Maniacal: A Detective Jade Monroe Crime Thriller Book 1 by C.M. Sutter

part—telling him that his wife was dead and we had no idea why.
    “I know one thing for sure,” Jack said.
    I wiped my dirty hands on my pants. “Yeah, what’s that?”
    “We don’t know any more now than we did before, and I’m going to need a stiff drink at some point before the day is over.”
    Back at the sheriff’s department, I took Perry into one of the interrogation rooms to tell him the devastating news. My least favorite part of the job was informing family members of their loved one’s untimely death, and today would be particularly hard. No way on earth would I tell Perry how Elise was found. She was dead, and nothing would bring her back. He didn’t need to know the horrific details. I told him we found her in the park, and only an autopsy could definitively tell us how she died. It could take a few days.
    He sobbed openly as he leaned over the table with his head in his hands. “Was she murdered? Was it the same guy that killed the boy at Cedar Lake? What am I going to tell my kids? Why Elise?”
    I shook my head and looked at the floor. “Perry, I don’t have those answers. I need to tell you, though, that your house is being searched as we speak. That doesn’t mean we’re pointing fingers at you, but we do need to clear you of this crime so you can take care of your family. Would you mind giving us a DNA sample too? Everything we’re asking is to help eliminate you as a suspect.”
    “Sure, go ahead. I have nothing to hide.”
    I motioned for Kyle to come in. He swabbed the inside of Perry’s mouth and took the sample downstairs.
    “I’m sorry for your loss, Perry. Elise’s car is in our evidence garage. I thought you should know. It may be a while before we can release it to you.”
    “What about Elise? Where is she?”
    “She’s downstairs in the ME’s office.”
    “I want to see her. Don’t I need to identify her?”
    I couldn’t let Perry see Elise yet. Rigor had her body stiffened in a horribly contorted position. We’d wait another day or so for the rigor to relax before having him ID her.
    “Yes, you do, but not just yet. I knew Elise, Perry. It’s her. We’ll call you in a couple of days to come in for an official ID. Right now you need to call your parents and tell them what happened. They have the kids, don’t they? We can’t let you leave yet, but you should make that call.”
    “Sergeant, please find the person that did this to Elise. I don’t have a wife anymore, and my kids just lost their mother. I don’t know how to go forward from here.”
    I squeezed his hand. “You have my word. We’ll find this monster and bring him to justice.”
    I watched as Perry was led to a phone. We had to confiscate his cell phone—it was protocol. I said a silent prayer for him and his family. He was a broken man, and my heart ached for his loss, but we had to stay focused on catching this madman. I went back to the bull pen where Jack, Clayton, and Billings sat. The lieutenant came out of his office and joined us at a corner table.
    “How’s Perry doing?” Lieutenant Clark asked.
    “Not good. How are we going to find this killer, Lieutenant? We don’t have a damn shred of evidence. Forensics has pictures, Doug has a body, and us? We have nothing. No leads, no suspect, no motive, no eyewitnesses, and no evidence.”
    “Okay, then, what do we have?”
    Jack spoke up. “We think the perp is at least my height, and he must be strong and fit. He’s likely from around here because he knows the area well. He may be someone that deals and takes drugs, hence his nickname, Dime. There isn’t a connection between Morris and Elise as far as we know. Perry didn’t seem to recognize Morris’s name other than from what he read in the paper.”
    “We have to follow up on that anyway to make sure there’s no connection whatsoever between the two. Maybe Elise knew someone Morris knew.”
    “We’re already on that, Lieutenant,” I said. “Billings told Lieutenant Colgate that