“Yeah, yeah. I exist to rain on your parade. Play nice with the federal agents or you’ll end up in some black site a mile underground.”
“Been there, done that,” Bryn muttered. “Didn’t even get a T-shirt.”
Gunnar stared at him. “You and I really need to get to know each other better.”
“You weren’t meant to hear that.”
“Wolf, remember? I can hear a bunny sneeze across six miles of forest.”
“Useful skill.” Bryn was glad Gunnar couldn’t see him rolling his eyes behind his dark glasses.
“Roll those eyes any harder and they’ll fall out.”
Damn it!
“How long have you two been partners?” Agent Bell asked.
“A day,” Gunnar said.
“No way. You act like an old married couple.”
To Bryn’s relief, they arrived at Bell’s office, which was the base for the team of agents investigating the Forest Ripper case. As they went in, they got a round of applause. Bryn edged behind Gunnar. Agent Bell waved his colleagues away. “Come sit down. You want coffee?”
“God, yes.” Bryn slumped into a chair and tried to ignore the curious looks cast his way from around the room. “Black. Please.”
“Cream, three sugars,” Gunnar chimed in. “Where’s your partner?”
“Food poisoning. He’s gone home.” Bell sent a junior agent for coffee then opened his laptop. “Everything from the interview with Dr. Templeton was recorded, but I need to make some notes about what you saw, Bryn. We need to confirm which of the victims you observed and anything else worth noting.”
“Okay.” Bryn didn’t want to relive the experience but this was an essential part of the process. “If every suspect refuses to answer questions while I’m in contact, that’s going to be a problem, isn’t it?”
“They won’t all be as sharp as Templeton,” Gunnar said. “Some won’t believe you can do anything at all and they’ll treat it like a challenge. Some will think they can fool you by thinking of other things. They won’t understand that you’re not reading their minds.”
“I concur, Detective. Your skills will be useful for testing the veracity of witnesses too, Bryn. That could be revealing, and they won’t have grounds to refuse truth reading.” He tapped on his keyboard. “Okay, describe exactly what you saw.”
Bryn closed his eyes then went over everything he’d observed from Templeton’s strongest memory.
“And you’re sure he got off on it?” Bell asked.
“Definitely.”
“Must have worn a rubber. No trace of semen on any of the bodies. Was there anything specific that confirms he was the active participant and not observing someone else?”
“Other than his emotions, there was the scar on his third finger, from nail to knuckle. It was distinctive. I didn’t see his face. No reflective surfaces.”
“Okay. For the record, can you tell the difference between participation and observation?”
“Yes. All confirmed in my testing record.” Bryn shifted. “You want me to identify which victim was involved?”
“Yeah. Their pictures are on the board over there.” Agent Bell pointed at a whiteboard in one corner of the room. Twelve photographs formed a line across the top.
Someone handed Bryn a cup of coffee and he walked across the room. He avoided reading the notes and focused on the young faces. “It was him.” He indicated the eighth victim. “I wonder what was different about him.” He turned away from the board.
Gunnar was reading the notes on the board. “He was the son of a woman who rejected Templeton. A nurse at the hospital. Widowed. Jesus.” He growled and a couple of agents in the room joined in. “Wolves know true evil.”
Bryn went back to Bell’s desk. “Is there an entire pack in here?”
Bell grinned. “Only two. When they get to growling, you’d think there were more and I wish there were. Wolves are perfect for law enforcement.” He tapped his pen against his lips. “Do you think I’d stand any chance at all of getting you two attached here permanently?”
