Page 67 of Counter Attack

“If that’s the case, since the clipping hasn’t made it into the media yet, it implicates someone familiar with yesterday’s case, like one of our officers.”

Both fell silent. Alex didn’t want to think that was possible, but ...

Nathan rubbed his jaw. “Either way, we need to revisit Phillip Denton’s shooting.”

“Yeah.” Like she didn’t revisit it every night in her dreams.

37

If Alexis got any paler, he would be picking her up off the rocky ground.

She took a breath. “Since I don’t think the Norman murder is a copycat, it’s the only thing that makes sense. We need to find Denton’s relatives—if he has any.”

“Or friends. Tell me again why the Chattanooga detectives didn’t find anyone?”

“His ID, employment records, resume—all turned out to be false. Any inquiries went to a site he controlled.”

“And they didn’t keep looking?”

Alexis shook her head. “Maybe they didn’t see any need after they hit a brick wall. Denton was dead, the bomb case was solved, they had fresh cases to investigate—take your pick.” Alexis rested her hand on her holster. “But why kill the drug dealer?”

“I don’t know. Serial killers don’t have motives that always make sense—just not sure Martin’s death is by the serial killer.” Nathan reread the chess notation. “But even disregarding this note, I believe the killer is playing Black, and is basically saying we can’t catch him, even though he’s giving us the advantage. He’s getting cocky.”

“We keep saying ‘he.’ Why can’t it be a woman?” Alexis asked.

“It could be, but not likely. Women make up a small percentage of serial killers.”

“I still don’t think we should rule out a woman,” Alexis said. “You don’t think the Queen’s Gambit Killer did this, then?”

“Not ruling it out completely, but no.”

“Okay. That gives us two options. Either the killer followed Trevor Martin here or accompanied him to the quarry. But if the former, how did the killer get close enough to kill him?”

“And if he was meeting the boys here, why would he bring someone with him? We need to trace Martin’s activities this morning. See who he met with, who he talked to.”

“I need to notify the family of his death first.”

Nathan winced. He’d known the Martin family all his life, and while her son was rotten to the core, Mrs. Martin wasn’t. Widowed at a young age, she’d worked two jobs to keep food on the table for three boys. “You’re right. We can do that on the way back to town.”

Then he would get one of his officers to interview the Martin family and the drug dealer’s friends as to his whereabouts this morning.

They both turned as Taylor approached, beaming.

“Find something?” Alexis asked.

“Yep. I followed a hunch and looked for signs that someone else had been here. Over near the entrance the rocky ground turns to sand.” Taylor held up a branch with brown leaves. “I think someone used this to sweep where they’d walked, obliterating their tracks. It looks like a piece of leather snagged on one of the limbs.”

Their first break.

“Tag it,” Alexis said. “Then bag it.”

While she conferred with her tech, Nathan approached Dr.Edwards. “Find anything we need to know? Like when he may have died?”

“Livor mortis indicates he’s been dead about two hours.” He indicated to his assistant to help him turn the body over, and then the doctor lifted the victim’s shirt, exposing the faint tinge of blue on the skin. “The blood has just started settling, and that doesn’t normally start until two hours after death.”

He pulled the shirt down. “But the ground is cold, and that could affect the timing. I won’t know for sure until I get him to Chattanooga and conduct the autopsy.”

That meant Martin had probably been killed no more than an hour before they arrived.

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