“Jesus,” I breathed as we looked over the photos the news hadn’t shown. The crime scene photos that were much too gruesome for public viewing.
The similarities between the victims and their deaths were chilling to say the least, making it obvious that the killer had atype. As the news had reported, all of them were male, young, probably in their early twenties, with blond hair. They all had the same bruising around their necks and some of the close-up images showed the perfect outline of fingers, some even showing stitching marks along the skin which made me wonder if the killer had worn gloves.
“Sorry.” We both jumped at the sound of Detective Rogers’ voice. He indicated to the wall of photos. “I didn’t mean to leave you here with those, that was thoughtless. This is my partner, Detective Billings,” he said, gesturing over his shoulder to a shorter, middle-aged man. Detective Billings ignored me all together, but he took one glance at Oliver and then exchanged a wild-eyed look with his partner.
“What’s going on? Why did you need to speak to Oliver?” I asked, addressing Detective Rogers as he sat down at his desk. Detective Billings closed the door, then rested his back against it with his arms crossed.
“I’m getting to that and I appreciate your patience so far. I just need to ask you a few questions before I get to why you’re here.” I watched Detective Rogers as he laid the closed file he’d been carrying on his desk.
“Okay,” Oliver murmured.
“Wait, should he have a lawyer present if you’re going to question him?” I asked, already pulling my phone out of my pocket.
“No, that won’t be necessary. We don’t suspect him of any wrongdoing,” he assured me. “Oliver, I understand you’re a professional model, is that correct?”
“Yes,” he answered, clearly confused about where the conversation was heading. He wasn’t the only one.
“And can you tell me your relationship to a Mr. Korey Duncan?” Oliver and I both stiffened, drawing the attention of the detective whose eyes darted back and forth between us.
“Korey was my agent.”
“Was?” Detective Rogers asked, missing nothing.
Oliver nodded. “I fired him recently when I found out he’d been stealing money from me.”
The detective’s eyebrows scrunched. “Did you report the crime?”
“No. His name was on the accounts, so technically, he didn’t break the law. But it was my money and he broke my trust. I couldn’t continue to work with him after that,” Oliver explained. I laid my hand on his back, responding to the still fresh pain in his voice.
“When did you fire him?”
“It was a little over a week ago,” Oliver responded miserably. I could see him shutting down the longer the questioning continued, and it was starting to piss me off.
“And have you tried to see or get in touch with him since?”
“No, neither of us have, and frankly, we don’t want to. Now, will you please tell us what’s going on? Is Korey trying to start problems for Oliver?” I cut in.
Detective Rogers shared another mysterious look with his partner and then turned his attention back on us. “No, Korey Duncan’s not trying to start anything. He’s dead.”
