Page 19 of So Bleak

“Personal one?”

“Anyone who could have known both victims, even tangentially. You and I both know that even a passing interaction with the right psychopath can cause them to spiral into violence.”

"Yes. Yes, I do. All right. I’ll get started. Mind if I crash on your couch?”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Ellie’s not going to be concerned about you sleeping over when you’re five minutes from your house?”

“If I go home, I won’t get any work done. Besides, she doesn’t hate you anymore.”

“That’s nice to know,” Faith said drily.

“Well, you’re a charming person when you’re not falsely accusing her of being the Copycat Donkey Killer.”

“Thank you so much for bringing that up.”

“I’m just saying, she’s not pissed at you anymore. And I really won’t get any work done if I go home to her.”

She smiled at him. “You’re so cute when you’re in love.”

“It’s the bees’ knees.” Faith grinned, and he said, “Make fun of me later. Work now.”

Faith laughed and said, “As you command, my lord.”

Michael grimaced. “Just say atta girl next time.”

Faith laughed again and stood. “You want the rest of my sandwich? I’m going to prowl our victims’ social media accounts and see if I can find anything.”

“Why do you even ask? You know I want the rest of your sandwich.”

She set the half-eaten club in front of him. “Enjoy.”

“That’s not what it’s about but thank you.”

She chuckled and headed to her desk to work. As she booted up her desktop, it occurred to her that despite the fact that this case seemed every bit as challenging as past cases, she wasn’t nearly so stressed over it. With the weight of Franklin West off of her back, she was able to take these challenges in stride.

She’d have to be careful not to let that calm make her ineffective. The last thing she needed was to be so relaxed that she let something slip through the cracks and allowed a serial killer to murder again.

CHAPTER EIGHT

It was odd the things people didn't notice. A person might eat liver and notice none of the earthy bitterness of the meat, but a whiff of liquor from a drink several tables away would make that same person nauseous. A person walking in the forest could become enraptured by birdsong and not notice the chuffing of the bear rushing to attack them.

The killer made it his business to notice everything. He had to. Killing people wasn't an easy task, and killing them in the manner the killer had chosen was beyond painstaking. The poison took four hours to act, and ensuring that it acted at the precise moment the killer wanted meant understanding his victims’ schedules to a tee.

Fortunately, the killer’s victims made it easy. As professionals, they announced their schedules via social media announcements and sometimes even had dates posted on their websites. Grimes was a little more difficult as the only one of the victims who didn’t announce his schedule, but he was utterly predictable, nonetheless. The killer didn’t know exactly which restaurant he’d eat at, but Grimes ate his dinner at the same time every night, and he always ate it at a restaurant.

Besides knowing the victims, the killer also needed to know the poison precisely. Because so little was needed, only a fraction of a gram, it was critical to ensure that only the exact amounts were taken. It wasn’t really the potency that mattered, but the potential for identification. This poison was unique, but not especially so. The more left behind in the victims’ bodies, the more likely some brilliant young lab technician was to make the connection.

The killer couldn’t risk that. A person might walk into the house now and see all the signs that should tell them exactly what the killer was doing but would likely not notice that anything was amiss.

For now. If they were able to identify the poison, then the killer would be in grave danger.

So the killer had to be careful.

Not that the killer could imagine anyone being careless with these ingredients. No, when it came to their own lives, people were very careful, at least when they knew they were in danger.

When it came to the lives of others, however, people were callous.

The killer looked on the wall at the news clippings with portions highlighted in green.

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