“Yes. He’d run into Shepherd a few times, which is why he figured there might be truth to the rumors. But here’s where it gets interesting. When he asked for the go-ahead to pursue the story, he was told no. When he decided to follow it on his own time, he got canned.”
“He was fired from his paper for pursuing the story on his own dime?”
“Yep. He sure was. Phil always believed it was because of the family connection. The Durrands were related through marriage to the owners of the Times-Herald Observer.”
Jason said skeptically, “Belichick could have taken the story elsewhere.”
“Nobody wanted to touch it.”
“Maybe because there was nothing there.” But there was no denying this account raised some intriguing possibilities. The scenario Shipka described was plausible. Up to a point.
“Rich people stick together,” Shipka said.
Jason retorted, “Any group sticks together when the perception is it’s us against them.” He studied Shipka. “I’ll give you that it’s an interesting story, but what it comes down to is, although your former professor believed the Durrands had something to do with the kid’s disappearance, he had no proof. Which means you don’t have any evidence either.”
“Right. I mean, there’s circumstantial evidence.”
“Not really. Not if all you have is that this kid partied with Shepherd a few times.”
“But I think Kerk’s murder is evidence.”
Now they were getting down to it.
Jason shook his head. “Because Kerk was German and Havemeyer was German? You’ll need more of a connection than that. Havemeyer disappeared twenty years ago.”
“Because Kerk was one of the last people to see Havemeyer alive. He reported him missing. That can’t be a coincidence.”
“It could be. Absolutely it could be.”
Shipka’s face was flushed, his eyes bright. Partly that was the wine—they had killed the bottle in record time—and partly that was passion for his cause. Jason recognized a crusading spirit when he saw one. Frankly, that passion was one of the most attractive things about Shipka.
“But they were both part of that scene,” Shipka said. “Kerk was part of that scene. Now, after all these years, he comes back into the Durrands’ orbit, and he’s murdered.”
Jason said, “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. We don’t know that Havemeyer didn’t return to Germany where he’s been living happily for twenty years.” Shipka started to object, and Jason added, “But okay, let that go for now. Let’s say Havemeyer is dead. Why wait twenty years to get rid of Kerk? You’re assuming Kerk wasn’t in contact with the Durrands, but according to Shepherd, they’ve never been out of contact. In fact, they all met up ten years ago. So why didn’t they knock him off then?”
Shipka thought it over, frowning. “Obviously something changed.”
That held either way. Jason was silent, thinking. It wasn’t simply the facts of the case. It was that the facts had caught the attention of two crusading reporters. He respected that instinct. So while he might question, he couldn’t outright dismiss their interest in the case.
He said, “You speculated in your article for the Valley Voice that Kerk’s death was part of a larger pattern.”
“Sam Kennedy is a BAU Chief, so yeah, obviously, I’m not the only one who thinks Kerk’s death is part of a pattern.” At Jason’s expression, Shipka added, “Google Image Search.”
It was a given Shipka would figure out who Kennedy was before long. He wouldn’t be much of a reporter if he couldn’t manage that. He didn’t seem to have made the connection to the the Earnst and Lapham slayings yet.
Shipka said, “If these two deaths are connected, then for sure there are more.”
Probably. Kennedy seemed to think so, and how often was he wrong about this kind of thing? Rarely, if ever. Kerk’s death was unquestionably connected to the Earnst and Lapham killings. The method of execution and the creepy, fake Monets proved that. The fact that the first two killings had taken place on the East Coast meant nothing. The Durrands traveled across the country on a regular basis. The world was their playground. Logistics was not an issue in this case.
Kerk’s connection to Havemeyer was the tricky part. It was difficult to believe three people had been knocked off because of a twenty-year-old cold case. But if Kerk’s death was somehow connected to Havemeyer’s disappearance—if it was not simply a gruesome coincidence—then it would seem to follow that Earnst and Lapham’s deaths were also connected.
Talk about circumstantial. Still. Once the circumstantial evidence piled high enough, it became too compelling to ignore.
“Now I’ve got your attention,” Shipka said softly.
Jason glanced up in surprise. Well, semi-surprise. He’d been aware that Shipka had gradually closed the counter distance between them and was starting to crowd Jason’s space. Okay, it was more lurking on the perimeter than an actual intrusion, but…he was there, gazing into Jason’s eyes with that mix of hope and recognition.
What about it? Chris Shipka was not really his type—did he have a type? Tonight his type was anyone who was not Sam Kennedy. There was something sort of rumpled and comfortable about Shipka. His eyes were warm and intelligent. Even his hair seemed to crackle with energy. He smelled like soap and a woodsy aftershave. Pleasant. His jacket carried the scent of the damp night.