Turk snorted irritably when his examination of Rebecca’s body didn’t yield a clue.He trotted a few yards away, sniffing for anything that might help him discover something useful.Faith watched him and frowned.“She didn’t have a dog either.The location is half-consistent, same with the victim profile.A park and someone alone.But you’re right.It’s notreallyconsistent.An old woman who owns a dog, an old man who owns a dog, and a young woman who doesn’t own a dog.”
She rubbed her face.“Crap.If he’s not going after dog owners, then why is he targeting these specific victims?”
“I guess that’s what we have to find out,” Jessica said.
“Yeah.”
Meyers finished talking with the Prince William County sheriff and stomped over to them.His eyes were narrowed, and his jaw jutted.His hands were clenched into fists, and when he spoke to Faith, he sounded far different from the tired, apathetic sergeant she had interacted with previously.
“Prince William’s giving us jurisdiction,” he told Faith.“They’re lending us resources, but we’re in charge.”
Jessica raised an eyebrow.“I guess you want this case now.”
“I want this asshole brought to justice,” Meyers said.“I’d rather he shot his own nuts off than shot innocent people just trying to stay healthy and enjoy an hour of peace on a beautiful day, but if he’s not going to keep it in his pants, then yeah.I want this case.I want him found, and I want him—” He stopped himself and took a deep breath.
“I get it,” Faith said.“Trust me, I understand.Do you guys have a twenty-four-hour pizza joint you prefer?”
Meyers blinked.“Pizza?”
“Maybe Chinese?”
Meyers smiled slightly.“Is this your way of saying you two are going to be up all night helping us find this guy?”
“Sleep is for the weak, but food is fuel,” Faith replied.“I’m a fan of Rigoberto’s myself.They have excellent baked ziti if you want to stray from the typical pepperoni pie and breadsticks.”
Meyers chuckled.“I could go for some Ziti.Tell you what.We’ll let Prince William County handle the CSI stuff, and we’ll get back to the station and start brainstorming.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Faith replied.
The team started back for their cars.Meyers had renewed life in his step.Faith was grateful to have helped direct his frustration down a productive path, but despite the swagger she affected, she was far from confident.
The major connection between Iris and Mark were their dogs.The fact that Rebecca didn’t have a dog and had only been killed semi-adjacent to a dog park meant they had no connection other than that their lives had ended to a ceramic bullet fired from a gun carried by someone who used as little effort as possible to kill.
Whoever their killer was, he was as close to a perfect killer as Faith had ever encountered.
That made him one of the most terrifying killers she had ever faced.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Two slices of pizza and four cups of coffee later, and Faith was struggling to find a direction to go in.She had really been banking on the dog connection to lead them to their killer, but it had only led them to a crabby, nosy, but ultimately harmless neighbor.Prince William County had done a great job examining the scene and interviewing parkgoers, but they hadn’t discovered anything new.The gun was a .22 that fired ceramic bullets, the killer left behind footprints that indicated a size thirteen boot, and no one had seen anyone suspicious.
Well, they had learned one thing new.Prince William County had taken an impression of the boot print and determined that it belonged to the most popular discount boot brand in the United States.They guessed the pair was between three and five months old, which narrowed their suspect list down to twenty-one thousand and sixty-two people in the Greater D.C.area.Five thousand, five hundred fifty-three of them were within a margin of error of six-three and two hundred thirty pounds.
Faith had even run with that for a little while, trying to find out if any of those many had been in the vicinity of their victims during the time of the murders.Eventually, she had to admit there was no way to answer that question for sure.Washington and Arlington had traffic cameras that covered nearly every square inch of their city limits, but outside of those two major cities, there were wide stretches of highway, street, and land where anyone could disappear.
As late night crossed the Mendoza line to early morning, Meyers sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes.“Damn.I think I have to tap out.Sorry, everyone.I’m beat.I guess I can’t keep up like I used to.”
Faith didn’t blame him.He was twenty years older than she was, thirty years older than Jessica, and she doubted like hell he’d ever encountered a case that kept him up all night before.The high-profile murders happened in Washington, Arlington, and Baltimore, the big cities, not here in Quantico.Not in the small, affluent towns surrounding the big cities.
“You’re doing good,” Jessica offered helpfully.“Thank you for your help.”
Meyers offered the young agent a tired smile as he left the room.Turk took his departure as permission to sleep himself, and after a soft bark good night, he picked a corner of the room, circled twice, then lay with his head in between his paws and promptly fell asleep.
Jessica and Faith stared dejectedly at him for a moment.“Well, shit,” Jessica said.“Now what do we do?”
Faith shook her head.“Therehasto be a connection between our victims.”
“Does there?This isn’t an Ottis Toole and Henry Lee Lucas thing?”
