Ties That Bind

Chapter 45

MADISON KNEW SHE COULDN'T TALK to Terry about her suspicions. At least not yet. She went to the one person who might listen to her.

"What do you mean you don't think it's him?" Cynthia asked. "You have a bad habit of doing this. And every single time, I'm here for you." She leaned against a lab table. "But—"

"Please don't say—"

"But, I can't keep supporting this obsession of yours. You never feel a case is over. You always think there's more to uncover."

Madison had filled in all the details for Cynthia, from how she got looking at the photo to paying Ethan a visit. She shared the photograph with her and pointed out the inconsistencies.

Cynthia motioned toward the picture. "It could have been added." She raised her eyebrows. "You ever think of that? The photo was forged. Maybe he added that to throw you off?"

"But the fingerprints didn't match—"

"Leave it alone." Cynthia reached into her lab coat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Time for a break. You can come outside with me if you want to." She smiled at Madison.

"Yeah, no thanks." The invitation reminded her that Terry would have been back a while ago with her coffee. "I've got to go, though."

"Leave it alone," Cynthia called out behind her.

TERRY SAT BEHIND THE DESK AND WATCHED HER APPROACH. He gave her a disciplining look. She was thankful he was on the phone, or he would have been all over her about making him go to Starbucks and then not being around for it when he got back.

She held out faint hope the scowl was unrelated. Maybe he was on with Annabelle and they were having another argument. But when he hung up, she knew better.

"Why were you down to see Ethan Younge?"

Wonder who the snitch was. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play stupid, Maddy. I know you were. I don't understand why though when we've got the guy."

"Are you absolutely positive about that?"

"The DNA is a match."

"Fingerprints weren't and what's his motive? Doesn't that bother you even a little bit?"

"With his mother, she didn't want the family business transferred to him."

"Still doesn't explain the others." She handed the photograph to him. "Look at this."

He took it from her but refused to look at it. "What is it?"

She pointed to the discrepancies.

He barely considered them before tossing the picture back to her side of the desk. "Big deal. It was a forged photo anyhow. Ethan added it in."

He sounded like Cynthia. Madison picked up the photo. "But why go to that trouble?"

"For this exact reason. To cast doubt."

"So he planted a photo of himself but changed those particular features?" She pressed her lips. She couldn't believe she was about to speak this aloud. "What if he was framed?"

Terry let out a laugh. "Framed? But his DNA was in Laura's bedroom, he was spotted leaving the area where Heather's body was found, and he calls in his mother's murder. Yeah, sounds like it."

She remained silent.

"Listen, I'm begging you to leave this alone."

"Finding the truth's more important to me."

"Well, then let me know how it goes in the unemployment line." He stood up and pushed his chair in.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going home and so should you. We've already logged enough overtime on this case." Terry left.

Why didn't anyone else understand the situation? She sat there staring into space and thinking. Other people moving past only appeared as blurs of colors. Her mind mulled over everything.

"H. O. H." She said the letters. They were the ones on the pendant. If they didn't serve as initials for Heather's name, maybe they stood for something else.

She opened an Internet browser, typed in the letters. Over four million results in point two three seconds. Apparently, HOH stood for a lot of things, none of which seemed helpful to the case. There was a Native American tribe, a rainforest, and apparently a disease that had those initials. This was useless. She slouched back in the chair, and then the words of both the Saunders and the Nguyens came to her mind. Both girls were promiscuous in their youth, always getting in trouble with boys.

She keyed in some more letters, and now she was getting somewhere. She pulled up the background on Evelyn Younge. It confirmed her suspicions. She needed to get to Terry.