Page 9 of Already Lost

“He’s right outside,” Kinnock said,gesturing for them to walk with him.

“Oh?” Nate frowned, thinking back. “Ididn’t see anyone out there but one of your cops.”

“That’s right,” Kinnock nodded. “It washim who found it.”

Laura frowned as well, looking back atKinnock over her shoulder as they reached the door. “This wasn’t found by amember of the public and then called in?”

“Well,” Kinnock said, and then hesitated.“You know, I think it’s better if you hear it directly from Officer Munson.”

With a mysterious hint like that, Nate wasbeginning to think this case was turning out to be a lot more complex than itfirst seemed. He reached for the door, ready to get outside and find out justwhat was going on here.

CHAPTER FIVE

Laura stepped out into a morning that wasa lot more established than the one they had left behind, the sun stretchingits fingers over the neighborhood. It was a lot easier to see, now, that thiswhole area was in decline. It wasn’t just the store that was abandoned. A coupleof homes across the way looked like they might be, too.

“Officer Munson?” she guessed, turning tothe cop who had been guarding the door when they went inside. He stood atattention and nodded sharply. “You found the body?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, then hesitated. Hewas a younger officer, green-eyed and dark-haired, which was unusual in itself.She was beginning to feel like there was a spell over this whole case,enchanting things to make them look and sound far more romantic than theyreally were. “Well, kind of. I was tipped off.”

“Explain,” Laura said, crossing her armsover her chest. She didn’t mean it to come across as harsh or rude, but sheneeded to get at the facts. In her experience, time spent on trying to bepolite and make small talk would be better spent on actually investigating thecase.

“Well,” Munson said, shifting his stanceself-consciously. “I was waiting on a call-out from dispatch at the station.The phone at my desk rang so I answered it, and there was a man on the otherend of the line. He said there was a body that was sitting in this property andthat we had to get there fast.”

“What did you say?” Laura asked. There wassomething here, something tugging at the edges of her mind. You didn’t justmake a call directly to an officer’s desk if you were a bystander who’d found abody. You called 911.

“I asked him to repeat it,” Munson said.“I was confused, you know? Like, why did we need to get there fast? Was there achance that the victim was going to make it? Maybe did they think that thekiller was still around and we could catch them red-handed? And the guy’s voicewas so calm, you know. Like, nothing was happening. Just cool as anything.”

“He didn’t sound distressed or surprisedat all?” Laura asked.

“He sounded like he was ordering a pizza,”Munson said bluntly. He shook his head, looking down at the ground for amoment. “Anyway, when I asked him to repeat it, he got real upset with me.Started yelling. He said, ‘didn’t you hear me? I said you need to get therenow!’ Like, he yelled it down the line, you know? It was this quick shift, zeroto sixty. Then he put the phone down.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bystander,”Laura said, voicing her thoughts to Nate. “That’s a killer who wanted to getyou to the crime scene at a certain time.”

Nate nodded. “Is there a recording of thecall we can hear for ourselves?”

Munson, shook his head, his fingersflexing as he hooked them into his belt. “Sorry. If it came in through dispatchwe’d have it recorded, but it was on my own direct line.”

“Who would have known you were at yourdesk?” Laura asked.

Munson shook his head. “I don’t know. ButI’m near a window. Anyone could have seen me from outside, I guess.”

Laura sighed. That would complicatethings. For just a moment, she’d been hopeful that they had an inside job.Someone who knew which cops were on duty, which were in the office, and couldtarget the one they wanted. No such luck.

“What did you find when you got here?”Nate asked.

“Well, we screamed over here in the car asquick as we could, me and my partner,” Munson said. “He went around the back tocheck out the surrounding area and see if anyone was trying to escape, and Iwent inside. That’s when I heard it. The song. And I knew it was just like theother one.”

Laura exchanged a glance with Nate. “Themusic was actually playing when you got there?” she said.

“Yeah,” Munson confirmed. “Creepy as allhell. And the woman was lying there on the floor in front of it. She had herwrists and ankles still bound and there was a pool of blood right around her. Iknew she was dead soon as I looked at her.”

Laura turned to Nate again. “The song wasstill playing,” she said. Inside the store, the music had stopped. “How longwas that record, do you think? Three minutes? Four?”

“Something like that,” Nate agreed. “Not along record by any standard. And he’d have had to crank it in order to get itto play. He had to have started it playing, got out of there, and then calledright away.”

“That’s why he was so mad,” Laura mused.“When you didn’t get up and say you were on your way immediately, he thoughtthere was a risk that you weren’t going to get here in time. He called this inhimself to make sure that you would hear the song when you came onto the crimescene.”

“Which means the song is part of it, andthis isn’t just a random murder by someone who likes old music,” Nate said.“It’s a message.”

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