“The joggers.”
Kate froze.
“You’ve got somebody who just walked in off the street.”
“Yeah, she said that she can’t sleep because she’s afraid that she saw something important.”
“I’ll come and get her. We’ll see what she’s got to say.”
As she headed out to greet the new arrival, she saw an older woman, very lean, still wearing her running gear, only now she clutched tissues in her hand, and her face looked like she had been crying heavily.
Kate introduced herself and led the woman into an interview room. “Can I get you anything?”
“Water,” she replied, almost in a croaking voice.
Immediately Kate stepped out and brought back a bottle of water for her. “So, tell me what’s going on.”
“I think I saw him,” she said. “I’m sure of it.”
“Saw who?”
“The killer,” she replied immediately, her voice breaking. “I think I saw the killer.”
“Okay, so start at the beginning, and tell me what you saw.”
She took a deep breath. “I always jog around all the time,” she explained, speaking in short jerky bursts. “It’s how I handle stress.”
“Okay. When did you see this?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I went running. I live close to the pathways. In fact, I bought there on purpose. I’m always there because I’m always running.”
“And I guess there are a lot of you who know each other by now.”
She nodded. “Lots of us, we see each other frequently. We don’t talk though,” she added. “We often just wave and say hi. Everybody understands because we’re all in the same boat.”
It was a little hard to understand this woman’s version of a conversation because she spoke with such oddness, as if it was all she could do to get the words out. “Okay, good,” Kate stated. “It’s lucky that you’ve got a place where you’re so happy.”
The woman immediately bobbed her head up and down and then started shaking it back and forth.
Confused, Kate asked, “So, you’re not happy there?”
“Well, I was, but now there’s a killer,” she stated.
“Ah, yes, okay. So, you think you saw this killer?”
She immediately nodded again. “Yes, that’s what I’m saying. I saw him,” she stated eagerly.
“So, can you tell me what he looks like?”
The woman stared at her in shock. “No, I can’t.”
Kate took a slow deep breath, reaching for that self-control that was getting frayed very quickly and restated her question. “What did you see?”
“I saw him.”
Kate reached up, pinched the bridge of her nose. “So, start at the beginning and tell me just what you saw, so I can follow up.”
The woman immediately spoke. “I got up at five because I couldn’t sleep. I needed to sleep, but I couldn’t. I knew I wouldhave to wear myself down in order to go back to sleep again. So, I got dressed and raced out to the running path,” she explained. “I ran like crazy. It’s stress release for me. It’s like life is chasing me, so I run and run and run.”