Chapter 10 chapter Ten

Five men came: Sheriff Dowling, two plainclothes detectives, and two uniformed policemen.They stood in the living room watching Ashley, who was sitting in a chair, crying hysterically. Sheriff Dowling said: "You are the only one who can help us, Miss Paterson." Ashley looked up at the people and nodded.She took a few deep breaths. "I'll...I'll try to do it." "Let's start at the beginning. Where did Adjutant Blake spend the night here?" "Yes, yes. I asked him to stay. I... I'm terribly frightened." "This apartment has only one bedroom."

"right." "Where does Adjutant Black sleep?" Ashley pointed to the sofa, which had a blanket and a pillow on it. "He... he spent the night there." "When did you go to bed?" Ashley thought for a moment. "Ken... must have been around midnight. I was nervous. We had some tea and talked for a while, and then I felt calmer. I got him the blanket and pillow and went to my bedroom." She tried Get yourself under control. "Was that the last time you saw him?" "yes." "And you fell asleep?" "Not right away. I ended up taking a sleeping pill. The next thing I remember, I was woken up by a woman screaming from an alley." She began to tremble.

"Do you think someone broke into the apartment and killed Adjutant Blake?" "I...I don't know," Ashley said desperately. "People keep breaking in. They even wrote something threatening on my mirror." "He told me about it on the phone." "He probably heard something and... went out to check," Ashley said. Sheriff Dorian shook his head: "I don't think he'll go out naked." Ashley cried. "I don't know! I don't know! It's a nightmare." She covered her eyes with her hands. Sheriff Dowling said: "I want to look around the apartment. Do I need a search warrant?"

"Of course not. Please, please." Sheriff Dowling nodded to the detectives.One of them went into the bedroom.Another went into the kitchen. Ashley took a deep breath. "I...I told him about...about what was happening to me. He was very..." She looked up at the sheriff. "Why would anyone kill him? Why?" "I don't know, Miss Paterson. We'll find out." Sergeant Elton, the detective who had entered the kitchen, stood in the hallway. "May I see you for a moment, Sheriff?" "Sorry." Sheriff Dorian entered the kitchen. "What's up?"

"I found this in the sink," said Officer Elton, who was holding a bloodstained butcher knife up by the blade. "It hasn't been washed. I think we're going to get some fingerprints." Kostov, another detective, hurried from the bedroom into the kitchen.He holds an emerald ring set with diamonds. "I found this in a jewelry box in my bedroom. It matches the description we received from Quebec about the ring Jean-Claude Parente gave Toni Prescott." Three people, you look at me, and I look at you. "It doesn't say anything," the sheriff said.He picked up the butcher knife and ring lightly, and walked back to the living room.He held the knife forward and said, "Miss Paterson, is this your knife?"

Ashley looked at it. "I... yes. It could be. Why?" Magistrate Dorian offered the ring again. "Have you ever seen this ring before?" Ashley glanced at it and shook her head. "No." "We found it in your jewelry box." They watched her expression.She was completely overwhelmed. She whispered, "I... must have put it in there..." "Who would do such a thing?" Her face turned pale. "I have no idea." A detective enters through the door. "Sheriff?" "What's the matter, Baker?" He motioned the detective to a corner. "What did you find?"

"We found blood on the hallway carpet and in the elevator. It appears the body was placed on a sheet, dragged into the elevator and thrown into the alley." "My God!" Sheriff Dorian turned to Ashley. "Miss Paterson, you are under arrest. I will read to you your rights. You have the right to remain silent. If you waive your right to remain silent, anything you say may be used against you in court .You have the right to a lawyer. If you can't afford a lawyer, the court will appoint one for you." ※※※ When they arrived at the sheriff's office, Sheriff Dowling said: "Her fingerprints will be taken and she will be registered for charges."

Ashley went through the process like a robot.When it was all over, Sheriff Dowling said, "You have a right to make a phone call." Ashley looked up at him and said numbly, "I have no one to call." I couldn't call my father. Sheriff Dorian watches as Ashley is led into a cell. "I can't fucking figure this out. Have you seen her polygraph results? I swear she's innocent." Detective Kostoff came in. "Sam had sex before he died. We irradiated his body and the sheets that wrapped it with ultraviolet light. We determined that there was a semen spot and a vaginal discharge. We..."

Magistrate Dorian snorted. "Stop it!" He kept putting off the moment when he had to break the news to his sister.Now it is imperative to tell.He sighed and said, "I'll leave for a while." ※※※ Twenty minutes later he was at Sam's house. "Well, what a surprise," said Serena, "is Sam with you?" "No, Serena. I have to ask you a question." It was hard to say. She was looking at him in surprise. "What's up?" "Have you and Sam had sex during...the last twenty-four hours?" The expression on her face changed suddenly. "What? We... haven't. Why do you want to ask that? Sam isn't coming back, is he?"

"I hate to tell you this, but he..." "He ditched me for her, didn't he? I knew it was going to happen. I don't blame him. I was such a bad wife to him. I..." "Serena, Sam is dead." "I was yelling at him all the time. I didn't mean it. I remember..." He grabbed her arms. "Serena, Sam is dead." "Once we were going to the seashore, and then..." He was shaking her. "Listen to me. Sam's dead." "...and then we'll have a picnic." As he watched her, he realized she had heard him. "So we got to the waterfront and a guy came running up and said, 'Give me your money.' And Sam said, 'Show me your gun.'"

Sheriff Dorian stood there letting her go on.She was in a state of panic, in complete denial. "...that's Sam. Tell me about this woman he ran off with. Is she pretty? Sam always tells me I'm pretty, but I know I'm not. He says that to make me feel better because He loves me. He will never leave me. He will come back. Look, he loves me," she gushed. Sheriff Dowling went to the phone and dialed a number: "Call a nurse over here." He walked over and put his arms around his sister, "Everything will be all right." "I told you that time Sam and I...?" Fifteen minutes later, a nurse arrived. "Take good care of her!" said Sheriff Dorian. ※※※ There is a meeting in Sheriff Dowling's office. "Line 1 is calling to find you." Sheriff Dorian picked up the phone. "Hey?" "Sheriff, I'm Special Agent Lemley from FBI Headquarters in Washington DC. We have some information for you about the serial killer case. We don't have any Ashley Paterson fingerprints in our files because she didn't commit any crimes. records, and prior to 1988, California did not require a thumbprint to obtain a driver's license." "Please continue." "At first, we thought the computer was malfunctioning, but we figured it out, and..." For the next five minutes, Sheriff Dorian sat listening, a look of disbelief on his face.When he finally spoke, he said, "Are you sure there's nothing wrong? It doesn't seem like...all of them...I see...Thank you very much." He put the receiver back and sat there for a long time.Then he looked up. "That's the FBI lab in Washington. They've done a cross-check of the fingerprints left on the victim's body. Jean-Claude Parente of Quebec was murdered with a man named Toni Pooley." Scott's British woman date." "yes." "Richard Melton of San Francisco was dating an Italian woman named Aliette Peters when he was killed." Everyone nodded. "And last night Sam Black was with Ashley Paterson." "right." Magistrate Dorian took a deep breath. "Ashley Paterson..." "yes?" "Toni Prescott..." "yes?" "Alette Peters..." "yes?" "They're all the same fucking guy."