“But he was open about his beliefs?”
“Yes, very much so.”
I shove my parcels back in my purse. “Thanks, Lyra. And I’m sorry for your loss.” Before she can ask another question, I turn around and hurry out of the store, needing to get back to the station.
I think I just found my connection.
11
“Captain Harris?” I say, knocking on the doorframe to his office. The door is open, and it looks like he’s ready to head home for the day.
“Come in, Detective.” He looks up, lines of stress visible around his eyes. After the vampire murders, another occult-killer is a PR nightmare, as well as an actual nightmare for anyone who’s, well, alive. Though this time I know the victims aren’t randomly grabbed for fresh food.
I cross the office and stop next to his desk. “I found a connection between our victims. I think we’re looking at hate crimes.”
The captain straightens in his chair. “Hate crimes?”
“Yes. Both victims identified as Wiccan.”
Captain Harris leans back, nodding. “Go on.”
“The crime scenes were set up to look like some sort of sacrifice went on, as if someone who believes in the occult is responsible. The scenes were meant to shock and scare whoever found the bodies. The first victim was set up at a church, like something right out of a movie. And I believe the killer wanted to do the same with the second victim, but wasn’t expecting a fight.”
“He was hoping to kidnap him.”
“Right. And take him out the back, but once he realized the back door needed a code to enter, he had to finish what he started.”
Captain Harris nods. “The boy could have identified him. So why not make it look like a robbery gone wrong?”
“I wondered the same thing, and I believe the killer is fixated on sending the message and has carefully chosen his victims.”
“They want to frame someone with opposing beliefs.”
“Exactly. If the public were to believe there’s someone out there kidnapping innocent victims off the street to sacrifice to the devil, there’d be a movement against anyone who believes in anything remotely close to that. But the killer has made several mistakes that make it obvious it’s a setup.”
“The symbols?” he asks, having sat in on my meeting previously.
“Yes.” I open a folder and set it down on the desk. “I have a list of religions and belief systems with documented cases of human sacrifice, and none of them use the symbols painted on the walls at the crime scene.”
The captain slides the file in front of him, looking at the list.
“Both crime scenes had the same symbols drawn on the walls, and they’re from different religions representing very different things. And none have ever been tied to human sacrifice.”
“You think this is compelling enough to label it a hate crime?”
“Yes. If the murders were done by a mentally ill individual who really thought they were appeasing some sort of demon, then why arrange the bodies post-mortem? If they really believed the murders had meaning, the last one wouldn’t have been done in haste at a coffee shop.”
The captain’s lips curve into a smile. “I agree. Let’s catch this asshole before anyone else is killed.”
* * *
The smellof tacos fills the house, and the TV echoes into the foyer. Hasan and Gilbert are in the living room watchingStar Wars, and hardly look away from the TV to greet me as I walk through.
Thomas and Jacques are in the kitchen, bickering like an old married couple about how to make Spanish rice. I stand in the threshold of the kitchen, watching with amusement before stepping in.
“You guys do know I have a box in the pantry, right? You just dump in the package of spices and you’re done.”
Jacques looks down at the phone on the counter. “This says homemade is better.”
