Booby Trap by Sue Ann Jaffarian Read Free Book Online

good living off of people searching for it in the modern age. The Internet gave Lil the chance to do that without leaving home, without taking any risks.”
    Greg finished chewing before he spoke. “Perhaps she didn’t take any obvious risks, sweetheart, but now she’s in a tight spot because of it. A pickle, as you would say.”
    He put down his knife and fork and picked up the pepper mill. “So,” he said, as he gave it a couple of twists over his steak, “are you going to leave me guessing about the juicy stuff?”
    “Juicy stuff?”
    “How did Lil finally realize she was getting nasty with her own son?”
    “He came out and told her who he was. Not at first, of course. According to Lil, they had been having quite a torrid online relationship when he asked to meet her. When she declined, he told her his real name, hoping that would convince her.”
    “I can’t believe she continued it.” Greg shook his head in disbelief. “Especially once she realized who he was.”
    “Lil claims she cooled it down immediately—didn’t even talk online with him for a long time. But her curiosity got the better of her, as well as her desire to know more about her son, and she resumed the relationship, but on a friend-only basis. She says they haven’t talked sexually since she found out. She finally told him she was married and didn’t feel right about it, but wanted to remain friends. Lil says for the past month they’ve been more confidants than anything.”
    “But if the doctor is a competitive guy and thought he was in love, that would have made him even more eager to meet her. And if his own marriage was rocky, as Lil told you, I can see why he continued pursuing her.” He paused. “But it still doesn’t make him the Blond Bomber, just a lonely, horny guy with a bad marriage.”
    I took a bite of steak and chewed. “Lil said he admitted knowing a few of the dead women from the Internet. And the night the nurse disappeared, Brian stood her up on a planned online date. Lil said when she became suspicious, she dug up the dates of the last couple of murders and checked them against Brian’s schedule. Apparently, he always lets his mother know when he’s going to be out of town, and she keeps her old calendars. Each time a woman was found murdered, Dr. Brian Eddy was conveniently out of town.”
    “And that wouldn’t be an alibi rather than evidence?”
    “To Lil’s thinking, the trip is a cover alibi in case the police find any old e-mails and link Brian to the dead girls.”
    “And that’s her evidence?”
    “Yep. It’s not totally off the mark. I mean, it does seem coincidental that he would know some of the dead women and would admit that to his online lover. But then again, maybe Brian is trying to appear innocent by being forthcoming. The good doctor is either very cagey or very trusting.”
    I must admit, it was rather a relief to have Greg working with me on this favor for Lil. I was enjoying brainstorming with him, like we did when our mutual friend Sophie London died. We made a great team.
    During the week, Greg had dug up all the information he could on the Blond Bomber and his victims, all four of them to date. Together, we made a detailed list of any common traits and information beyond their physical appearance. I’m sure it’s the same thing the police have done, but we were starting from scratch and looking for clues to who didn’t do it, instead of who did it. To those lists, we added the information Lil had provided, including Brian’s travel data.
    According to the sketchy personal information on each victim, the four ranged in age from Gabby, who was sixteen, to Crystal Lee Harper, who died at the age of fifty-three. The information led me to believe that most were active in Internet chatting. All, that is, except the last one, number four, Laurie Luke, the nurse from Newport Beach. There was no mention of the Internet possibly linking her to her killer.
    The first victim had been