Chapter 444: Murderer In Custody

We found him sitting at the organ, exactly where I expected to find him. He never seemed to be far from it, and when he saw the three of us coming toward him, any remaining fight went out of him.

"I did it," Ian Rudge said. "I killed her." Took me a second to register the fact he'd dropped his stutter.

Affectations. I hated them.

Jill nodded, tipping her hat while stepped back and let her do the job she was born to do, the sheriff's badge already changed hands, Vivian agreeing when I filled them both in while Jill drove that this was for the best.

"She wasn't Thea Isaac, was she, Ian?" Jill's tone was soft, kind, but firm, too. Misery crossed his face but he didn't crumble, just sat there while she held out her phone, the recording capturing his confession.

"No. She was Tamara Leek, once upon a time," he said. "My aunt. My father's sister."

I held my ground next to Vivian while Jill prompted him again.