“And you know where this exact piece of tunnel is?” Gunnar asked. Emmett nodded. “Get the information over to the feds right away. Great work!”
Emmett took his laptop and rushed away.
“We’re not going to look for the tunnel?” Bryn asked.
“No. It’s not our case and this will take manpower. We need to leave Bell and his team to it. I’m sure he’ll let us know if they find anything.”
“The more I think about it, the more certain I am that the killer must be somebody who works at the store. He must have balls of steel to buy stuff from there but he picked a new cashier. Betty-Jo had only been working there a few days and with that hooded top too, she wouldn’t have recognized him. Staff around her were busy and concentrating on their customers.”
“Or he doesn’t have normal emotions. If they’ve narrowed down the list of possible suspects, I could read them all. I feel really guilty about Betty-Jo’s death, Gunnar. I want to do something.”
“I’ll make the offer, but let’s wait and see what they find at the kill site. Forensics might give them a slam dunk.”
“Let’s hope. Emmett never got any pancakes and he really deserves some.”
“I’ll whip up a fresh batch. You can never have too many.”
The rest of the morning and early afternoon passed without incident but there was a sense of growing anticipation in their shared office even as they planned their next cases to accept. It was almost three when Gunner’s cell rang. “It’s Bell.” He connected the call and put it on speaker. “Hey, Bell, I hope you’ve got good news for us. You’re on speaker talking to me, Bryn and Emmett.”
“If I had my way I’d be poaching Emmett for our office right now. He was spot on with the location andthat place is a goldmine of evidence. The entrance was well hidden and chained closed. The killer had even taken the trouble to use an old-looking padlock and chain but there were telltale marks of usage around the keyhole. Once we got inside—and I have to tell you that place is the stuff of horror movies—we found a wider section of tunnel about three hundred yards in. There was a portable table covered in kit. Ropes, knives, surgical gloves… The stuff he bought at the market, which by the way we think he used either to make cut wounds hurt more, with the salt or lemon juice, or to attempt healing with the honey. He may have used that one himself rather than on his victims if he had a wound that he didn’t want to show to a doctor or buy stuff from the chemist that might incriminate him further down the line.”
“But he wasn’t there, I’m guessing?” Bryn said.
“No, he wasn’t. We’ll put a watch on the entrance, close it up again, in case he comes back once forensics have finished, but the media caught wind of what we were doing and it’ll be all over the papers and the internet by now. We’d managed to keep the links between the killings quiet but it’s going to come out sooner or later.”
“If it does, he’ll bolt,” Gunnar said.
“Yeah, which is why I have a favor to ask.”
“We may be ahead of you if your request is for Bryn to read your suspects. He already suggested it.”
“Are you sure you can’t read minds?” Bell asked. “That is what I was going to request from Warden. If you’re okay with it, I’ll let him know. Gotta go through the right channels and he’s not a man I want to piss off.”
“You want us to come to you?”
“That would be easiest. We’ll bring them all in. If they’re innocent it should be a case of truth reading but if anyone resists, then we may have to ask Bryn to look at memory and future intent as well.”
“Anything that gets this guy caught is good with me,” Bryn said.
“In that case, let me make a call to Warden and I’ll see you in…let’s say an hour. I’ll set things in motion to get the suspects brought here. None of them live that far away but we may need to track some of them down if they don’t answer our calls.”
He ended the call and Bryn made eye contact with Gunnar. “We have to be close, right?”
“The net is definitely drawing in. Let’s hope this guy doesn’t run before we get him.”
Ten minutes later, Warden joined them. He glanced at Bryn, who was occupying his beanbag. “We could get another desk in here, you know.”
“I’m good,” Bryn said.
“Hmm. I know you’ve already spoken to Special Agent Bell. To his credit, he made an official request which I’m happy to approve, so get your butts over to the FBI. Take a car, Gunnar. I don’t want Bryn on the back of your bike until we’re sure you’re not gonna get taken out by a sniper. I don’t want to be scraping either of you off the asphalt. Emmett, you can go too. It’ll be good experience. Also, if anyone over there offers you a job, the answer is no.”
“Yes, sir, I mean, no, sir… I mean…” Emmett was pink and flustered. Warden gave him a slow, wolfish smile.
“Get to work, gentlemen. You have a killer to catch.”
* * **
Agent Bell had secured a private room and had already managed to bring in seven of his ten suspects, who’d been seated in a separate room. Bryn was a little nervous about reading so many people in quick succession but it wouldn’t be the first time. He made sure Gunnar was within reach.
