Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Kain
After driving Eva home and calling Detective McNally, I returned to my office where Godfrey, Timber, and Hudson had gathered around the conference table with their boxes.
I took a box cutter and opened my package, pulling out a rectangular metal box. I lifted the lid, and my stomach lurched at the sight of human skin with a tattoo of a cross made by two single rose stems, one vertical and one horizontal—Hawthorne’s logo.
Was this what Eva saw on the man at the hotel?
“What’s in your boxes?” I asked the boys.
“A heart.” Godfrey tapped his box.
“A liver,” Hudson said.
“A kidney.” Timber stared at his box. “What the fuck is going on?”
“He’s escalating,” Godfrey said. “Aside from these organs, a body was dropped off in Etched Square—our property. That’s a message to us.” He clenched his fists. “The fucker knows us.”
“I spoke to Detective McNally, and he said the body that was dropped off was not a real corpse. The fake corpse held a note with the name Malory Evans. He received an anonymous tip telling him to go to Mass General Hospital where her actual corpse would be.”
“That doesn’t seem like the MO of the Bleeding Hearts Killer or the Black Rose Killer,” Hudson said. “None of them used a dummy.”
“Maybe the fake corpse was used to alert us and the public, and the real body was sent to the hospital for proper treatment.” Timber scratched his chin. “Seems like the person cares about the body.”
“A killer wouldn’t kill someone and then take the extra step to deliver the dead body to a hospital. Too much work. Too many opportunities where he could be caught.”
“Yeah, something’s off there. I’ll touch base with the detective later. We’ll focus on the body parts. We need to send them out for DNA testing. Maybe it’ll match someone in the database. Maybe the criminal left his DNA on the packages,” I said. “Everything needs to be tested.”
“I’ll have my team review all the cameras in the area.” Godfrey’s jaw tightened. “Someone had to drive the body here to dump it.”
“He used a delivery service specializing in this area.” Timber crossed his arms. “I’ll see what I can find out from their office.”
I shared my discovery about Anastasia Masterson and Noah Loomer’s connection to the bodies Hawthorne had extracted organs from. I also briefed them on Senator Falcone’s niece.
“It’s like we’re looking at a massive puzzle, but the elites are holding a critical piece.” Hudson shoved an impatient hand through his dark hair.
“Most people would consider us elites too,” Godfrey said. “We have the resources they have.”
“But they didn’t go through hell like we did,” Hudson scoffed. “We made our money. We can always rebuild if something goes wrong, but nepo babies don’t know how.”
“I’m seeing Senator Falcone soon.” Pressure tightened around my temples. “Maybe he has useful information for us.”
I debated sharing my suspicion about Eva’s grandfather but held off until I could confirm everything. So many things were happening all at once. It was as though the enemy created a tornado of chaos to confuse and distract us from the truth. I needed the boys to stay focused.
“We need to look into the members of Hawthorne’s crew,” I said. “My gut tells me some from the Sturbridge location are still alive.”
“His network was too wide and complex,” Hudson said. “We can only search for those we knew back then.”
“It’s a start.” Godfrey’s brow creased. “Our suspect is likely someone from this state.”
“Put any info you find on the shared drive for everyone to see.” Timber looked around the table, and everyone nodded.
When they left, I popped two painkillers into my mouth and pinned the new images and information to my investigation board.