“I’ll meet with him,” Cassandra said, surprising even herself. “But on my terms. And with my lawyer present.”
Baskin smiled, a predatory glint in his eyes. “Excellent. Drew will be pleased. He’s… eager to clear his name.”
Later that evening, Cassandra’s lawyer, Sarah Jenkins, reviewed the potential agreement. “This is risky, Cassandra. You’re walking into a lion’s den. He’s a master manipulator.”
“I know,” Cassandra admitted. “But I have to do this. I need to know what he’s hiding.”
Sarah sighed. “Alright. But I’m going with you. Every step of the way.” As Sarah was finalizing the arrangements, Cassandra received a cryptic text message from an unknown number: “Don’t trust Baskin. He’s lying.”
The Price of Silence
The interview with Drew Peterson took place in the prison visiting room. The air was thick with tension. Drew, looking surprisingly well-preserved for a man serving 78 years, offered Cassandra a chillingly polite smile. Baskin hovered nearby, a watchful presence.
“Cassandra,” Drew began, his voice carefully modulated. “It’s good to see you. I know we’ve had our differences, but I want to help. I want to finally put this whole thing behind us.”
“Don’t insult my intelligence,” Cassandra snapped. “You’ve had years to come forward. Now, suddenly, you want to ‘help’?”
“I was… protecting Stacy. I didn’t want to embarrass her. She was seeing a man named Ryan. A younger guy, worked at the same insurance agency. She was planning to leave me, you know. She said she needed… excitement.”
Sarah Jenkins, sitting beside Cassandra, raised an eyebrow. “Do you have any proof of this affair?”
“Proof? It was common knowledge at the office. And Stacy… she left a note. A goodbye note. I destroyed it, of course. Didn’t want to cause any more pain.”
Cassandra felt a wave of nausea. A note? She’d never heard of a note. Her mother had searched Stacy’s room meticulously. “That’s a lie,” she said, her voice trembling. “You’re making this up.”
“Am I? I also know things about Kathleen’s death that the police never figured out. She wasn't just clumsy. She was… scared. She was threatening to expose something. Something about my work.”
“What was she going to expose?” Sarah pressed.
Drew hesitated, his eyes darting around the room. “It’s… complicated. It involved some questionable dealings within the police department. A little off-the-books investigation. Nothing illegal, of course.”
Suddenly, Baskin cleared his throat. “Mr. Peterson has said enough. He’s getting tired.”
As the interview was ending, Cassandra noticed a small, almost imperceptible signal from a prison guard – a subtle shake of the head. The guard had been staring directly at Baskin. Something wasn’t right.
The Hidden Ledger
Driven by the guard’s warning and a growing sense of unease, Cassandra and Sarah spent the next few days digging into Drew Peterson’s past. They focused on his time as a police sergeant, meticulously reviewing old case files and interviewing former colleagues.
“There’s something off about his early cases,” Sarah said, spreading a collection of documents across the table. “A pattern. A lot of unsolved missing persons cases, mostly young women. And a lot of them were… written off too quickly.”
“And his ‘off-the-books investigations’?” Cassandra asked.
“Turns out, he was involved in a discreet unit tasked with investigating corruption within the department. But the investigations were often… selective. He seemed to protect certain individuals, while aggressively pursuing others.”
The truth was finally coming out — and there was no turning back now… (Continue to Part 3 →)
