-Epilogue-

The questioning of Sandra Gardner extended over several days, during which she requested numerous breaks. Nevertheless, a number of tapes and a veritable mountain of paper came together, even though things were basically quite simple.

As Linda Marx, she had lived next door to the pharmacy where one of the victims had worked. The two had known each other fleetingly. Connolly had gone from front door to front door with a photo and could confirm this. She had followed the lovers and killed them in the same pattern her father had once done.

"Where did you get the crime sequence?" wanted Jane to know.

"Until I was an adult, I didn't know what was going on with me," Sandra said. "It was hell as a teenager, and it didn't get any better later when I was on my own. It was always these nightmares. I never understood them. Drugs, alcohol, the first sex. Always there seemed to be something inside me that wanted out but couldn't find the way. I never had a relationship any longer, and that although I'm certainly not an ugly duckling. Well, then a psychologist came. She was just babbling. And then I let myself be hypnotized. Little by little I found out who I really was. And what happened back then."

Jane listened intently. "And then?"

"I sat at the beach during the full moon. Thought I was alone. But between the dunes, there was a noise. A couple, they were having sex. That's when I felt it for the first time. She hissed to him that they had to be careful. Secretly. Something forbidden. I felt it rising inside me. They couldn't be allowed to do this. They had to be punished.

Jane had to swallow away a big lump before she could ask, "And then?"

Sandra raised her shoulders. "I just stood there. Fists clenched. At some point, I started screaming. That's when they saw me and screamed too. Ran away, and half the clothes were left behind. I have no idea how long I stood there like that. Alone, in the moonlight. But from that moment on, the feeling kept coming. When the nights were bright. When the sinful were drawn into solitude to do forbidden things." She paused. "I prepared myself for it. Sometimes I took sleeping pills. But over and over again, I was drawn out. And sometimes ..."

That last interview was more than three months ago, and yet a shiver ran down Jane's spine when she was haunted by that memory.

Jane put her thoughts in order. Who would receive the estate of Jesse Buck? What would happen to his house and all the furniture? In the end, did Linda Marx, aka Sandra Gardner, have a claim to it?

"No," she thought aloud. In her mind, the detective was trying to go through the sequence of events of the last few months from a different perspective. As if Buck were the victim. As if he wasn't a driven misfit who pathologically identified with a serial killer. It wasn't easy for her.

Linda Marx had arranged to meet Buck. The meeting had originated with her, she had brought the roofies, administered them to him, and then placed the vials in Buck's liquor cabinet. She had penetrated herself, probably with a vibrator stuck in a condom. Had made it all look like he raped her. Out of hatred? And why? Because he had tried to pretend to be like her biological father had been? Because he reminded her of her father and that's why she wanted him dead? She had shamelessly exploited his interest in her for weeks, had faked a broken arm to make herself unsuspicious and to increase his attention. The trip to the supermarket, the constant alternation between flirting and rejection. The evil soul that lived inside her had unleashed enormous forces.

Jane winced when someone dropped something heavy on a table, interrupting her train of thought.

She looked at the man for a long time and blinked a few times before furling her brows.

"Where do you want me to put my stuff?" asked Connolly, who was standing at the table Frankie had used as his desk after being promoted to a detective. Today, her brother had the workstation that, after the death of her partner and friend Frost, had served much more like a shrine.

Korsak peered over the rim of his glasses and eyed Jane closely. Wordlessly, he waited for her reaction.

Frankie frowned deeply, also waiting without saying a word.

Jane regarded the two men and then Connolly. "Right there. There's good," she said, and Frankie hid his face in a file in front of him so no one would see his broad grin, and Korsak grunted in amusement.

Jane would never officially admit it, but after Ethan Connolly had helped them bring the Moonlight Murder case to a close and saved her life as well, Jane had lobbied Cavanaugh that Connolly officially became a member of their team, much to Ed Barker's displeasure.

Connolly dropped his shoulders and looked at her less enthusiastically. "Seriously?"

"Welcome to Homicide, rookie," Korsak chuckled, and Frankie couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Thanks," Connolly grumbled with a smile.

Even Jane smiled before turning back to her work.

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Okay, folks. That's it. That's the end of this journey. I hope you enjoyed this little story.

Let me know if you are interested in a sequel. I already have an idea.

Thank you for reading.

Stay healthy and safe,

T73.