FOUR HOURS LATER
Detective Johnson handed Ray a ceramic mug of hot coffee, which he gratefully accepted.
Linda Sinclair, or rather Captain Turner, from somewhere in Nebraska, held her left arm in a sling. She was seated already as Ray was escorted into the interview room.
He stirred in sugar. Detective Johnson stood.
“I sure hope you can tell me just what the hell bringing me here is all about,” Ray told them. “Let me get to the hospital.”
“We have other items requiring our immediate attention,” Detective Johnson replied.
It bothered Ray greatly that the police seemed more concerned with asking him questions than the prognosis of his wife. Incensed, he shouted, “My wife was shot by a disturbed woman, and the police want to talk to me. Why? What do you think I’ve done?”
Malachi opened a file, removing several pictures of women he didn’t recognize. “Captain Turner is investigating a triple murder in Nebraska, and I’m probing three similar homicides here. I am also charged with finding Cole Leon’s attacker.”
Ray was stupefied. Doug Snyder had told him Cole had died of a heroin overdose. “Attacker? Cole’s alive?”
“We’ll get to that. What you need to know is after months of working undercover, we’ve matched Susannah Williams’s DNA and fingerprints to our murder suspects in both cases—”
“That’s ridiculous! You obviously have made a terrible mistake. Susannah is the most loving, wonderful person—”
Linda Turner interrupted him. “Almost as wonderful as your late wife, Lorraine, who died from ovarian cancer. Susannah Baker knew all the details of her death. She also identified all the previous churches you’d served in Illinois, Kentucky, and Iowa.”
Ray was indignant. “Susannah was completely honest that she’d done some research on my past. That’s not a crime.”
“But it is when Susannah Baker isn’t her real name, and she’s responsible for the murders of at least six people.” Linda held the photos of a young woman’s mug shot, a smiling young family, and a promotional shot from The Road to Calvary. “Susannah Baker’s real name is Pamela Jane Watts. She’s had numerous aliases and marriages. The common denominator that led us to you is her penchant for preying on widowed pastors.”
Yes, there was a resemblance, he conceded. But his darling Susannah could not possibly be the person they were looking for. He was confident he could explain all of this. Ray picked up the picture with the two young children. “This must be her children who were killed in a car accident. That’s her first husband, and they divorced after the accident. She was devastated—”
Linda’s enraged voice shocked him into reality. “These children, Jacob and Elizabeth Hansen, and their father, Gregory, were murdered, Ray. She slaughtered her own family, and then she buried them in the parsonage garden. Susannah’s DNA verifies that she is the biological mother of the Hansen children. Your wife is a vicious killer.”
“No, no. That can’t be true,” he protested.
Detective Johnson shoved three new photos at him. “This is Delores Reid, whom you may remember as your first ‘miracle.’ She was found dead in a flophouse. There was a large amount of the sleep aid Ambien in her system. We can’t prove Susannah’s involvement beyond a reasonable doubt, but we are going to. The other women, Michelle Thomas and Jeanette Morelli, had a connection to your wife as well. Ms. Thomas wrote an angry letter to The Road to Calvary that she was planning to sue you for fraud. Susannah discovered that your former employees, Cole and Seth, read the letter, which caused them to question the honesty of the organization they worked for. Before we could get them into protective custody, someone tampered with Cole’s food, lacing it with antifreeze. He is now blind, and I intend to charge Mrs. Williams with attempted murder as well. We have reason to believe, Reverend, that you would have been her next victim.”
Ray’s stomach clenched as his mind rushed over events in the past six months. Listening to the detectives, he sensed nauseating suspicion and dread. It did seem more than coincidence when Susannah abruptly appeared with her ideas to “save” The Road to Calvary. He hadn’t questioned it then, but her detailed knowledge of Lorraine’s illness and his past now seemed unusual. But most alarming was yesterday’s strange incident, Ray having no memory, and her vanished clothing.
The police were telling him that the woman he trusted and loved with his entire being was a suspect in multiple murders, and he, too, had been in danger. Ray sensed he had stepped outside of his body, detached from the proceedings. Susannah’s voice played in his head. After dinner, you made yourself a drink . . . The clarity of his memory became distinct—his wife handing him the drink.
He heard Linda say something about gathering DNA. Shaking himself out of fogginess, he accepted the reports she handed him. Ray studied the fingerprints and DNA results, detailing the matches between Susannah and several other names. Malachi laid other enlarged photos of her in a line. The reverend reviewed all the documents carefully, comparing the pictures closely. Ray nearly missed it. The odd hole in a moon shape on all of the women’s right earlobes. He couldn’t deny the truth any longer.
Ray dropped his head into shaking hands.
The howling sobs escaping his lips racked his entire body. He felt his shoulders pitching and tears streaming down his face. He thought about Susannah’s betrayal and his own role in a massive deception. In a way, his tears were the beginning of cleansing his soul.
A gentle hand on his back brought Ray face to face with Officer Johnson, who handed him a box of tissues.
He would tell them everything. Pulling a tissue from the box, he blew his nose. “My God, I’ve been an absolute fool. I should have known when Buck and Jeff were so suspicious because she seemingly showed up out of nowhere. They never trusted her. I want it on record that they questioned everything we ever did to ‘help’ the show.”
Malachi smiled sadly. “I know. For now, let’s focus on their distrust of Susannah.”
Ray nodded. “A few months back, they confronted me. They told me Susannah was not who she claimed, and they had proof she had committed identity theft. I, of course, didn’t believe them.”
Malachi met Ray’s distressed gaze. “I can confirm every word is true. Jeff and Buck came to me months ago with their concerns and asked me to investigate. I didn’t have anything to go on until Delores Reid was killed, and then I found a link to Linda’s case in Nebraska. Tell us the timeline from the moment you met Susannah. I also need your permission to search your home. Otherwise, we’ll get a warrant.”
Ray felt as if he’d taken a brutal punch to the stomach. He seized a deep breath. “Yes, you can search the house, the set. Whatever you need, I will cooperate fully.”
He closed his eyes tightly, the image of Susannah’s blood-spattered dress and limp body appearing before him, a vision he couldn’t erase. She was my wife. I want to know if she’s going to die. I need to pray for her, he thought. Ray addressed both detectives. “Tell me the extent of Susannah’s wounds and her prognosis.”
Malachi folded his large hands and spoke solemnly. “She took two bullets to the abdomen and is undergoing emergency surgery. Doctors won’t know the extent of the damage until they open her up.”