“We play along. We keep following, but we focus on the forensics and the facts. We know this all began at victim one, so let’s work this and find the things that connect to that.”
That worked for him.
“I’m going to ask Greyson to check into the cop’s and agent’s files, but I’ll bet big money that they’ve never come across the first victim, unless it was to just eat at that place.”
Oh, Ethan trusted his partner’s gut.
“I’ll start digging, and you start digging. Let’s see what we can find. If this is someone setting this all up, that means they’ll be watching and waiting.”
He was aware.
“So let’s be careful, but let them think we’re just like the agents here. If they think you and I are the village idiots, they might not make this harder. So, let’s have fun with them.”
Ethan loved nothing more than a reciprocal mind fuck, and that was what Gene was suggesting.
He wanted to know.
“So we’re going to be visiting Jaden’s restaurant and then we’re going to be hitting upDark Spiritstonight? All in the effort to make this person think we’re following the trail?”
He nodded.
“Yep. We’re not dealing with the caliber or criminal we normally do. Crime here isn’t like crime in DC orPhilly. This person underestimated us. Now, we’ll show them what happens.”
Ethan was good with that.
He loved a game.
“Once you finish your research on the restaurant, we’ll figure out our next step. So why don’t you grab your laptop, and get to work, and I’ll finish clearing this place? We aren’t going to find shit here. I’m willing to bet on it. I think that the killer was looking for his laptop, so no one knew what was on it.”
Ethan pointed one thing out.
“Nothing was on it.”
Yeah, he was aware, but the killer clearly wasn’t.
“Maybe Jarod said something to the killer, or this person watched him and is freaked out. That would be a good indicator that they are in a panic.”
Yes, it would be.
“I’m kind of glad we worked this one,” Ethan admitted.
Gene laughed.
“Yeah, it’s a refresher from the normal crazy we handle on a daily basis. Maybe we’re due one like this every once in a while.”
That made Ethan laugh as he got ready to research the restaurant.
It was rare that they figured out that the killer was screwing with them, right off the bat, but they also likely didn’t think that Gabriel Rothschild would bring in two agents who ran cases like this all of the time.
They.
Lucked.
Out.
The agents at the FBI who worked out of this particular office didn’t get cases like this. They were green compared to Gene and Ethan. They weren’t seasoned investigators or profilers.
This might save their asses and vacation.
