It was not a baseless speculation: the lawyer had been murdered when he was about to share some information about the case. There was no such thing as coincidence, as the cops liked to say.
Maybe Barlow had found proof that Sam Curtis had killed Helen, and Curtis had wasted him to prevent him from talking to the police? Barlow had said that Phillips had never mentioned Sam Curtis to him, but that must have been a lie.
This theory was bolstered by the fact that Barlow had been killed with a knife, like Helen.
3
When Mark came home, Joan handed him a letter from Edward Phillips. It read: “Dear Mark, I hope this finds you well. I’m writing to ask if you have followed Sam yet. If you have, please tell me when and for how long.
Did you see anything strange?
Are you going to follow him again? You need to follow him every day. There’s no other way to catch him in the act.
Are you going to visit me again?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Ed Phillips.”
“What does it say?” Joan asked.
Mark gave her the letter. She read it, and said, “Who’s Sam?”
“Phillips claims this Sam guy killed Helen.”
“I see.”
Mark wrote a letter back to Phillips, which read: “Hello, Edward. I followed Sam on October 14, from six p.m. to midnight. I saw nothing strange. I might follow him again. I’ll visit you this Saturday.”
Mark thought of asking Phillips about Helen’s blood on his clothes and his fingerprint on Helen’s belt buckle, then decided to talk about it in person, wanting to watch Phillips’s face and body language and try to determine if he was telling the truth.
Lying in bed that night, Mark thought about Phillips’s request to follow Sam Curtis every day. He would have gladly granted Phillips’s wish, but only if he was sure that Curtis was Helen’s killer.
Was there a less time-consuming way to get to the truth?
In Mark’s opinion, the most effective alternative was to capture and question Curtis, using torture if necessary. Seizing Curtis wouldn’t be a problem; Mark could do it alone if he had to.
Where was he going to interrogate Curtis?
If Curtis lived by himself, he could do it in Curtis’s house. If Curtis had a roommate, Mark could use his parents’ house at Lake Ray Hubbard.
There was one problem, however: Curtis might give a false confession just to make the torture stop.
Mark quickly found a solution. If Curtis confessed, he would ask him how he had killed Helen and where he had left the body.
Chapter 11
1
His conversation with Mark Hinton gave Detective Carlos Aguero a lot of food for thought. He saw two possibilities. Possibility number one: Edward Phillips had a partner, who had participated in killing Helen Hinton, and it was that partner who had murdered Laura Sumner. Possibility number two: there was no direct link between the two murders.
It was not uncommon for serial killers to work in teams. The Los Angeles Hillside Strangler, who had raped and killed ten women in the late 1970s, was actually two people, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono. The infamous Henry Lee Lucas, who had been convicted of eleven murders, had had a partner by the name of Otis Toole. Between 1984 and 1999 nineteen people had been murdered by a serial killer duo nicknamed Speed Freak Killers, which consisted of Loren Herzog and Wesley Shermantine (they had gotten their moniker because they were methamphetamine junkies).
On October 13, Aguero went to Livingston to have a chat with Edward Phillips. He had no expectations for this meeting: that was the easiest way to avoid disappointment.
The way things stood, the likelihood of Laura Sumner’s murder being solved was low. They had no witnesses, no murder weapon, no fingerprints, no hairs, no skin under the victim’s fingernails, nothing. There had been no activity on the case for over a month, and it felt great to finally do some work on it.
Aguero’s plan was simple. He was going to offer Edward
Maybe Barlow had found proof that Sam Curtis had killed Helen, and Curtis had wasted him to prevent him from talking to the police? Barlow had said that Phillips had never mentioned Sam Curtis to him, but that must have been a lie.
This theory was bolstered by the fact that Barlow had been killed with a knife, like Helen.
3
When Mark came home, Joan handed him a letter from Edward Phillips. It read: “Dear Mark, I hope this finds you well. I’m writing to ask if you have followed Sam yet. If you have, please tell me when and for how long.
Did you see anything strange?
Are you going to follow him again? You need to follow him every day. There’s no other way to catch him in the act.
Are you going to visit me again?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Ed Phillips.”
“What does it say?” Joan asked.
Mark gave her the letter. She read it, and said, “Who’s Sam?”
“Phillips claims this Sam guy killed Helen.”
“I see.”
Mark wrote a letter back to Phillips, which read: “Hello, Edward. I followed Sam on October 14, from six p.m. to midnight. I saw nothing strange. I might follow him again. I’ll visit you this Saturday.”
Mark thought of asking Phillips about Helen’s blood on his clothes and his fingerprint on Helen’s belt buckle, then decided to talk about it in person, wanting to watch Phillips’s face and body language and try to determine if he was telling the truth.
Lying in bed that night, Mark thought about Phillips’s request to follow Sam Curtis every day. He would have gladly granted Phillips’s wish, but only if he was sure that Curtis was Helen’s killer.
Was there a less time-consuming way to get to the truth?
In Mark’s opinion, the most effective alternative was to capture and question Curtis, using torture if necessary. Seizing Curtis wouldn’t be a problem; Mark could do it alone if he had to.
Where was he going to interrogate Curtis?
If Curtis lived by himself, he could do it in Curtis’s house. If Curtis had a roommate, Mark could use his parents’ house at Lake Ray Hubbard.
There was one problem, however: Curtis might give a false confession just to make the torture stop.
Mark quickly found a solution. If Curtis confessed, he would ask him how he had killed Helen and where he had left the body.
Chapter 11
1
His conversation with Mark Hinton gave Detective Carlos Aguero a lot of food for thought. He saw two possibilities. Possibility number one: Edward Phillips had a partner, who had participated in killing Helen Hinton, and it was that partner who had murdered Laura Sumner. Possibility number two: there was no direct link between the two murders.
It was not uncommon for serial killers to work in teams. The Los Angeles Hillside Strangler, who had raped and killed ten women in the late 1970s, was actually two people, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono. The infamous Henry Lee Lucas, who had been convicted of eleven murders, had had a partner by the name of Otis Toole. Between 1984 and 1999 nineteen people had been murdered by a serial killer duo nicknamed Speed Freak Killers, which consisted of Loren Herzog and Wesley Shermantine (they had gotten their moniker because they were methamphetamine junkies).
On October 13, Aguero went to Livingston to have a chat with Edward Phillips. He had no expectations for this meeting: that was the easiest way to avoid disappointment.
The way things stood, the likelihood of Laura Sumner’s murder being solved was low. They had no witnesses, no murder weapon, no fingerprints, no hairs, no skin under the victim’s fingernails, nothing. There had been no activity on the case for over a month, and it felt great to finally do some work on it.
Aguero’s plan was simple. He was going to offer Edward
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