Back at the office,after Jane had replayed the recording for everyone and they’d listened twice, she looked up when Gina interrupted to take a call.
After a moment, she hung up, not happy.
“Well?” Jane asked.
“Professor Lito and his wife are gone. So’s their car. They left their phones behind.”
Sometimes when her brain fixated on a detail, the way it had when Phillip had called the mess a “travesty,” Jane knew to pay attention. She’d heard that same description before, when Kyle had spoken about the Keisers’ deaths.
Anyone could use the same word, but “travesty” wasn’t that common. Kyle acted like he hadn’t talked to Phillip lately. But Jane thought he had.
“Shoot.” Jane scowled. “We should have put someone on them.”
Rapp shrugged. “We have no proof Lito is part of the murders. He and his nephew obviously spoke. Perhaps the use of the word ‘travesty’ is just something Phillip picked up from his uncle.”
“No. It’s not.”
“How do you know?” Gina asked.
“I just do.”
Gina snorted. “Nothing like a lack of proof to tie murderers together. ‘I just do’ never works in court.”
“Good thing we’re not in court then, isn’t it?” Jane said, not appreciating Gina’s tone.
Gina shook her head. “Look, we still don’t know if all this talk of some ‘he’ is a real person or not. Because I’ve listened to this a few times now, and I have to tell you that Phillip sounds mentally unstable.”
Rapp agreed. “Yes. He’s also methodical. And no matter who’s telling him to kill, he’s planning to do it again. At least four more times.”
Jane glanced at Diego. “Hey, can you run all our victim’s names against Kyle and Maria Lito?”
“Yep.” Diego hustled out of the conference room to his computer.
“Great. So what now?” Gina asked.
“What did you find when you went looking for him?” Jane asked.
“A lot of nothing. We’re haunting the hospitals though. Hopefully, our presence will deter him. He’s after administrators, right? So we’ve warned them to stay inside as much as possible and to use hospital security and a police presence to get them in and out of the building.”
“That’s good.”
Rapp sighed. “I’d suggest leaving one hospital open to draw him in, but he’s too smart for that. Even if he is getting advice from voices in his head, he’s slick. He knows how to avoid leaving a trace.”
“If not him, then his partner.” Jane still didn’t like it though. “Not partner. That’s not the right word. This voice is directing him to get justice. He said, ‘It’s much bigger than me.’”
Gina argued, “God is much bigger than any mere mortal. We can’t assume he’s working with a partner.”
“We can’t assume he’s working alone,” Jane argued right back.
“Good points. Unfortunately, you’re both right.” Rapp stood. “Let’s find out as much as we can about the Litos.”
“I’ll look into Kyle,” Gina said.
Jane nodded. “I’ll take Maria, though I have to tell you. I don’t think they’re in on it. Phillip clearly said he’s sorry this will hurt them.”
Rapp shrugged. “Yes, but Jane, they took off. That’s suspicious. So we’ll look into them, and I’ll get August Kaminski and his sons.” Rapp left and headed to the kitchenette for coffee.
Jane felt caffeined out. And a little depressed. She’d liked Kyle, and he’d lied. He’d acted like he hadn’t talked to Phillip lately. But Jane thought he had. And maybe he knew what Phillip was up to and didn’t like it, so he’d called in a warning to Gambol. Or he liked what Phillip was doing and wanted the FBI to know.
