He grinned.
“I spoke to Sanders this afternoon,” Derek told her. “He wanted us to know that, by sometime tomorrow, they should have the names of everyone who has visited Browning and the dates of the visits.”
Maleah swallowed, wiped her mouth on a paper napkin and said, “It’s possible that our copycat killer and Browning exchanged letters and that Browning may have called him, but both the letters and the phone calls were probably monitored since he’s a high-risk prisoner. Browning would have had to be very careful about what he said over the phone.”
“Yes, he would have,” Derek agreed. “My guess would be that if there has been any contact between the copycat and Browning, it started with a visit.”
“I understand that my meeting with Browning in the hopes of bargaining with him for information is my top priority, but I don’t want to be excluded from the investigation. I want to be part of every aspect of—”
“No one is going to exclude you.”
“But if I’m at the prison every day—”
“Who said you’d be visiting Browning every day?”
“I just assumed—”
“You assumed wrong.” Derek strode across the room, his gaze linked with hers as he approached. “You’ll see him tomorrow, but after that, we will take it slow and easy. We want him playing this game by our rules, not the other way around.”
“I understand.” She nibbled on the sandwich.
Derek reached over, grasped the back of a chair by the windows and dragged it over to the table. After he sat, he picked up the bag of chips, opened it and offered it to her. She shook her head. He pulled out several chips and popped them into his mouth.
“When the time comes, I want to be the one who questions each of Browning’s recent visitors,” Maleah said.
“If we can locate them, and that’s a big if, we will question them together, as partners. If the copycat visited Browning, I don’t think he would have used his real name or given his current address, do you?”
“No, of course not, but the Powell Agency has a high success rate of tracking down people who do not want to be found.”
“We’re overlooking one other possibility—our copycat may not have visited Browning. He may not have ever been in contact with him.”
“Then how could he possibly know so many details about Browning’s murders, details that were never released to the press?”
“He could be in law enforcement.”
Maleah frowned.
“Or he could have hired a PI or be a PI himself and found a way to dig up the info.”
She shook her head. “I think Browning knows something.”
“Browning wants you to believe he knows something.”
After finishing off one half of her sandwich, she washed it down with the tea and dumped the rest in the wastebasket by the desk. She wiped her hands off on the napkin and tossed it, too.
“You’re practically psychic when it comes to reading people.” Maleah might not be Derek’s biggest fan, but she respected his ability as a profiler and more recently as a detective. “Paint me a picture. In your opinion, does Browning have any personal connection to the copycat?”
“I’m intuitive, yes. Psychic, no. I leave all that paranormal stuff to Dr. Meng and her protégés.”
“I’m surprised Griff didn’t enlist Yvette or one of her protégés to interview Browning.” Maleah eyed the cake container.
“I doubt Browning would have agreed to see anyone other than you. Griff knew the right person to send. Neither Griff nor I think it was a coincidence that the copycat chose to mimic the killer who murdered your former boyfriend. It’s as if he chose you for a specific reason.”
“Yeah, but the only problem is that we have no idea what that reason is.”
“We can make some educated guesses.”
“Such as?” she asked.
“Such as you’re the copycat’s ultimate target.” When her face paled, Derek quickly added, “Or you were chosen because you’re Nicole Powell’s best friend. Or
“I spoke to Sanders this afternoon,” Derek told her. “He wanted us to know that, by sometime tomorrow, they should have the names of everyone who has visited Browning and the dates of the visits.”
Maleah swallowed, wiped her mouth on a paper napkin and said, “It’s possible that our copycat killer and Browning exchanged letters and that Browning may have called him, but both the letters and the phone calls were probably monitored since he’s a high-risk prisoner. Browning would have had to be very careful about what he said over the phone.”
“Yes, he would have,” Derek agreed. “My guess would be that if there has been any contact between the copycat and Browning, it started with a visit.”
“I understand that my meeting with Browning in the hopes of bargaining with him for information is my top priority, but I don’t want to be excluded from the investigation. I want to be part of every aspect of—”
“No one is going to exclude you.”
“But if I’m at the prison every day—”
“Who said you’d be visiting Browning every day?”
“I just assumed—”
“You assumed wrong.” Derek strode across the room, his gaze linked with hers as he approached. “You’ll see him tomorrow, but after that, we will take it slow and easy. We want him playing this game by our rules, not the other way around.”
“I understand.” She nibbled on the sandwich.
Derek reached over, grasped the back of a chair by the windows and dragged it over to the table. After he sat, he picked up the bag of chips, opened it and offered it to her. She shook her head. He pulled out several chips and popped them into his mouth.
“When the time comes, I want to be the one who questions each of Browning’s recent visitors,” Maleah said.
“If we can locate them, and that’s a big if, we will question them together, as partners. If the copycat visited Browning, I don’t think he would have used his real name or given his current address, do you?”
“No, of course not, but the Powell Agency has a high success rate of tracking down people who do not want to be found.”
“We’re overlooking one other possibility—our copycat may not have visited Browning. He may not have ever been in contact with him.”
“Then how could he possibly know so many details about Browning’s murders, details that were never released to the press?”
“He could be in law enforcement.”
Maleah frowned.
“Or he could have hired a PI or be a PI himself and found a way to dig up the info.”
She shook her head. “I think Browning knows something.”
“Browning wants you to believe he knows something.”
After finishing off one half of her sandwich, she washed it down with the tea and dumped the rest in the wastebasket by the desk. She wiped her hands off on the napkin and tossed it, too.
“You’re practically psychic when it comes to reading people.” Maleah might not be Derek’s biggest fan, but she respected his ability as a profiler and more recently as a detective. “Paint me a picture. In your opinion, does Browning have any personal connection to the copycat?”
“I’m intuitive, yes. Psychic, no. I leave all that paranormal stuff to Dr. Meng and her protégés.”
“I’m surprised Griff didn’t enlist Yvette or one of her protégés to interview Browning.” Maleah eyed the cake container.
“I doubt Browning would have agreed to see anyone other than you. Griff knew the right person to send. Neither Griff nor I think it was a coincidence that the copycat chose to mimic the killer who murdered your former boyfriend. It’s as if he chose you for a specific reason.”
“Yeah, but the only problem is that we have no idea what that reason is.”
“We can make some educated guesses.”
“Such as?” she asked.
“Such as you’re the copycat’s ultimate target.” When her face paled, Derek quickly added, “Or you were chosen because you’re Nicole Powell’s best friend. Or
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