Page 101 of Obsession

“Yeah, I remember the Hinckley case. He shot a president, trying to impress Foster.” She tapped the files. “You think that might be what happened here?”

He sighed. “Possibly. These cases aren’t a perfect fit, but I think I’ll see what else I can learn about them.”

“But if someone was in love with Emma, why would they shoot at her? Twice?”

Sam thought a minute. “We may be dealing with two different shooters. At Mount Locust, what if the killer had come back to remove Ryan’s body, and he was just trying to scare her away?”

“But why hadn’t he moved it before now?”

“I doubt he would ever have moved the body if the cemetery hadn’t been set up to be mapped again,” Sam said, trying to think like the killer. “He knew once Ryan’s body was identified, Mary Jo’s case would be reopened.”

“Okay, that explains that shooting, but not the one at Emma’s apartment.”

He tapped the files. “Maybe this shooter was trying to get rid of me. If I hadn’t stooped to get her keys, I would be, if not dead, badly wounded.”

Sam checked for the names of the investigating officers. Eric Lane was a detective with the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department in Jackson, and Doug Marsh was with the Lafayette Sheriff’s Department in Oxford. He looked up the sheriffs’ phone numbers in both cities. Neither detective was on duty, but dispatch in Jackson gave him the investigator’s cell phone number. He dialed, and when Eric Lane answered, they made arrangements to meet the next morning at nine thirty. Before he disconnected, he asked Lane if he’d ever encountered a case involving erotomania. The detective hadn’t, but said he would research it before Sam arrived.

Sam left word for the detective in Oxford to call him, along with a request that he research erotomania. His gut told him these two cases were connected to Mary Jo’s case and therefore Emma.

Brooke stood. “I’m headed home.” At the door she turned and looked at him. “The person who dug up Ryan’s body knew how to operate a backhoe. Have you checked with Guy Armstrong about employees who worked in maintenance ten years ago? If the person who killed them worked for the park service, they would have been familiar with the backhoe ... they might even know how to start the machine without a key.”

Sam gave her a thumbs-up. “Good thinking.”

When she left, he looked up Armstrong’s phone number and dialed. After Sam identified himself, he said, “Can you get me a list of employees from ten years ago? And how many of them are current maintenance employees?”

“Can I get back to you tomorrow?” Armstrong said. “I’ll have to research that.”

“Sure.”

“Do you just want the names of permanent workers?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we had and still have a lot of seasonal employees,” the manager said. “Workers like Trey Carter. Every summer when he was in college, he worked for me. I can probably name a couple more if I think about it.”

“Yeah, I’d like a list of the seasonal workers as well.” Sam stared at the files on the desk. “Did Trey ever operate the backhoe?”

“Yeah. And he was a good worker. I really hoped he’d stay on, but his daddy wanted him in the sheriff’s department. Anyway, I’ll get you a list of names tomorrow.”

Sam hung up and tented his fingers. So, Trey Carter was working as a park service maintenance employee ten years ago.

56

Sam gathered the files scattered across the desk and slid them into an envelope. He’d tried to reach Trey, but he didn’t answer. After he tried again, Sam dialed Nate’s number.

“Rawlings,” the sheriff answered.

“Ryker here. I’m trying to reach Trey, but he’s not answering.”

“He took a few days off to go deer hunting before the season ends,” Nate said. “Whatcha need?”

“Did you know he worked for the park service ten years ago as a seasonal maintenance worker?”

“No. Are you saying he might be involved in Mary Jo’s and Ryan’s deaths?”

“Not yet, but according to the maintenance director, Trey worked for him most summers during his college years, operating a backhoe. I want to talk to him.” Vehicle lights flashed across the window. “Do you know where he is?”

“He’s at his cabin. I’ve been there, but it’s been a while. I’ll get the directions and call you back.”

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