Page 48 of So Wicked

The killer was the key. It always was. Faith needed to determine what the killer’s motive was in order to figure outwhothe killer was.

The victims were all veterinary doctors, but all involved in very different specialties. Dr. Rachel Summers was a general practice vet. Dr. Lisa Patel was a surgeon. Dr. Mark Chen was primarily an administrator as far as Faith could see and rarely saw patients himself anymore. And Dr. Jessica Lee ran a hospice. Only Patel was guilty of malpractice. The others had clean records.

So why them? Faith didn’t believe it was just a general vendetta against vets. The victims were spread out across the Indianapolis area, miles from each other. They were chosen for a reason, but why? Why them?

She wouldn’t get an answer focusing on the victims. That much was clear.

So she focused on the killer. What did she know about the killer?

This killer preferred poison. That fit with Faith’s hypothesis that these murders were intended as some sort of absolution for the victims. The killer was being almost gentle with them. He—or she; Faith didn’t know if it was a man or a woman—didn’t want them mutilated. He didn’t want them to suffer either. Pentobarbital put people to sleep before it killed them. They had all drifted peacefully away.

Then the killer had staged them carefully and included traditional, or at least traditionally inspired offerings for the afterlife.

So this was a mercy. The killer was trying to help them.

That suggested someone deeply spiritual and someone who believed that somehow, these vets required forgiveness. That led Faith to believe that the killer considered the vets harmful to animals.

The problem was figuring out exactly what harm the killer perceived had been done. Again, it wasthesevets,thesevictims, not just any vet. So what hadthesevictims done that made them need absolution?

She heard footsteps behind her and stilled. Turk turned around and wagged his tail. That meant it was probably someone friendly.

Jacob’s voice confirmed that a moment later. “Hey, Faith. I saw you walking away instead of coming inside. Thought I’d join you.”

He’d called her Faith, not Staff Sergeant. That meant he knew she was upset.

Yeah, that or the fact that you walked away instead of coming inside.

“Sounds good,” she replied.

They continued down the path. To their right, bright blue, green and red lights twinkled. It occurred to Faith that Christmas was only a few weeks away. It was hard to be in a festive spirit when she spent most of her time solving vicious murders.

“Except these murders aren’t vicious.”

“What’s that?”

“Oh.” Heat climbed Faith’s cheeks. “Sorry, Jacob. I didn’t realize I said that out loud.”

“No need to apologize. I can tell you’re upset. You want to talk about it? I’m not a detective, but I’m a lot better of a listener than you grunts ever gave me credit for.”

Faith chuckled. Then she sighed. “I’m just having trouble figuring out why.”

“Why the killer chose these victims?”

“Yes. It doesn’t make sense. I mean, itdoesmake sense. I just have to figure out what sense it makes.”

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s atonement of some sort.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Atonement? Like he’s sacrificing them to save his sins?”

“Not his sins. Or her sins. Poison is usually a woman’s choice of weapon. Then again, this kind of ritualistic display of the body is usually a characteristic of male killers. Anyway, the killer’s not saving his or her own sins. This is redemption for the victims.”

“The victims? Why?”

“That’s what I need to figure out. They’re all found in pet cemetery’s in the middle of a ring of stones with a jar of honey and a bottle of wine next to their heads and sunflowers on their eyes.”

“Damn. Freaky.”

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