He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not

responsible for the pictures, notes, rose, thorns—all of that—and we can prove it. But murder? I’m not convinced.” He let out a frustrated breath, weary from arguing. The other two men believed Branson was the killer. Before the interrogation, so had Logan, but not anymore. He had serious doubts about Branson’s ability to plan and carry out the crimes, and remain undetected all these years.
    Besides that, Pierce’s lecture at Branson’s apartment had struck a chord. Logan had realized he was falling into the trap he’d vowed all along not to fall into. He’d let his attraction to Amanda cloud his judgment. No more. He was determined to prove he could focus on the case in spite of the feelings he could no longer deny to himself. Amanda mattered to him. Somehow he had to focus on the case regardless of that.
    The first thing he’d done after Branson’s arrest was try to seal his emotions away and come at the evidence from a logical viewpoint. Once he’d done that, it became painfully clear that Branson couldn’t be the murderer.
    He glanced across the conference room table at Riley. “Why are you so determined to label Branson a killer?”
    Riley’s eyes widened and he looked like he was trying to figure out how to respond.
    “And why are you being so stubborn?” Pierce interjected. “I’d think you’d be jumping at the chance to put away the man who hurt Amanda.” He tossed his pen on the table. “You’re still not being objective or you’d see the facts right in front of you.”
    “What facts?” Logan asked. “The facts are the same as before you and Riley interviewed Branson. He didn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know. You’re both allowing your dislike of the man to influence you.”
    “Hold on,” Riley said. “The man’s a disgusting jerk, but that alone wouldn’t sway me to brand him a murderer. The evidence tells me he did it.”
    Pierce pointed at Logan. “You’re the one who told us to look at Branson again, and we’ve gathered a mountain of evidence that shows his guilt. The interview was just icing, and proves he couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation for his actions today or better alibis for the other murders.”
    “You say we have a mountain of evidence, but it’s entirely circumstantial,” Logan said. “There isn’t one solid piece of forensic evidence to tie him to any of the murders. You can’t get a judge to indict based on the flimsy facts we’ve put together.”
    Pierce leaned forward in his chair, his eyes dark and intense. “What we have is a man who fits the profile in every way—”
    “Profiles aren’t evidence.”
    “—and,” Pierce continued as if Logan hadn’t interrupted, “we can place him in the same towns at the same times as three of the murders.”
    “What about the other murders?” Logan asked.
    “He’s worked for a variety of trucking companies. We’re still looking for documentation but I’m sure we’ll find it.”
    “Motive?”
    “He’s a serial killer. His motive is he’s a sick bastard,” Riley said.
    “You’re partly correct,” Pierce said. “We don’t know what the trigger was when he killed Dana and attacked Amanda, but after that, his wife left him, he was laid off from his job at the bank. He lost everything he had. Those pressures are the classic types of triggers. Trucking pays the bills but it doesn’t get his wife back, or give him his self-respect again. It just gave him opportunity for the other murders.”
    Incredulous, Logan glanced back and forth between the two other men. “And you accused me of not being objective,” he said to Pierce. “The man is five-foot-four and probably weighs less than a hundred pounds. How do you think he would be able to control a woman like Amanda? And besides that, she thought her attacker was at least as tall as her, which means our suspect has to be six feet or taller.”
    Pierce looked undaunted. “He was much heavier four years ago. We both know men as a rule are stronger than women, even women who are taller than them. And she can’t have a good sense of his height since she was, by her own admission, either lying on the bed or the floor most of the time during her attack.”
    Logan winced but Pierce relentlessly continued. “He initially used the taser to subdue the women. After that, they were weakened by blood loss. It’s entirely plausible he could manage them.”
    “Did you find a taser at his apartment?” Logan