Devil in the Details

Chapter Fourteen

Evelyn scratched her nose and sighed, pulling her phone out of the pocket in her sweater. Diana was up now and had read her texts. She let her know where she was- sitting in a spare conference room where she'd been talking to Nick. It was his case with James now. He'd been professional about the thing, and much less of an ass. She assumed he was glad to be on the case and felt he deserved it. She didn't know whether he did, hadn't considered it at all. Diana wanted to know why she had gone after groceries- her current story- when she'd done it the day before. Evelyn sighed, leaning back against the small office chair she was in. She stared at her phone for a few long moments before beginning a text.

I've been having some awful nightmares.

Evelyn stared at the text for a long while, watching the cursor blink over and over in the text box. Deciding against it, she deleted the entire thing and started typing again.

I'm not feeling great. I was going to get a pint of butter pecan.

Feeling guilty for lying to her wife, Evelyn hit send and looked up as the door opened. It was James, holding a few papers and a pen.

"Your statement." He said, sitting beside her and placing the papers in front of her. Evelyn picked them up and looked them over. She'd did not know Nick was such a quick typist or so thorough. "I didn't agree with the chief's decision," James said, "just so you know."

"Thanks, man." Evelyn replied, head bent over the paperwork while she filled out her information.

"We went back to see Walker again." He said, "Nick thinks the first killer was him, too. He didn't say anything this time, though. Literally wouldn't speak at all. But we're going to monitor who goes to visit him and we've got a list of previous visitors we're looking into."

"That's... actually genius." Evelyn said, glancing up before signing.

"Thanks," James said. "It was my idea. Also..." he took the papers and stood, turning his back to the door so he couldn't be seen. "We're waiting for confirmation but it looks like this girl is missing an organ."

"What?" Evelyn said. He looked down at her paperwork as if he were verifying it.

"But you didn't hear that from me."

"You, me, Nick- I assume, Floyd, the FBI... and the first killer." Evelyn said, "those are the only people who should have known that."

"Right." He said, "so what the fuck?" He turned to the door and opened it. "I'll see you when you come in later?"

"Yeah." Evelyn agreed, standing. "Good luck on the case." She pulled up her hood and made her way toward the door. The triplets were there, though their shift was over. They were all crouched around a matronly woman with red hair who was sobbing into Tucker's chest. This had to be Penelope's mother. Evelyn's heart broke for her. Tyler confirmed it when he placed a hand on her back.

"I am so sorry for your loss, Mrs. Sowders." He said, rubbing back and forth.

"We're going to catch him." Tucker agreed.

"Evelyn." the voice had been quiet, but she'd heard it either way. Evelyn looked back to find Floyd in the doorway to his office. He lifted a hand and gestured for her to come to him. Sighing, Evelyn took out her phone and texted Diana again.

I'll be home in a while. Floyd wants to talk.

She put her phone back into her pocket and walked into the office, flopping down in a nearby chair.

"What were you doing at the Shop and Sip?" he asked.

"Not feeling well." Evelyn replied, examining her sleeve. "I wanted some ice cream. It's all in my statement." He rolled his eyes, sitting in his chair.