Page 52 of The Cruelty of Thorns

I opened my mouth to question her further when my phone rang. I dug it out of my purse and looked at the screen, wondering who would be calling me, then I saw it was Kristin.

“What’s up?” I asked when I answered.

“I don’t know if I should tell you this or not, considering where you are and why–”

I didn’t have the patience for Kristin’s games today. “Just tell me.”

“Okay,” she sighed. “They found a body on campus this morning.”

“A body?”

Lisa and Toby looked at me questioningly. “It’s Kristin,” I mouthed to them.

“Put it on speaker,” Toby insisted.

“I’m putting you on speaker,” I told Kristin. “What’s this about a body?”

“She was a student; don’t know her name. Jack and Renee found her and Jack called the cops. Renee is pretty shaken up. The police aren’t saying much, but Jack said the girl’s clothes were ripped off like she had been raped. And there was a bloody wound on her neck.”

Raped? A wound on her neck? The room suddenly seemed to be spinning as all the things I had been wondering about hit me at once. First assault, now murder? What was going on here?

“You say they found the body?” Toby asked.

“Yeah. When we didn’t go to the lake, Renee and Jack headed around back of the campus for some…privacy.”

“Renee and Jack are together?” Lisa asked.

I didn’t care about people’s hook ups. “Where was the body?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation on topic.

“Behind the Admin building, right by the path. Whoever did it didn’t even try to hide it. And it gets weirder. There was something left on her chest.”

“What?” Toby asked.

“A single red rose.”

“A rose?” I asked. “What does that even mean?”

“A signature,” Toby replied.

I looked at him, not liking the way that sounded. “What kind of signature?”

“Serial killers sometime leave clues behind to taunt the police.”

“Serial killers? You don’t think…?” I couldn’t even bring myself to say it.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe there have been other murders around town we don’t know about, maybe this is the first. Hey Kristin?”

“Yeah?”

“Is Jack around?”

“He took Renee back to her room. Why?”

“Never mind. I’ll call him myself.”

“How’s Ron?” Kristin asked, changing the subject.

“It’s still touch and go,” I replied. “They’re giving him blood, and supposed to be moving him to a room in a little bit.”

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