. “You’re going to have to do better.”
    â€œWhen we spoke yesterday, you said she’d just started researching the case. She was gathering files, hadn’t interviewed anyone, hadn’t spoken to the victim’s families. No one knew what angle she was taking, or how she planned on writing the book.”
    â€œI can guess. Others may have, too, and not liked it.”
    â€œBut there’s nothing tangible.” Tony paused again, looked at his papers, but Suzanne didn’t think he was seeing anything. “I did a cursory assessment of the victims’ families and nothing popped up to indicate that any would resort to violence, especially before the book was written. If anything, they’d want to use Weber to immortalize their daughters, to show the world their girls are loved and greatly missed. But,” he continued, “after the fact, it could be a survivor or a family member who was upset with what was said, and wants to take it back. Or perhaps upset with how they were portrayed. Lucy is reading Weber’s three published books now to assess exactly that—anyone who was portrayed in an embarrassing manner.”
    â€œBut not just her books. It could be an article or something else she wrote.”
    Tony nodded. “The problem with this theory is that I’d expect to see some sort of verbal or written threat to Weber before she was killed.”
    â€œExcept that the killer was extremely careful—so far, we have no physical evidence linking the killer to the crime. No hair or fibers, no blood, no security footage.”
    â€œWell planned and premeditated. The killer doesn’t want to be caught.”
    â€œMost don’t.”
    â€œI wonder.…” His voice trailed off.
    â€œWhat?” she prompted.
    â€œWas Weber his first victim, or were there more?”
    â€œBut if it’s personal, would there be more?”
    â€œPossibly. I keep going back to the manner of death. The killer did not hesitate with the stiletto. Even the choice of weapon is interesting—why a stiletto knife and not a gun? A wider blade? It’s not as intimate as strangulation, but it’s far more intimate than a gun.”
    Suzanne’s phone vibrated. “It’s Detective