The Book of Cold Cases by James Simone St

Author:James, Simone St. [James, Simone St.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, thriller, Horror, Paranormal, Suspense, Crime, Adult
ISBN: 9780440000211
Amazon: 0440000211
Goodreads: 58371432
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 2022-03-15T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

October 2017

SHEA

“Jesus, Shea, what is it? I got here as fast as I could.” Michael slid into the booth opposite me, brushing his hair back from his forehead. “I’ve never heard you sound like that.”

Panicked—that was how I must have sounded. Excited. Alive.

I cupped my hands around my hot coffee cup. We were in a diner around the corner from the courthouse. People were coming to grab takeout on their way home from work. I was still in my scrub top under my jacket and was finding it hard to keep warm. The shock was starting to get to me.

“I’m sorry,” I said to Michael. “I know you were probably busy.”

He shrugged and motioned to the waitress for a coffee. He was wearing a gray T-shirt under a dark brown blazer, a look that was just formal enough that I knew he had been working when I called. “It sounded important. I wanted to hear what it is.”

I let out a breath. “This is going to sound insane,” I said. “Completely insane.”

“Okay. I’m ready.”

“I may have just cracked the Lady Killer case.”

The waitress brought Michael’s coffee, and I watched her give him a once-over before she walked away. Michael didn’t notice. He also didn’t touch the cup. “What did you find?” he asked, his gaze fixed on me.

“Beth’s mother wasn’t mentally ill,” I said. “Sylvia got it wrong. The place Mariana went before she was married, the papers Julian had—she wasn’t admitted to a mental hospital. She was in a home for unwed mothers.”

I watched it hit him, the way it had hit me. The way it was still hitting me, almost an hour later.

“I found it in the file for 120 Linwood,” I said, pulling out my phone and calling up the photos I’d taken of the file. I turned the phone so he could see the photos on my cracked screen. “From 1949 to 1956, it was the Elizabeth Trevor House for Women. There are no records of the place online, but there are articles about Elizabeth herself. She was an activist for the rights of unwed mothers.”

“You’re kidding.” Michael peered closer at my photo, trying to read. “I’m going to send myself this,” he said.

“Go ahead.” I watched as he texted himself the photos. “The timeline adds up,” I said. “Mariana is at the Elizabeth Trevor House before her wedding to Julian. It’s kept a secret. After they’re married, Julian and Mariana have Beth. Then, a few years later, Mariana’s mother dies, and her will leaves everything to Julian instead of Mariana. Including her secret papers.”

“Julian would learn of the secret for the first time,” Michael said. “We have to assume the premarital baby wasn’t Julian’s, then.”

“Probably not, but who knows?” I took my phone back. “Either way, he’d be angry, but especially if the baby wasn’t his.”

“So Beth Greer has a half sibling.” Michael picked up his forgotten coffee and sipped it, thinking.

“A half sister,” I said.

His eyebrows rose. “How do you know the baby

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