Chapter 34
THIRTY-FOUR
Excitement and anticipation shivered through Jenna as she waited with Kane in the outer room of the DA’s office.
She couldn’t sit still and paced up and down, much to the annoyance of the secretary sitting behind the desk.
They’d handed over all the evidence they’d collected from Dr. Lionel Graves’ house, but they’d annoyed the DA by not seizing the computer and the trophies Jenna had discovered.
When she’d explained that they’d left everything behind, apart from the samples of trophies she’d collected, to make sure Graves would be there when they went to arrest him, the DA reluctantly agreed with her plan.
Moments later the office door opened and the county prosecutor waved them inside.
“You have no idea if Graves is still in his residence.” The DA sat behind his desk, towering his fingers. “Why didn’t you hunt him down after the welfare check?”
Jenna leaned both hands on his desk and stared at him.
“It’s a matter of priorities. He has an outside chance of being the killer, and we’re only here as he falls into the person-of-interest category because he was working with kids and social workers at one time.
We are aware Graves has child pornography on his computer.
No child is at risk at this time. I have a serial killer in town and that is my priority.
Two murders in the same number of days means that a third is on the way.
My experience in psychopaths tells me we need to apprehend this man before he murders again.
This is why we allowed Graves to escape, and by leaving his house untouched and placing a tracker on his vehicle, we can assume he returned to his house.
At first, he likely figured we were there to question him about the pornography.
If he believes that we didn’t enter the house, he will likely think he is home free and we came by for another reason—which in fact we did.
His vehicle hasn’t moved since we went to see him.
I have no reason to believe that he isn’t at home right now. ”
“This is why we took a portion of his trophies and I downloaded a copy of his hard drive.” Kane stood with feet apart and hands loose at his sides.
“If he decided to destroy evidence, we have copies and many photographs. It doesn’t matter what he decides to do, we have enough evidence to take him down.
” He heaved a sigh. “My question to you is, why the delay in the arrest warrant? We did everything by the book and I have FBI and deputies waiting to arrest him. All we need is the warrant from you, and Graves will be in County before supper.”
“And if he’s escaped”—the DA looked from one to the other—“we’ve allowed a predator to run free.”
At the end of her rope, Jenna threw her hands in the air. “The longer we stand around discussing this, the more time he has to escape. Do we get the arrest warrant or should I get back to hunting down serial killers?”
“You may have your warrant.” The DA signed a document on the desk in front of him. “Call me the moment you have him in custody. I have a van standing by to take him directly to County.” He pointed a finger at Jenna. “Next time, collect all the evidence.”
The DA’s attitude toward her stung. She always insisted on following procedure to the letter.
Someone like Graves wouldn’t be able to disappear.
From what she’d seen in his bathroom, his dependence on medication would take him back to the house.
He wouldn’t be able to walk miles in the snow, so the chances of him returning to the house once he’d seen they’d left were high.
He had only one vehicle, so if he did return and decide to run, they would have been able to track him.
Getting back to catching a serial killer had been her priority and she believed she’d made the right choice.
They had the evidence and now an arrest warrant.
Once they had Graves in custody, the FBI would be all over his house.
Likely his computer would be given to Beth and she would dive deep and discover if he had any contacts and then they would take it from there.
After today, the case would be out of her hands and she would be glad to be rid of it.
They hurried back to the office, and minutes later Beth, Styles, Carter, Raven, and Rio headed to Graves’ home.
The man’s vehicle remained parked in the same position and hadn’t moved since they were last there.
Carter and Styles headed around the back.
Kane and Raven went to the front door and knocked.
Jenna stood to one side with Beth and Rio. “Sheriff’s department.”
Nothing.
Jenna pressed her com. “Anything happening round the back of the house, Carter?”
“Nope, the door is open. There is a wet puddle just inside. I figure snow has been getting in for a time.”
Turning to Raven and Rio, Jenna indicated toward the front door. “Watch the door, we’ll head round back.”
Following Kane, Jenna waded through the thick snow to the back of the house, with Beth at her side. She stared at the open door. “I wonder if he came back. Maybe he froze to death in the snow.”
“Now that would make my day.” Carter grinned at her. “No paperwork.”
“Let’s check it out.” Kane pulled his weapon and stepped inside.
Carter went next, followed by Styles and Jenna and Beth.
They kept their backs to the wall. Ahead as they neared the office, she heard someone whistle.
As she reached the office door, Carter looked at her shaking his head.
No one said a word. As the men parted, her gaze rested on a man slumped in an office chair, with a tarot card stapled to his forehead.
Staring in disbelief Jenna circled the desk.
The handle of an ornate paper knife protruded from the man’s neck, just below the skull. “Is he dead?”
“Oh, yeah.” Styles shook his head. “I’d say the knife cut his brainstem. I suggest we all get out of here before we contaminate the scene.”
“The Tarot Killer strikes again.” Carter stared at the body with a look of incredulity on his face. “How did he know about this guy?”
“How does he know about any of the people he kills?” Beth folded her arms across her chest. “I’m going to request this creep’s computer.
This guy is a small cog in a big wheel. I figure he’ll lead us to other creeps just like him.
Let’s get out of here. I can’t stand looking at him for a moment longer.
” She turned on her heel and headed along the hallway.
Jenna looked at Kane. “I’ll call the DA and give him the news. Can you call Wolfe? We’ll wait for him to arrive.”
“Sure.” Kane gave Jenna a long look and then squeezed her shoulder. “He’s not gonna hurt anyone anymore.” He pulled out his phone and ushered her toward the door. “Come on, we can wait outside.”
Outside a cold wind buffeted Jenna as she made the call to the DA to explain what had happened.
“No, I don’t have any idea what time this happened.
The back door of the house is wide open and inside the temperature is close to freezing.
I would say the time of death is going to be difficult to determine.
I’m sure Dr. Wolfe will contact you as soon as he is able to make a determination. ”
“As this case concerns child pornography, the FBI will be taking over the investigation from this point in time. As you have agents on the ground, I will be contacting the local director to advise them to collect the evidence. I want you there to oversee everything. Unless you have someone to arrest in the homicide cases, make this your current priority.” He disconnected.
Sighing, Jenna headed toward the Beast. Beth fell in step beside her and she glanced at her. “Why don’t you climb into the back of our truck and give me a rundown on the interview with Ethan Rourke?” She pulled open the door and slipped into the passenger seat, turning to speak to Beth.
“I have the interview on my phone. Rourke knows both of the women. Well, let’s say he’s met Ellie McBride, when he worked at the school, and was contacted by Laney Prescott for a home security system but hasn’t met her.
He mentioned being snowed under with his current job but planned to swing by her place sometime this week.
” Beth shook her head. “I seem to see serial killers in everyone and for this reason I’ll be checking his alibis for around the times of the murders. ”
A shiver slid down Jenna’s back and she nodded. “Yeah, I understand. A serial killer could be sitting right next to you and you’d never know.”
“Exactly.” Beth removed her black wool hat, tidied her long blonde hair, and pulled it back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck before replacing her hat.
“I don’t plan to leave any stone unturned.
Although after listening to the other two interviews, those suspects look more viable.
When you look at someone like Sean Jones, the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that he wanted to live with his father but ended up with his mother, who died after a short illness.
To me, this is a red flag because it’s more likely he killed his mother or caused the illness.
In his mind he would have been removing an obstacle that allowed him to be with his father.
The huge trigger for him came when his father rejected him and put him in foster care.
All that anger building up for years, he may have kept it contained while growing but maybe something triggered him recently.
Bad memories can creep up on people even if they aren’t psychopaths and cause mental issues. ”
Jenna agreed with everything she said. “Yeah, and the way he killed the cat is much the same as what’s happening now.
” She thought for a beat. “I found Caleb Dorsey a little creepy. There’s something about him sneaking around the school at night and hanging around Ellie McBride’s vehicle.
The fact he keeps old school photographs makes me wonder whether he has an ax to grind with someone.
He’s another one who’s interacted with both of the victims recently.
” Jenna tapped her bottom lip. “The problem is it’s all circumstantial evidence.
Unlike here, where we walk in and discover enough evidence to send someone to prison for the rest of their lives, essentially we have nothing really to go on apart from our hunches.
I’ll be interested to know what you find on Ethan Rourke and if he has been manipulating any data to use as an alibi.
To be honest, my money is on Jones. The moment I get back to the office I’m going to ask Kalo to do a more in-depth background check on him.
There’s something about him I just can’t grasp.
It’s as if I know it’s there and just can’t reach it. ”
“The one thing I do know”—Beth leaned back in the seat and sighed—“he’s going to kill again very soon.
Interviewing him won’t stop him. He believes he’s gotten away with the first two.
I’ll be interested to see if he kills another professional.
If he does, it will make it so much easier to discover our killer.
People interacting with the same two murdered people in a town the size of Black Rock Falls wouldn’t be too unusual, but three dead women isn’t a coincidence.
It’s a big neon sign that points to the killer. ”