Page 59 of The House of Cross

I said, “But what’s with her face? Can you zoom in on it?”

Detective Warren gave her computer a command, and the killer’s face occupied the entire screen. She was wearing what appeared to be a semitransparent plastic mask that distorted her features from the top of her lips to above her eyebrows.

“She’s smart,” Warren said.

“And efficient,” Forbes said. “She doesn’t waste any time, does she?”

Mahoney nodded. “She’s always like that. Decisive. No hesitation.”

We watched it yet again. I saw the killer’s shoulders move before Carver turned.

“She said something there,” I said. “Just before Carver faced her.”

Warren frowned, played with the controls, said, “Well, there you go, the volume was almost off.”

She rewound it, turned the volume all the way up, and hit Play. We could suddenly hear the brisk breeze that had blown that night and some distant sirens.

When Professor Carver appeared, we could hear him chuckling a little as he turned unsteadily onto his driveway and started up the grade. The killer came into the frame in total silence, moving like a cat stalking prey. She squared off, called, “Professor Carver.”

Carver hesitated, then pivoted to face her. Those sirens got closer. She said something else to him and shot him twice; the suppressed rounds sounded like pillows being plumped.

“Did anyone get what she just said to him?” Warren said.

“Garbled,” Forbes said.

I shook my head. Mahoney did too. He dug in his pocket and came out with a white AirPods case.

“Connect me to your computer. Play it again but try to damp down the high tones of those sirens. Maybe I can make it out.”

Warren connected him and adjusted the equalizer on the computer to limit the upper range. She hit Play and Mahoney listened closely, his index finger to his lips.

“Again, but squelch it down more this time,” he said, glancing at me with some concern.

Warren further adjusted the equalizer and hit Play. When Carver turned to face his killer and her shoulders moved again, I saw Ned lose color.

He tore out his right AirPod. “Detectives, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the room for the time being. I’m sorry, but this is a national security issue now.”

I was shocked. Warren and Forbes seemed taken aback and a little angry.

“The two of you did good, real good,” Mahoney said, seeing their reaction and getting out of their way so they could leave. “I will write a letter recommending a citation for both of you. Your nation thanks you. And I promise to explain when I can.”

“We get it—we’re small-town,” Forbes said. They left, shutting the door to the office.

“What does she say?” I asked.

Mahoney took out his other AirPod and handed me the pair. “Listen for yourself.”

I put them in. He rewound the video and hit Play.

With the high-frequency noises dampened, I could hear Carver chortling and the light steps of the killer following him.

“Professor Carver,” she said clearly after squaring off to shoot him.

The constitutional law professor turned.

Before she shot him, she said, “Maestro knows what you’ve done. It’s over.”

CHAPTER 43

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