“Did you lock any doors inside?” she asked.
He looked confused.
“Uh, lock doors? There are no windows in half of the bottom floor because I can’t hire anyone to put plywood up to seal it because I can’t get permits. Hey, can you get me permits? Or maybe tell them it needs to be sealed up as a crime scene? I’ll pay for everything. If you tell them it’s a nightmare, maybe they might believe it.”
Oh, she wasn’t going to do anything. That was a civil matter, and he was on his own. Elizabeth didn’t wade into issues like this for a good reason.
Not her circus.
Not her monkeys.
“Well, Mr. Slater…”
He stopped her.
“Devon. Please.”
She could do that, and she changed the focus without answering his question.
“Devon. We found something disturbing. When we were called to the building, the cops had found a room. Locked inside it, there were skulls and eyes.”
He blinked.
“What? Skulls? Eyes?”
She pulled out her phone, and showed him one of the pictures.
“This.”
The second he saw it, he gasped, and then picked up his phone. He began dialing.
“That’s it! That shithole is gone.MYattorney is going to have to deliver what he’s promised with this goddamn city council. Now, my name is attached to that! Jesus Christ! I swear my father is laughing at me from his grave!”
Oh, there was no shock he was upset.
Who wouldn’t be?
A serial killer had made a home base in one of his buildings.
“Jesus H. Christ,” he said, crossing himself. When someone answered, he spoke. “Jessica, when Larry gets in, have him call me. No. Have him come over. Tell him it’s an emergency and is in regards to the FBI!”
Then, he hung up.
“I’m sorry. Are those really eyeballs in jars?” he asked, gagging a little as he pushed her phone away.
She nodded.
“Yep. Someone made a whole display of the crazy, and in your building. I’m here to figure out who.”
He closed his eyes.
“Dad, you fucked me good on this one,” he muttered. Then, he stared at them.
His green eyes were troubled.
“Tell me how to help? What do I do in this case? I don’t now own skulls and eyeballs, right? I couldn’t possibly inherit that along with this nightmare, could I?”
She calmed him down.
