-Detective Mike Riggs-

I just hung up the phone with Detective Lynch. He called me after the Westerlys left. I was not surprised to find out from Lynch that Mr. Westerly was able to identify the five murdered women in Philadelphia. Lynch informed me that they had sent officers over to Mr. Matthews' home. Unfortunately, he was not there, so they are monitoring his home to see if he shows up.

Lynch also told me that Mrs. Westerly had given him a fair idea of the location where Matthew took her. Lynch will check to see if Matthews has any property in that area or if any of his family members did.

I decided to contact the Dover, Delaware Police Department. Fortunately, they had no murders of women with Mathews' MO. So, it looks like he just murdered Mr. Westerly's hookups. No one that he murdered could lead back to him, that is, until Miss Conrad. The reason Matthews went dormant for three years is because Westerly met and fell in love with his wife.

I decided to call it a night. Tomorrow, when I get into the office, I'll contact the Westerlys. I need to talk with them. I believe that they might hold the key to the whereabouts of Todd Matthews.

***

I couldn't sleep last night; some cases like this keep me awake because it's like a puzzle I must solve. As always, on those sleepless nights, I find that there are pieces to the puzzle that I'm missing. 

Grabbing my coffee, I head into my office and decide to wait and call the Westerlys later in the morning. They had a rough day yesterday, so I want to give them some time today to decompress, but not too much time. We must find Matthews as soon as possible since he's devolving, first, with Miss Conrad. It looks like she was the only murdered woman that he knew personally, then Cheryl. My biggest fear is that he'll stop at nothing to get revenge on her.

My phone rings. Pulling me from my thoughts. I answer, "Detective Riggs."

The front desk informs me, "Reed Westerly on line one."

"Got it, thanks." I'm impressed that Mr. Westerly beat me to the punch. "Good morning, Mr. Westerly."

"Good morning, Detective. First, thank you for sending the officers to clear our home and for the officer watching the Fowler's house. It has given my wife and me a true sense of safety," he says in appreciation.

"You're very welcome. I'm glad that we were able to do that for you," I reply.

"I know that you wanted to meet with us. I feel that the sooner we meet with you, the better. We want to do everything in our power to assist you and Detective Lynch in getting Todd off of the streets before he claims another innocent victim or tries to get to my wife," Mr. Westerly states pragmatically.

"I agree. I was waiting to contact you later this morning so you could have more time to decompress. How soon can you get here?" I inquire.

"Thirty minutes," he replies.

I lean back into my chair. "Perfect. I'll see you then. Goodbye, and thank you for calling."

He responds, "No problem, we want to be able to put this behind us. Goodbye, Detective."

After we hang up, I gather everything I'll need for the interview with the Westerlys.

True to his word, the Westerlys arrived half an hour after I hung up with him.

The front desk officer relayed to me that they had arrived. I meet them out front and greet them with a handshake.

I bring them into one of our meeting rooms. "Please have a seat. Can I get either of you something to drink?"

They decline, and I pull out the chair for Mrs. Westerly.

"Thank you." She smiles, but it does not reach her eyes.

Once we're all seated, I begin. "Mr. Westerly, what can you tell me about Todd Matthew? I want to know everything."

Mr Westerly takes a moment to respond, "We met in grade school. Todd had moved into the school district after his mother passed away."

"How did she pass?" I ask.

"It was a tragic accident. Todd was with her in the car when she lost control and drove into a river. Todd escaped his seat belt and got out of the car. His mother was not so lucky. Her seat belt ended up wrapped around her neck. She couldn't get out, and she drowned," he relays sadly.

"How old was he?" I question after writing some notes.

"Eleven or twelve," he replies.

Right away I'm suspicious about the way Matthews' mother died. "What kind of relationship did he have with his mother?"

Reed shrugs. "He only ever told me how she died. Other than that, he never really spoke about her."

I find Mr. Westerly's response unsettling. "Did you ever find that odd?"

Mr. Westerly ponders my question for a moment. "I guess that I never really thought about it before since I was just a kid, and by the time we reached adulthood, it never came up."

After noting that, I question, "What about his father?"

Mr. Westerly looks pissed when he responds, "His father was a mean bastard. Todd did everything that he could to stay away from him. Hell, he practically lived with my father and me. Todd and I were inseparable."

It makes sense many serial killers have had miserable childhoods. "Is his father still living?"

Mr. Westerly nods. "I believe so."

Well, that's an excellent place to start. "Do you have his information?"

"I can give you the last address that I had for him. I think I remember that it was Todd's Aunt's house. He and his father moved in with her after his mother's death," he explains.

"Do you mind writing their information down for me?" I push over the pad of paper for him to write on.

As he writes, I turn my attention to Mrs. Westerly, sitting quietly, holding her husband's hand. "Mrs. Westerly, can you give me any insight on Matthews' mental state?"

She thinks a moment before responding to me, "I've always noticed that something was off with Todd, but the man who dragged me from my vehicle, knocked me out, placed me into his trunk, and threw me in a basement was a man possessed. He rambled, blaming me for ruining his and Reed's relationship. He bragged about killing Patty and told me how smart he was using all of Reed's hookups to have his way with them."

I raise my brows. "He said, "Have his way with them"?"

"Yes, and he told me how brilliant it was because if they caught him, he would shift the blame onto Reed. He's a very sick man, Detective, and I won't feel safe until that monster is behind bars," she confesses.

***

By the time the Westerlys leave, we have some angles to work with on finding Matthews. Mr. Westerly was able to fill in information on Matthews' past and his family situation. He gave me information on how to contact Matthews' father and aunt. They live in Philadelphia, so I'll pass this information to Detective Lynch.

Mrs. Westerly gave me the much-needed insight on where Matthews' head is at. I do believe that he's determined to get to Mrs. Westerly. I also think that he might have done something to cause his mother's death. He probably feels like, at this point, he has nothing to lose. That makes Todd Mathews a very dangerous man.

*****