Page 102 of Evidence of a Folktale

“Always, Detective.” He brushed her hair back, and his expression from earlier returned. How was it possible to hold so much love in soulless black eyes?

“I’ll stay at your house since you have the baby,” she said, cupping his jaw in her hands, and over his shoulder, she noticed Rollo jump out of his idling patrol car at the edge of the set’s perimeter to slide into Violet’s vehicle. Unlike Eamon, who’d greeted her with a palm to the back, Rollo greeted Violet with a kiss most couples saved for the bedroom.

“Remember when we were young and in love like that?” she teased, and Eamon glanced over his shoulder to see what she meant.

“I guess we were that cute once.” He played along. “Too bad our honeymoon stage is over, and we never kiss like that.”

“Go home, and I’ll kiss you like that later.” She shut the door on him, smirking at his expression while trying to ignore Violet and Rollo across the street. She was glad her friend had found someone, but she didn’t want to watch her find him so publicly. If only Olivia and Ewan could mend their fences. It would bring Bel much-needed joy to see all three of them happily in love. Unfortunately, she kept putting her foot in her mouth, and she feared reconciliation wasn’t in their cards.

“Do you have a minute?”Olivia asked when Bel answered the phone.

“Sure.” She grabbed her coffee from the craft service table and moved to the rear of the library. Eamon had returned with her to set that morning, a little too smug with himself when Beau Draven avoided him, but as they suspected, nothing dangerous hid within the walls. So he’d left Bel with little to do savewatchMr. Draven enthusiastically enjoy the benefits of Warren Rouge’s death.

“I looked into the cab company,” Olivia said, and Bel was thankful she’d called instead of passing information through Griffin. Perhaps their relationship wasn’t as hopeless as she feared.

“That theory is dead in the water,” she continued. “The cast and crew have cars or personal drivers, so the only record of anyone using the service was Warren Rouge when he was with your neighbor.Obviously,they could’ve driven the victims without logging the trip, but there are no records of Rossa, Roja, or Rot ever taking a cab.

“The driver’s alibis are all over the place, too. Some have alibis for all the murders. Others only have provable alibis for some, but they alternate. Driver A has an alibi for murder one and two, while driver B has an alibi for one and three, and so on. Unless they’re all in on it andtookturns killing, no driver sticks out. None of them fit the profile, either. Most drive around all day and have the physique to prove it. I don’t see them chasing people through the woods to slash them to death. Plus, what’s their motive? And where’s the evidence? The owner let me examine the cabs. If you violently murder four people, you’re bound to leave behind trace evidence, but the taxis I examined were filthy, not bloody.”

“It was a long shot anyway,” Bel said.

“Cab drivers make the perfect killer,” Olivia said. “Peopleget intotheir cars willingly, especially when it’s cold and dark, and they never pay attention to who’s in the front seat. I just don’t think Bajka’s drivers are to blame because why would they leave clues about January or the show’s renewal… is the killer doing this to make us chase our tails?” she asked, and Bel practically saw her eyes blinking with the sudden idea. “We’ve been so focused on why he’s targeting the crew, and his riddles reinforce our suspicions, but what if that’s the point? What if this is all one big misdirect so we don’t figure out his plan?”

“Anything’s possible,” Bel conceded. “I think the clues mean something, but there’s a chance they don’t. The national news is painting us as idiots, so maybe that’s his intention. We’re hunting the wrong clues.”

“I’m headed back to the station to look into the victim’s pasts,” Olivia said. “We’ve been so focused on Aesop’s Files thatwe might have missed something. Perhaps these four weren’t the actual targets. Some killers attack multiple victims to hide their true purpose.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Bel said, even though it wouldn’t produce the answers her partnerhopedfor. She knew in her gut that the suited businessman who cornered her was involved. She had nothing tangible other than her memory of his threats, but they wouldn’t hold up in court… if the legal system could even contain a man like that. Eamon was their best hope at stopping the bloodshed, but she still needed proof. Without evidence to convince the public, the fans and lawyers of Aesop’s Files would crucify Bajka. It wassmartthat Olivia was thinking outside the box. Maybe she’d stumble on something they could use against the deal.

“I’ll keep you updated,” Olivia said.

“Thanks.” Bel hung up and waved at Griffin, who’d just slipped into the library.

“Figured I’dcheck on you,” he said when he joined her. “How’s it going?”

“There’s no reason for me to be here,” she said. “The killer won’t attack with this many witnesses present.”

“No, but the killer might be watching.”

“I considered that, but only the cast, crew, and police are here. Someone on set could be the guilty party, but they’re impossible to detect when everyone’s supposed to be here. We’re all watching Mr. Draven at this point.”

“Is there anyone purposely not observing him?”

“I thought of that, but no.” She grabbed her boss’s arm and pulled him deeper into the shelves so no one could read their lips. “What if we baited the killer?”

“Excuse me?”

“He’stoosmart to get caught stalking his next victim,” Bel said. “He’s been exceedingly patient, biding his time over the past month until he cornered his victims alone. He won’t break that pattern now and kill in broad daylight.”

“But he could be growing desperate,” Griffin said. “Aesop’s File’s time here is coming to a rapid end. If he doesn’t move quickly, his fifth victim will slip beyond his grasp.”

“He has a plan. I’m sure of it. Somehow, he’ll isolate number five, and by then it’ll be too late, so what if we gave him what he wanted? Let’s give him Draven alone in the middle of the night.”

“Like the studio would go for that.”

“Not Draven in the flesh,” Bel said. “There’s enough makeup here to transform humans into monsters. We could utilize it to dress a deputy like Draven and use him to lure the killer out. By the time he realizes he’s been tricked, we’ll have him.”

“Or we’ll get an officer killed.”

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