Polly was basically unharmed. She had a few scratches and bruises, and emotionally she was a mess, but she was alive with no serious physical injuries, and that was what mattered. Sarah had spent the last several hours at the hospital with her, Kale, and his family. Sarah had to admit that the community support had been something to see.
The Conner family treated her as if she was one of them.
That had felt surreal, still did.
She should be gone by now. But some part of her needed to see how this played out. For Matilda. For all involved.
Would anyone in this room pay attention to what Sarah had told them despite the revelations in Polly’s statement? Time to find out.
“As you all know,” the chief began, “Polly Conner is, thankfully, safe with her family.” A round of applause and cheers broke out across the room. Those closest to Kale gave him a pat on the back or a hug. The chief held up his hands to quiet the ruckus. “We’re all happier about that than any words can say.”
Sarah was immensely happy, too, but there was a killer still out there. Get on with it, Chief.
“Our job now,” he finally continued, “is to find this devil before he can grab another of our children.”
Devil. The word reverberated through Sarah. Matilda had called the person responsible for the murders the devil. So had Polly, but she’d likely picked that up from Matilda. According to Polly, Matilda was supposed to have met her at the gym last night. So far Matilda was nowhere to be found.
Exactly why they had to get on with this. Another of their children could be missing already. Matilda Calder. Or did no one here consider her one of their own?
“We’ve learned from Polly that the unknown subject, as Agent August here would call him”—the chief sent a nod of acknowledgment toward the fed—“is definitely male. The unknown subject indicated that he was releasing Polly because he was replacing her with a fraud. That means he still has names on his list.”
Sarah resisted the impulse to shake her head. The unsub’s decision to release Polly wasn’t so cut-and-dried. The roses had been delivered. She was supposed to be dead.
Something had changed in the strategy. Did no one see that? Sarah knew killers as well as anyone in this room, better than most. Repeat killers didn’t just change their minds and let victims go free. Polly’s release was part of the strategy. They just didn’t know what part yet.
August stepped forward. Sarah suppressed another urge, this one to roll her eyes. It would be thoroughly uninteresting to hear what he had to say.
“Our unsub is male, as we’ve confirmed; he’s left basically no evidence.”
Sarah’s mouth gaped. What the hell? What about the boot print or the bleach, not to mention the damned drug? She shifted, unable to curb the need.
Kale glanced at her; she kept her attention focused straight ahead. She didn’t want to miss a word of what this idiot had to say.
“I believe the minor trace evidence we’d found so far is nothing more than a ruse to keep us guessing.”
This was outrageous. She crossed her arms over her chest, hoped like hell August noticed the disbelief written all over her face.
He called off a list of names of those who would begin a second sweep, now that it was daylight, of the area where Polly was found. A villager on his way home from a second-shift job had picked her up on the side of the road. August and the chief were going to re-interview certain persons of interest. Half a dozen other deputies were assigned the task of continuing to screen calls. Hundreds of tips had come in during the past couple of days. Devil sightings. Those who’d seen the two dead girls roaming the cliffs. And plenty of others who just wanted to turn in the name of someone they were currently pissed at. The usual. But there was always the chance that something real would come in.
When the chief dismissed the group, Sarah made her way against the tide of those exiting to get to August.
She breached his personal space and demanded, “Are you serious? You’re disregarding the evidence and going with this theory?”
He shouldered into his fancy trench coat. “Sarah, the girl said a man abducted her. We don’t need to waste time looking for a woman when the evidence to suggest a woman was involved is circumstantial to say the least. And, most likely, is, as I said, a ruse to throw us off his scent.”
“Circumstantial?” What the hell? “I gave you the boot. You have the impression of the print found. Are you saying they didn’t match? This is no ruse, Lex.”
“That imprint was found in a public place. The comparison between the boot you brought in and the imprint taken at the scene is inconclusive. Besides, there’s no proof it was made by the unsub. The boots”—he tugged on his gloves—“are a common brand in this area. How many women do you suppose have those boots lying in their mudrooms?”
She wanted to punch the hell out of him. “What about the drug?” There were only three women in the immediate area who’d been prescribed that drug; one of those just happened to own the boots Sarah had left with August.
“Drugs like that can be ordered on the internet.” August tugged a woolly cap in place. “You know that as well as I do. We’re attempting to trace down shipments to this area. Anyone could have ordered it from Mexico or Canada. Again, that may be part of the game. Our unsub may want suspicion cast on someone in particular. Like Lynda Pope. Maybe someone is jealous of her. Have you considered that theory, or are you simply going with your gut the way you always do?”
“Damn straight I’m going with my gut.” That was the one thing she’d always been able to trust. Sarah understood the number of potential theories here. Absolutely. She also understood perfectly that, just like before, Lex had made his decision and he wasn’t changing it.
Unless he was wrong.
Then he’d snag someone else’s theory and pretend that was the one he’d really been following all along.
