The DA’s attitude toward her stung. She always insisted on following procedure to the letter. Someone like Graves wouldn’tbe able to disappear. From what she’d seen in his bathroom, his dependence on medication would take him back to the house. He wouldn’t be able to walk miles in the snow, so the chances of him returning to the house once he’d seen they’d left were high. He had only one vehicle, so if he did return and decide to run, they would have been able to track him. Getting back to catching a serial killer had been her priority and she believed she’d made the right choice. They had the evidence and now an arrest warrant. Once they had Graves in custody, the FBI would be all over his house. Likely his computer would be given to Beth and she would dive deep and discover if he had any contacts and then they would take it from there. After today, the case would be out of her hands and she would be glad to be rid of it.
They hurried back to the office, and minutes later Beth, Styles, Carter, Raven, and Rio headed to Graves’ home. The man’s vehicle remained parked in the same position and hadn’t moved since they were last there. Carter and Styles headed around the back. Kane and Raven went to the front door and knocked. Jenna stood to one side with Beth and Rio. “Sheriff’s department.”
Nothing.
Jenna pressed her com. “Anything happening round the back of the house, Carter?”
“Nope, the door is open. There is a wet puddle just inside. I figure snow has been getting in for a time.”
Turning to Raven and Rio, Jenna indicated toward the front door. “Watch the door, we’ll head round back.”
Following Kane, Jenna waded through the thick snow to the back of the house, with Beth at her side. She stared at the open door. “I wonder if he came back. Maybe he froze to death in the snow.”
“Now that would make my day.” Carter grinned at her. “No paperwork.”
“Let’s check it out.” Kane pulled his weapon and stepped inside.
Carter went next, followed by Styles and Jenna and Beth. They kept their backs to the wall. Ahead as they neared the office, she heard someone whistle. As she reached the office door, Carter looked at her shaking his head. No one said a word. As the men parted, her gaze rested on a man slumped in an office chair, with a tarot card stapled to his forehead. Staring in disbelief Jenna circled the desk. The handle of an ornate paper knife protruded from the man’s neck, just below the skull. “Is he dead?”
“Oh, yeah.” Styles shook his head. “I’d say the knife cut his brainstem. I suggest we all get out of here before we contaminate the scene.”
“The Tarot Killer strikes again.” Carter stared at the body with a look of incredulity on his face. “How did he know about this guy?”
“How does he know about any of the people he kills?” Beth folded her arms across her chest. “I’m going to request this creep’s computer. This guy is a small cog in a big wheel. I figure he’ll lead us to other creeps just like him. Let’s get out of here. I can’t stand looking at him for a moment longer.” She turned on her heel and headed along the hallway.
Jenna looked at Kane. “I’ll call the DA and give him the news. Can you call Wolfe? We’ll wait for him to arrive.”
“Sure.” Kane gave Jenna a long look and then squeezed her shoulder. “He’s not gonna hurt anyone anymore.” He pulled out his phone and ushered her toward the door. “Come on, we can wait outside.”
Outside a cold wind buffeted Jenna as she made the call to the DA to explain what had happened. “No, I don’t have any idea what time this happened. The back door of the house is wide open and inside the temperature is close to freezing. I would say the time of death is going to be difficultto determine. I’m sure Dr. Wolfe will contact you as soon as he is able to make a determination.”
“As this case concerns child pornography, the FBI will be taking over the investigation from this point in time. As you have agents on the ground, I will be contacting the local director to advise them to collect the evidence. I want you there to oversee everything. Unless you have someone to arrest in the homicide cases, make this your current priority.”He disconnected.
Sighing, Jenna headed toward the Beast. Beth fell in step beside her and she glanced at her. “Why don’t you climb into the back of our truck and give me a rundown on the interview with Ethan Rourke?” She pulled open the door and slipped into the passenger seat, turning to speak to Beth.
“I have the interview on my phone. Rourke knows both of the women. Well, let’s say he’s met Ellie McBride, when he worked at the school, and was contacted by Laney Prescott for a home security system but hasn’t met her. He mentioned being snowed under with his current job but planned to swing by her place sometime this week.” Beth shook her head. “I seem to see serial killers in everyone and for this reason I’ll be checking his alibis for around the times of the murders.”
A shiver slid down Jenna’s back and she nodded. “Yeah, I understand. A serial killer could be sitting right next to you and you’d never know.”
“Exactly.” Beth removed her black wool hat, tidied her long blonde hair, and pulled it back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck before replacing her hat. “I don’t plan to leave any stone unturned. Although after listening to the other two interviews, those suspects look more viable. When you look at someone like Sean Jones, the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that he wanted to live with his father but ended up with his mother, who died after a short illness. To me, this is a red flag because it’s more likely he killed his mother or caused the illness. In his mind he would have been removing an obstacle that allowedhim to be with his father. The huge trigger for him came when his father rejected him and put him in foster care. All that anger building up for years, he may have kept it contained while growing but maybe something triggered him recently. Bad memories can creep up on people even if they aren’t psychopaths and cause mental issues.”
Jenna agreed with everything she said. “Yeah, and the way he killed the cat is much the same as what’s happening now.” She thought for a beat. “I found Caleb Dorsey a little creepy. There’s something about him sneaking around the school at night and hanging around Ellie McBride’s vehicle. The fact he keeps old school photographs makes me wonder whether he has an ax to grind with someone. He’s another one who’s interacted with both of the victims recently.” Jenna tapped her bottom lip. “The problem is it’s all circumstantial evidence. Unlike here, where we walk in and discover enough evidence to send someone to prison for the rest of their lives, essentially we have nothing really to go on apart from our hunches. I’ll be interested to know what you find on Ethan Rourke and if he has been manipulating any data to use as an alibi. To be honest, my money is on Jones. The moment I get back to the office I’m going to ask Kalo to do a more in-depth background check on him. There’s something about him I just can’t grasp. It’s as if I know it’s there and just can’t reach it.”
“The one thing I do know”—Beth leaned back in the seat and sighed—“he’s going to kill again very soon. Interviewing him won’t stop him. He believes he’s gotten away with the first two. I’ll be interested to see if he kills another professional. If he does, it will make it so much easier to discover our killer. People interacting with the same two murdered people in a town the size of Black Rock Falls wouldn’t be too unusual, but three dead women isn’t a coincidence. It’s a big neon sign that points to the killer.”
THIRTY-FIVE
Working night shift at the hospital in the middle of winter couldn’t be any worse for Isla Monroe. With most of the lights switched off on her floor and the hallways as quiet as a tomb, being the only one there on the off chance someone would be admitted to the hospital and put into one of the wards overnight had been a waste of time. A few strange things had happened to her over the last few days. She’d arrived home twice in a row to a pool of melted snow inside her back door. Yesterday, after leaving work, she’d arrived at her vehicle and as usual went to work removing the snow from the front and back windows. Scrawled in the snow on the back window was a message:Next time I’ll be here.
The message disturbed her, but she drove home and made sure her security alarm had been turned on before she went to bed. Inside her cozy little house, she should be safe and warm. She thought about the puddle inside her back door and figured it had been snowing so hard that melted snow had likely leaked under the door to form the puddle. She slept late as usual. Arriving home at two each morning meant her days started around noon, except on Thursdays, when she worked half ashift, which meant she worked from six through to ten. The day went along boring as usual. The old woman who had been in the ward she supervised had been discharged. She’d spent the day restocking everything just to pass the time.
Relieved when the clock struck ten, she headed down to her locker room. When she opened her door, a piece of yellow paper fluttered to the floor. She bent to pick it up and stared at it uncomprehending.You kill peoplehad been scrawled across the note in red ink. Suddenly afraid, the note fell from her trembling fingers. She ran out into the empty hallway and stopped as footsteps echoed through the hospital. It would be unusual for anyone to be on this floor at night without patients, not even the cleaners came up here. Panic gripped her by the throat and she ran toward the elevator, pressing the button frantically. The numbers above the elevator didn’t change, as if it had stuck on a floor below.
Clinging tight to her phone, she looked behind her, but nobody came along the passageway. The footsteps were getting louder. She bolted for the stairs and flung herself down the steps. If she could get to the ER, she’d be safe. There would always be somebody there. As she ran down the steps, she heard the unmistakable sound of the elevator grinding as it swayed its way down to the bottom floor. Heart pounding in her chest, she kept on going and, reaching the bottom floor, pushed open the door and rushed out into the hallway. Making her way to the ER, she relaxed a little under the bright lights and blended in with the people moving around inside. Trembling, she peered over one shoulder, but no one seemed to be following her.
Dragging in deep breaths to calm her shattered nerves, she made her way to the restroom. Inside she took a few minutes to compose herself. Someone in the hospital must be playing tricks on her and she’d fallen for it. She gave herself a little shake. She’d parked her truck just outside in the parking lot. After pulling on her coat and buttoning it up, she took a deep breath,scanned the parking lot, and then seeing no one, slipped and slid her way to her vehicle. She climbed inside, pushed her phone between her thighs, and started the engine. The next moment, something came over her head and around her neck. She glanced in the rearview mirror. Dark eyes peered at her through a balaclava. A strong smell of men’s cologne wafted over her. As she opened her mouth to scream, the cord around her neck tightened.
“Drive.”
