Chapter 12 #3
“It’s true,” Thruppy interjected before the matter could escalate. “I do think better in pictures. I’ve got one right here.”
He pulled up a map on his screen, where three points of interest were marked with notes.
“Lexington, Kentucky: two familiars found dead in Lexington Cemetery. Cincinnati, Ohio: five familiars found dead in Spring Grove Cemetery. Huntington, West Virginia: home of vamp headquarters. And if anyone’s wondering, Huntington is two hours and change from both Lexington and Cincinnati.
” Having proved his point, Thruppy changed gears.
“As for the footage from the last fang ceremony, it’s been requested.
Not yet in hand. The vamps are locating the footage then sending it over.
Apparently, they have a lot of tapes. Not all organized. ”
I highly doubted Lenore’s tapes were not ‘organized.’ But what reason would she have to withhold, unless—
“You want to know if anti-vamp groups were also at the fang ceremony in Lexington.” Jack latched onto my thought process from earlier.
When I nodded, still fanning my face with the takeout menu, he turned his attention to Fawzy.
“Were you able to dig anything up with Lexington PD on the two deaths Jezebel reported?”
“Not much. Lexington PD was not easy to work with.” Fawzy walked over to a briefcase and began rooting through it.
While the room’s attentions were pinned on Fawzy, I placed the menu back on the coffee table, using it to cover my hand as I palmed Zhou’s cellphone.
“I spent five hours on the phone and was passed around to more officers and administrators than I could count. When that didn’t get me anywhere, I flashed my badge down there this morning.
I drove over three hours roundtrip, and the only thing I have to show for it is this.
” Fawzy pulled out a manilla envelope and shook it.
“The police and coroner reports. They don’t show much, but they do confirm that both victims had bite marks on their necks, their bodies were found in the cemetery, and both died from cardiac arrest.”
Jack accepted the envelope and pulled out the file. “Modus operandi’s the same then. And only a year ago?”
“A little less. Eleven months.” Fawzy moved to sit on the edge of the nearest bed.
“Lexington PD also labelled the case a double suicide. The coroner found evidence of sustained cocaine use. And because both victims died from a heart attack, the coroner presumed the consumption was intentional. Meant to induce overdose so their deaths looked suspicious. Lexington PD didn’t want to sensationalize the victims’ deaths, or draw too much attention from the community, so, nothing made it to the press.
They called it an ‘attention-seeking gesture meant to spark interest from the public’. Internally, of course.”
“What’s your take, Fawzy?” Jack flipped through the file, landing on the coroner’s report.
“People saw something they couldn’t explain, they didn’t want it to become a media circus, so they blamed the cocaine and didn’t look any further.”
When it came to drawing conclusions, people taking the easy route was nothing new, but this didn’t add up. “Heart attacks, at the same time, from drugs? Does that sound right to you.”
“Simultaneous cardiac arrest from cocaine is highly unlikely.” Fawzy flipped the hair from her face. “Though not unheard of.”
“It sounds convenient.”
To my surprise, both Zhou and Thruppy agreed with me.
“They’d been dead a day and subject to the elements.
” While Fawzy spoke, I moved to read what I could of the coroner’s report over Jack’s shoulder.
“And it was a hotter than normal start to summer, which means decomposition progressed a lot faster. The coroner in Lexington may not have been thorough, but they were also working with less-than-ideal conditions.”
Skimming through the report, something struck me as odd. “They didn’t check for excess adrenaline?”
“It’s not that common. But even if the coroner had checked for excess adrenaline, their levels would have been elevated. Cocaine produces an adrenal response, so any results would have been tied back to the victims’ drug use.”
“But the deaths… The situation is nearly identical to the deaths here.” My mind churned, the pieces coming together. “And there was no evidence of cocaine use in the victims found here, in Spring Grove. Correct?”
“You are correct.”
We were onto something.
And because we were onto something, I’d been so wrapped up in my train-of-thought, I almost forgot to slip Zhou’s phone alongside Thruppy’s FBI badge into Jack’s pocket, replacing his wallet.
Almost.
“So, as far as we know, the murders started with the two familiars in Lexington nearly a year ago, then escalated to the five murders that occurred here in the last few days.” Thruppy studied his annotated map. “Why Lexington? Why Cincinnati? And why not Huntington?”
“Lenore’s territory is mostly in the Northeast, and some of the Midwest.” Yes, my knowledge of Lenore’s domain surprised even me.
“And the vamp events move. Most weekends there’s a gathering held in Huntington.
There’s usually at least one more happening the same weekend in another city.
But fang ceremonies are a big spectacle.
They happen maybe once or twice each year, it’s word of mouth only, and the locations aren’t announced until a few days before. ”
Okay, perhaps I’d retained more of my vamp knowledge from the Daemonica case than I’d first thought.
“With the bite marks on the victim’s necks, almost a year between the murders, and no suspicious deaths occurring in Huntington, my bet is the deaths occurred in Lexington and Cincinnati because they were the locations of the most recent fang ceremonies.
We need to get the list of locations and dates—”
“Already on it.” Zhou leaned back, kicking her feet onto the coffee table, pulling a laptop out from a backpack beside the couch.
“I’ve been looking at the attendance records for the last year’s worth of gatherings and ceremonies, flagging names and people who attended when the victims did.
And you’re right. Lexington and Cincinnati were where the two most recent fang ceremonies were held. ”
Reveling in the fact that Zhou had just admitted I was right, Jack closed the file and directed his next question to me. “Do you think a member of Lenore’s club is responsible for this?”
From what Todd and I had gathered from our night in the vamp warehouse it didn’t seem likely.
It didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. Just not probable.
There were other pieces, however, that drew my attention.
A recurring narrative from last night that stood out, from both Lenore and Carmen, even if that hadn’t been their intent.
“Lenore and the other vamps didn’t seem to think so. Though there seems to be a lot of outside pressure on the vamps. A lot of people who don’t like the vamp way of life.”
Zhou looked like she drank a shot glass’ worth of lime juice. “Can you blame them?”
No. No, I couldn’t. Not when an outsider would see the vamps and their familiars as dangerous deviants, and not the inclusion and belonging that was as tied to vamp culture as sex and fangs. Which gave me a thought—
“Do we know which events had garlic shipments or crosses?”
Both Zhou and Thruppy responded with, “Not yet.”
“You think someone opposed to the vampires killed the familiars?”
“I think,” I ran a hand over my neck, over the bruise left by Carmen, “people get so hung up on differences they start to fear the unknown. And that fear has many different outlets. Some of which are violent.”
“But why go for the familiars? Why not kill the vamps?”
Familiars were being killed after fang ceremonies.
They went missing for a day before being placed in the cemeteries where they were found…
Which meant they were being kept somewhere.
And I’d put my money—and Jack’s since I was now in possession of his wallet—on adrenaline being part of the picture.
Fuck.
I had an idea. More of a hunch, really. But for that… I’d need to go to the cemetery.
Before sunrise.
“All this vampire talk is giving me a headache.” Fawzy rubbed her temples. “If I’m going to be of use, I’m going to need food.”
“We’re all going to need food,” Jack traded the police reports for the menu on the table. “Everyone good with this?”
“Sure, I’ll call it in.” Zhou took her feet off the coffee table and palmed the tabletop in search of her phone, but came up empty.
My cue to leave.
Careful not to move fast enough to draw attention, I crossed the room towards the exit.
“Wait—where’s my phone?” Zhou searched the couch cushions. “It was literally right here.”
“Here, I’ll give it a call.” Thruppy offered, lifting his phone to his ear, Fawzy’s watch glistened beautifully on his wrist.
“Thruppy? Why are you wearing my watch?”
Thruppy spotted the watch, just as Zhou’s phone began to ring from Jack’s pocket. The one where his wallet was most definitely missing.
My escape only a few steps away, I fought back my smile.
“What the hell is going on?”
I began slipping out the door.
“Delilah…”
Now, I really couldn’t hold back the grin on my face, as I shot Jack a winning glance over my shoulder. “Ta ta for now!”
“Delilah...”
I kept on smiling as the door clicked shut behind me.
When no one came to stop me, I padded down the carpeted corridor to my hotel room, feeling an unbridled happiness I hadn’t felt in years. Like a child who’d gotten away with staying up way past their bed time.
I mean, who could blame me? I just messed with a room full of FBI agents and got off scot-free.
Okay, I was starting to get why Zhou disliked me…