Page 84 of My Killer Blind Date

‘We had some good times,’ is all I can manage. ‘And we had each other.’

He nods, then squeezes my hands. ‘Thanks. Thanks for that, Margot. I’m glad my daughter had someone nice like you in her corner. Well. I suppose I’ll go collect the urn, and we’ll be on our way.’

The urn. Of course he wants to take it. I’d imagined I’d be the one to keep it. But after hearing his story, in a strange way, I do want him and Sue to have it.

We head back inside.

As we enter the parlor, now empty, Tim walks right up to the urn while I stay in the back of the room. He drops his head, like he’s having a private moment of silence before removing it from the table.

I cast my gaze over to Sue, who’s seated in the back row. She catches my eye and beckons me over.

As I take a seat next to her, I notice she’s not looking so good. Her face has a sallow tint.

‘It was a lovely service,’ she says, reaching over and grasping my hand. Her hand is plump and a little sweaty. ‘I just wish we could have found her before she died. We were looking, you know?’

‘You were?’ I say.

‘Oh, yes. Ever since I got my cancer diagnosis.’

Whoa. This is new information.

‘I’m so sorry.’ I sit up a little straighter and squeeze her hand back. ‘I didn’t know.’

She shrugs, a cheerful smile fixed on her lips as if by habit. ‘It’s stage four. Of course, we’re not losing hope. Miracles can still happen. Still, it would have given me some peace to set eyes on my daughter one more time.’ When she purses her lips, little feathered wrinkles bunch at the corners of her mouth. ‘All that money, down the drain.’

Money?

My confusion must show, because she emits a sad little laugh. ‘Oh yes – we hired a private investigator.’ Her brows crease. ‘He found her, you know. When she was still alive. He had a meeting set up and everything, and he was going to tell her about my cancer and show her this video her father and I made, asking her to come home and reconcile with us before I … anyway. And then …’

The blood drains from my face.

‘… she didn’t show,’ I finish breathlessly.

Liam. Liam is the private investigator. Tim and Sue Dawson hired Liam to find their daughter. The dating app – the messages – he was trying to find her. For them.

Sue’s eyes widen a little. ‘How did you know?’

‘I met him. Liam Porter, right?’

‘Yes! Did he tell you?’ Her brows scrunch. ‘He was under NDA.’

I exhale. My body feels shaky. Not a serial killer. He was looking for Zoe too, just like I was. ‘No. He didn’t tell me. I just put it together now.’

‘Excuse me? I think there’s been a mistake,’ comes Tim’s voice from up front.

He’s holding the urn in one hand and the lid in the other with an expression of confusion.

‘What’s wrong?’ Sue calls out, her voice trembly.

‘There’s nothing in here,’ her husband calls back. ‘Where are the ashes? Where is my daughter?’

Chapter Twenty-eight

After the Dawsons leave, Bill pulls me into his office. He sits, but I stand. I can’t help feeling like a schoolgirl who’s been brought before the principal.

Bill steeples his fingers in front of his lips and leans back in his chair, surveying me. ‘You cremated Zoe’s foot and moved the ashes into the urn, correct?’

‘Yes. Devin showed me how. I picked the urn and put the ashes inside. Then I labeled the urn and left it in the storage area.’