Chapter Nineteen #4
“Screens,” he said, and his techs began moving to block him and the body until he could ensure it was safe to move. They still had to check a few more things before he could do that.
He was to the point.
“I’ll get her into the morgue. I have a contact number from Greyson, so I’ll text you when I’m done with her autopsy.”
That worked for them.
Well, him.
His partner was lost in thought, and Gene knew he was working on the profile.
“Put a rush on it, Doc. If this person is dropping bodies this fast, it won’t be long before he does it again. I’d like to beat him to that,” he admitted.
The man was curious.
“How much time do you think you have?” Luis asked.
Ethan glanced over, proving he had been listening.
“Today,” he said. “Expect the next body today. His timeline will be the same as the others.”
Well, that was not something they wanted to hear, and for good reason.
Gene knew this was problematic since they still didn’t know what connected them. They were going to have to research the woman and hope they found that thread.
With each hour, it got more difficult to catch this person, and they all knew it.
Forty-eight hours were up.
As the team did its thing, Gene moved them over so they could talk.
He was curious.
It was time to ask questions, and since he had two people here who had recognized her, he wanted to start with them.
“Okay, so you have seen her before. Do you know her outside of seeing her at the courthouse?” he asked. “So, someone can give us more information on her?”
Both cops shook their heads on that one, and with that went his hope of staying ahead of this mess.
Damn.
“I’ve only seen her a handful of times,” Dannie admitted. “Mostly, I think she handled any kinds of litigation against the city. I heard our boss say something about handling a sexual harassment thing against the city.”
Gene was making notes.
“I’ve only spoken to her in passing,” Dannie admitted. “You know, walking past her in the courthouse.”
Yeah, he understood.
Gene hoped they could find something, and fast. From where his partner stood, Ethan was being very quiet. While that was normal for him, it wasn’t for the cops.
Clearly.
“Is he okay?” Leah asked.
Gene nodded.
“Yeah, with the word ‘liar’ burned into her tongue, he’s skimming through his rolodex of cuckoo to see how this applies to the ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ bullshit. This is part of his process.”
Well, that was good to know.
“We’re going to have to work fast,” Gene admitted. “I want to research the fuck out of Vina and see if we can figure out how they connect.”
That made sense.
Ethan finally spoke.
“Is there anyway you can procure us a conference room where we can do some work?” he asked Dannie. “If not, we’ll need to work out of our hotel room. I need to do some research on a few things that might tie this together.”
The man nodded.
“Sure can. Give me a second to make a call to our boss. He’ll clear it,” he offered, pulling out his phone.
Ethan stopped him.
“DO NOT SAY A WORD ABOUT HER IDENTITY,” he warned.
“If this gets out, he’ll know we’re right on his ass with the victim.
Those things the cop found were hidden for a reason.
This person doesn’t want to be caught with her things, and he wants to slow us down.
Oh, and I’m saying HE as a placeholder. The jury is still out,” he stated, staring at Leah.
To her credit, she said nothing.
“Got it,” Dannie offered.
Then, Ethan focused on the female detective.
“Can you get the cops to push the media back further, so they don’t get a view of the victim?” he asked Leah.
She nodded.
“Absolutely,” she said, jogging away.
When they were both gone, Gene was curious.
“How bad is it about to be?” he asked, knowing Ethan would have a general idea about what was about to go down.
He was honest.
“Unless we figure out a way to tie the victims together, we’re going to be bogged down in bodies. I wasn’t kidding about getting another one today. He’s moving fast for a reason.”
Gene was curious.
“Why?”
“They saw or did something. With the ‘liar’ burn on the latest victim’s tongue, that’s definitely a message to the victims, and anyone who is on his list. These women saw something and possibly lied about it. I just don’t know what yet.”
Well, they’d better get digging.
Because this had the possibility of blowing up around them, and that wasn’t good.
“I don’t like that the two cops recognized her, or that she worked at the courthouse,” Ethan admitted.
Gene let him talk.
“We have a teacher, a bartender, a sales associate, and now a lawyer. We had someone leak this to the media, and it could be the killer to fuck with us.”
Gene didn’t like that either.
“If it gets out, the ME just left, and he was here for the name. He’d totally bone us.”
Oh, Ethan was well aware.
“I really think that this person has DID, and might not know what they are doing, or might be helping for some reason. This is too organized for someone completely out of control. The main personality might be leaving us clues, like the photos on the mirrors, and that bag of evidence.”
Gene was hoping that was the case. They really needed all the help they could get.
That being said…
Gene had to go there.
“Do you have the gender yet?”
He shook his head.
“No, because all four victims were small. A normal sized woman in good shape could have carried them. The first three weren’t dumped far from the road, and the snow could have covered drag marks.
The city ME said there was no sexual assault.
A knife isn’t a weapon a woman chooses. It’s bouncing back and forth. ”
That was problematic. It was officially day two, and by now, he’d have at least a gender tied to this.
“Can you guess?”
Ethan stared at him like he lost his goddamn mind.
“Guess?” he asked, horrified. “Knowing me as long as you’ve known me, have you ever seen me ‘guess’?” he asked.
Gene would have laughed had this not been so damn serious.
“Okay, well, I’ll take that as a no,” he stated. “What do we do?” Gene asked.
There was only one answer.
They had to stay ahead of this.
“We need to dig into Vina’s life, and fast. We also need to figure out what the messages he’s leaving means.
The liar thing on the tongue has to connect.
I just need some time to work through this.
If need be, I’ll call Greyson and have him search the FBI databases for killings like this.
If it’s not the skinning, maybe it’s the other message the killer is sending. ”
They might need to do that.
Gene was honest, and he kept his voice incredibly low.
“I’m twitchy about them knowing the victim,” he whispered, making sure only Ethan heard him. “I know they are clean, and Dannie was helpful, but the media got to this scene fast tonight. They were here right after us.”
He was aware.
“If we don’t lock this down, something is going to get out, and we’re going to be the ones skinned next—by Greyson and Gabe.”
Ethan didn’t doubt that.
When the shit hit the fan, it would hit them first.
“I don’t want to have to do a media interview, other than the quick one I did outside The Tipsy Easel’,” Gene admitted. “It was bullshit. The next one won’t be.”
Yeah, him either.
“So, let’s divide and conquer,” he offered.
“Vina’s house needs to be checked. We have to figure out where she was taken from, so let’s use them.
That way, we can go over the information.
I don’t want too much being filtered back to their boss.
We’re going to have to lock them down so they don’t run their mouths or report in. ”
Gene lifted a brow.
“I thought you said that Dannie found out it was their boss. Could he have lied?”
He nodded.
“Yeah, that’s possible. I mean, it also could be the ME. The homicide captain wants to keep his job, and he feels like the kind of dude who would want to protect it over any victims. The two detectives could be pissy we took over. The options are limitless now.”
Gene didn’t like that.
Not.
At.
All.
“The ME doesn’t like us. Could he have bailed this morning because he’s avoiding us because he’s involved? We thought that this person knows forensics, and the dude hates his job.”
Ethan didn’t know yet.
“That gives us a list of cops. On it, there would be the homicide captain, the two detectives, and the ME.”
Gene was feeling queasy, and he didn’t think it was the pain meds wearing off.
His partner saw his face.
“Are they involved? I don’t think so,” Ethan admitted, “but when you add in the fact that we don’t have shit… let’s just say that I don’t trust anyone but us.”
Gene wanted to make sure they kept this buttoned up, so no information was leaked.
It was time to be proactive. So, he headed over to their ME, and was stopped.
“It’s not morning yet, Agent,” Luis admitted. “I don’t have anything more to give you.”
He could slow his roll.
“I’m not here for that, Doc. I need you to make sure you lock down the information.
I don’t want anyone from this city to see what you find but us.
We think we have a leak issue, and worse yet, it might be someone who knows forensics.
These bodies are being dumped and handled in a way that makes us both suspicious. ”
He lifted a brow.
“Including the city ME?” he asked.
He nodded.
“Someone called those reporters, and while we think we know who it is, the ME left, and the media showed up minutes later. He hates our guts. Could it be a beat cop? Yes, but we can’t risk the killer hears something that clues him or her in that we’re onto them.”
He got it.
“I’ll lock it down, and write up my findings, not dictate them,” he offered.
Gene was grateful.
“We’re going to be at the precinct, the next building over from the morgue. Ethan needs to work on the profile, and we have to research Vina.”
He was good with that.
“Okay, Agent. See you in a few hours. Hopefully, I can give you what you need.”
Oh, Gene hoped so.