Page 57 of Go Home
“Motion-activated UV lamps,” Marcus said.“The guy took his security seriously.”
“It didn’t help him,” Kate said, vaguely.Her attention was elsewhere: the other tech was photographing the fire-pit from various angles.As she moved closer, she saw what was exciting the interest.A single piece of paper, A4, inscribed with symbols and weighted down at the corners with pebbles.
“Hieroglyphics?”Marcus queried, as Kate carefully removed the pebbles.
“Could be the killer’s version of it,” she said, taking photos with her phone.“Looks like far fewer symbols, though.There were over a thousand different hieroglyphs.”
On their way out of the building, Enriquez approached her, phone in hand.“Victim’s police ID.”
Kate looked at it.
“What’s the matter?”asked Marcus.“Vee?”
“I thought the name sounded familiar,” Kate said.“But he was a Sergeant then, and we called him by his middle name.George.”
“Who is he?”Marcus asked, urgently.
“He led the investigation into my father’s murder.”
+ + + + +
“It is simply not safe.”
“Given that it’s an investigation into a serial killer, how could it ever be safe?”
“You know very well, Kate, that in each and every case, there are acceptable parameters of risk, and this investigation just flew right past them.”
Kate took a deep breath, trying to get some mastery over her mounting frustration.On return to the field office, she and Marcus had gone in to brief Winters on the latest developments.And the boss had not taken them well.
“It’s now crystal clear that you have a disconcerting centrality to the killer’s actions and motives.You are not merely investigating a trio of murders; that trio of murders is, in some complex way, built around you, around the death of your father, around your pursuit of Denton and Denton’s near-fatal attack on you.”
“With respect, ma’am, you’re presenting that as if it’s my fault.”
“I’m not suggesting anything of the sort.But I’m now wondering when you first became aware of these links and why you didn’t immediately escalate your concerns to me.”
“It’s… I just… I mentioned it to Marcus, but… I guess I had to see if what I thought was true,” Kate replied, lamely.
Winters started typing something angrily; largely, Kate suspected, as a way of calming herself down.
“Ma’am, the way I see it,” Marcus began, cautiously, “the first hint was a link between Denton and Father Thomas.Kate pursued that, discovered a further link to Professor Whitman.And things escalated swiftly after that.There wasn’t an opportunity for a review until now.I mean, we were literally going over the evidence we had when you called.”
Winters gazed at the two of them coolly.At least she’d stopped with the anger-typing.
“Two questions,” she said abruptly.“First.What do you think is going on here?”
“I think there’s every possibility that the killer is principally fixated upon Denton, rather than me.They’re trying to undo the reality of his capture and death with this fantasy of some continuing divine plan, and by trying to do battle with me, his captor, using the coded messages.But they’re not puzzles for the sake of it.I think they, and the choice of victims, may be an attempt to lead me somewhere.To reveal something.”
“Such as?”
“Something that fits with a Biblical narrative.Completes something unfinished, or rewrites something that currently ends unsatisfactorily.These are my suggestions, based on commonly held beliefs among millenarian-type cult groups and individuals.”
Winters nodded.“And what are your next steps?”
“Crack the latest code as a matter of urgency.”
“Meanwhile, thanks to Kate’s visit to the facility in Pennsylvania, Elijah Cox has become a person of interest,” Marcus said.“While serving as the prison chaplain, he clashed with Father Thomas and seems to have influenced Robert Denton’s decision to stop appealing the death penalty.There are question marks surrounding his sudden resignation from the role, not to mention what he’s been doing since then.”
“The person behind these puzzles knows a lot about Denton’s final hours, as well as about me,” Kate clarified.“That suggests privileged access, the kind that a spiritual adviser might have.”
