Follow Me Back (complete first draft of the published book)

Chapter 41: Internal Affairs

INTERROGATOR: Did you get the sense that Ms. Hart might pose any kind of threat to him?

FOSTER: Not really, but we interviewed her as the victim in our case. We never considered her as a potential perpetrator.

INTERROGATOR: If you think back now to your interactions with her, can you think of anything she said or did that might be construed as a motive to harm Eric Thorn? Anything at all?

FOSTER: Just the catfishing scheme, as I said, and the slap. I don't know, Ron. It seems pretty tenuous, if that's all you have.

INTERROGATOR: We have some physical evidence at her place of residence.

FOSTER: Well, that changes things. What kind of evidence are we talking about?

INTERROGATOR: Track patterns in the snow; fingerprints on both their cell phones; a butcher knife that may have been the murder weapon; and a fair amount of blood splashed around her bedroom.

FOSTER: His blood?

INTERROGATOR: The final DNA report is still pending, but the initial blood type analysis looks like a match for Thorn.

FOSTER: No kidding. What about a body?

INTERROGATOR: No body just yet. From the tracks outside the house, it looks like the suspect managed to drag it into the victim's vehicle.

FOSTER: It'll probably turn up somewhere once the snow melts.

INTERROGATOR: That's our thinking as well. Chuck, did you observe the two of them leaving the station on the night of February 20?

FOSTER: I know from the tape that they left together. He put his jacket around her shoulders. He certainly left with her of his own free will.

INTERROGATOR: But you did not personally witness their departure?

FOSTER: No. My partner, Terry, saw them out. That's Detective Terence Newman, if you want to take his statement.

INTERROGATOR: Thanks. We're talking to him next.

FOSTER: I assume you're also looking at Blair Duncan in this? Was he in custody at the time?

INTERROGATOR: We're tracing his movements. From what I can gather, your department remanded over Mr. Duncan to the State of Louisiana on the night of February 20. He was subsequently released on bail the following morning.

FOSTER: Sounds about right.

INTERROGATOR: We're still working with forensics to pin down the presumed time of death.

FOSTER: What does Tessa Hart have to say about it?

INTERROGATOR: Nothing. She's long gone.

FOSTER: Really? Even with the agoraphobia? That's surprising.

INTERROGATOR: Wouldn't be the first time someone faked a mental illness.

FOSTER: I'm just trying to think where else she might be hiding out. There was no love lost between her and her mother from the sound of it. She did mention an ex-boyfriend. You might talk to him. I'm sure his name is in the transcripts.

INTERROGATOR: We actually have reason to believe Ms. Hart made it across the Mexican border. The victim's car turned up this morning at a chop shop outside Del Rio.

FOSTER: Damn. That car must've been worth a few hundred grand.

INTERROGATOR: Yep, we're guessing it may be a while before she surfaces, with the amount of cash she would have obtained for it.

FOSTER: You never can tell, can you? I've been on the job 25 years now, and I wouldn't have pegged her for a killer. I suppose I can see it, though.

INTERROGATOR: Why do you say that?

FOSTER: Agoraphobia or not, she was clearly emotionally unstable. She asked repeatedly for her psychotherapist and became agitated when the therapist declined to come in.

INTERROGATOR: That would be Dr. Laura Regan? Did you interview her?

FOSTER: No, she lawyered up. I doubt you'll get much from her. What about Thorn's manager? Did you talk to him?

INTERROGATOR: That would be Maury Gilman. We don't think he's involved. He called in a missing person report when Thorn failed to arrive yesterday for a concert in Santa Fe.

FOSTER: I imagine he must have had a few unhappy ticketholders on his hands.

INTERROGATOR: True, but he seemed genuinely distraught. He was still holding out hope that Thorn would turn up alive.

FOSTER: Doesn't sound like it. Heck, you'd think Thorn would have seen it coming, the way he obsessed about that Cromwell case.

INTERROGATOR: Love is blind, right?

FOSTER: You can say that again.

INTERROGATOR: Just one more thing, Chuck. Could you take a look at this and tell me if it means anything to you?

FOSTER: What am I looking at here?

INTERROGATOR: This is the text of the final tweet sent from Mr. Thorn's twitter account yesterday.

FOSTER: That's impossible. We froze that account, pending our investigation.

INTERROGATOR: No, I'm not referring to the @EricThornSucks account. This was tweeted from @EricThorn.

FOSTER: My mistake. I just assumed because of the reference.

INTERROGATOR: What do you mean by that?

FOSTER: I believe it's a reference to a direct message that Eric Thorn sent to Tessa Hart from the @EricThornSucks account. You didn't see it in the interrogation fragments I forwarded you?

INTERROGATOR: I don't believe so. No.

FOSTER: I may not have read that message into the record. Hang on a minute while I look it up. I'm guessing you're going to want to enter the whole thread into evidence, Don. This tweet right here's your smoking gun.

INTERROGATOR: Let the record show that we're discussing a tweet sent out on February 21 at 5:26 AM from the account with username @EricThorn. The tweet states, and I quote: "Sleep with a leech and it just might bleed you dry."

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