Page 49 of Deadly Secrets
Brooke nodded at the psychologist. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Dr. Collins. I’m glad everything worked out okay for you and Agent Holden.”
“Call me Emma.” She beamed like a woman in love. Her hair was pulled back in a braid and she wore dark framed glasses. “We were very lucky.”
Emma declined the coffee Roman offered her. She had a cup of tea, the tiny tag indicating it was a ginger chamomile blend.
Cooper pulled out his chair and sat, dropping the folder onto the table. “Ronni and Nelson are busy and I figured you could use all the hands-on help you could get after last night.”
“You told them?” Brooke asked Roman.
“We have two cases, instead of one,” he said. “Your stalker and The Reverend. They could be one and the same, but with the escalation of the mass suicides and your stalker’s possible involvement, we need to work the case from multiple angles. I thought it wise to pull in the SCVC Taskforce and my boss, Quinn Kuprin, and Director Dupé agreed.”
Thomas swallowed a sip of coffee and nodded. “Many undocumented immigrants end up in gangs in order to survive. I have contacts inside three of the major Southern California gangs and a couple CIs who might be able to give us a lead.”
“As you know, Brooke, violent crime is our thing,” Cooper added. “And this asshole is leaving a trail of bodies wherever he goes. Holden and Mann can work Mann’s leads, see if they can get any more on where other undocumented groups are holding religious services. Roman and I can visit all the local missions, ask more questions, and see if we can figure out who this guy is. Emma can stay here and help with profiling and figuring out our killer’s next move.”
Brooke had been able to forget about The Reverend for a while that morning. It had been nice to revel in the safety of Roman’s world, even when she was shooting a gun.
Now hers came crashing back.
This was Roman’s too, but a different side of it. She was no longer here just because of her expertise—the case was personal now.
For the next twenty minutes, the DTT brought the SCVC Taskforce up to speed. They had plenty of evidence from each crime scene, as well as speculation about the killer. They revisited the idea that it was more than one man participating in the crimes, and if that theory proved true, there could be up to 12 of them.
Roman picked out a tart with cream cheese and strawberries and set it on a paper plate in front of Brooke while he answered questions from Thomas and Mitch. “Eat,” he murmured in her ear.
Her stomach growled in response, even though they were talking about murder and mass suicides. Her breakfast was long gone and she didn’t know when they’d get lunch.
She took a bite and the flavors exploded on her tongue. She gobbled down another bite and nearly moaned from the way the soft texture of the crust combined with the sweetness of the fruit and cream cheese. The group was right—this Annie gal knew her pastries.
But was it just her or did everything taste better today?
The coffee, too, was delicious, although a touch milder than the strong stuff Roman had made at breakfast.
For the next hour or so, the two groups batted around ideas about the multiple killer theory and how to pick up the trail. Brooke listened closely, trying not to stare at Roman the way Emma did Mitch.
“You’ve been on campus for a few days doing lectures, correct?” Thomas asked Brooke.
She nodded. “I hit the religious studies, anthropology, and criminal justice departments.”
Roman fiddled with his now empty coffee cup. “Did you notice anyone out of place at your lectures? Any non-student, older males?”
Had she? She scanned over the past few days, but nothing stood out. “I don’t think so. The criminal justice lecture that you popped into the other day was the largest and there wasn’t anyone there over the age of twenty-five outside you, me, and the professor.”
“Still, I’d like to get a list of all the people who attended the lectures, and you should talk to the professors again, see if they noticed anyone outside the norm.”
Brooke went to the desk Polly had set up for her and started calling while the rest of the group continued to review the dates, locations, victims, type of poison, and the sigils. A couple phone calls later, Brooke had left messages for the three professors she’d lectured for. She returned to the group as Roman added entries to the timeline on the white board, and the group began reviewing different styles of knives that might have been used to do the carving.
Winslow put up copies of the sigils on the smart board. “Here are the three corresponding to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. There are similarities in design and the ME believes they were all drawn with a small, sharp-tipped knife.”
“Like a pocket knife?” Mitch asked.
Roman added that to the board. “Or a scalpel, perhaps?”
A few more possibilities were thrown out, but Brooke was focused on the sigil designs.
Getting up from her chair, she went to the smart board where the digital photos were lined up. “Can you overlay all three of these pictures into one?” she asked Win.
“Sure.”
