Page 21 of The Girl He Crowned

“He just wanted meto give him an update on the case,” Paige replied, carefully keeping her toneneutral. She didn’t want to badmouth her boss in front of Sheriff May, or evenin front of Christopher. She didn’t want him to know the pressure that theirboss was trying to put on them. Even so, she got the feeling that Christophercould tell exactly how frustrated Paige was by Agent Sauer looking over theirshoulders like that.

“And was hesatisfied with that report?” Christopher asked, in just as careful a tone.

“For now. What dowe have here?”

Sheriff May noddedtowards the portrait. “That’s Melody. Her husband came home and found her hereon the floor. It was obvious from the bruising when we got here that she’d beenbeaten, and then strangled, but we’ll need Dr. Philibert to confirm before we cansay it for certain. That pendulum was hanging over her.”

“Have you foundhow he managed to get into the house?” Paige asked. She doubted that a womanalone, even in what seemed like a nice neighborhood, would just let a strangerinto the house.

“We think hepicked a lock on a side door,” Sheriff May said. “He would have broken in andcome straight at her, moving quickly so that she wouldn’t have a chance toreact.”

Paige shook herhead, though. “That doesn’t fit with the previous murders. My guess is that he brokein and set the scene with the pendulum, then lay in wait. He would have wantedto take her by surprise.”

She found herselflooking up at the pendulum, and had to remember not to reach out to touch it inorder to inspect it more closely. She’d seen the pendulum that had been underthe bridge up close; she’d also seen pictures of the one that had been nearSiobhan Maraty’s body. Those had been crafted from materials close to the siteof the murder.

This pendulumseemed different, somehow. It was made from a mixture of brass and steel,elegantly interwoven in what must have been hours of work. It didn’t look asthough it had been made for this moment. It looked… just like a standardpendulum from a very expensive clock.

“There’s somethingwrong here,” Paige said, “something that isn’t right.”

She sawChristopher frown. “What do you mean?”

“The otherpendulums looked as though they were made specifically to be hung in that spot.I’m not sure if they were ever inside a clock.Thispendulum looks likeit has just been taken from an expensive clock somewhere.”

“You think this isa copycat?” Sheriff May asked.

That was onepossibility, but even so, Paige shook her head. “I’m not saying that yet. Asfar as we know, this is the same killer as before. We have to treat this as ifit’s part of the same pattern. But… why use an existing pendulum?”

“Maybe it’s from aclock somewhere in the house,” Christopher suggested. “If the killer’s usingthings around the murder site, then maybe for an indoor murder, he decided touse a clock that was here.”

That made a kindof sense to Paige, and she found herself making her way through the house,looking for any clock that might match the pendulum. She found a couple ofclocks with pendulums in place, but there didn’t seem to be any there that weremissing one. What did that mean?Wasthis a copycat? Someone trying tomake the murder look like the work of the serial killer? Or had the killerbrought something with him that fit the generally overwrought and expensiveenvironment? Had he just decided that a more normal pendulum fit this placebetter?

“Find anything?”Christopher asked as Paige returned to the lounge. Sheriff May wasn’t thereanymore, obviously dealing with things in another part of the house.

Paige shook herhead, wishing that she had better news to give him about all this. “There’s noclock that matches that pendulum. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“Well, maybe theCSI unit will find something,” Christopher said. “In the meantime, we can’tjust stay here waiting for them. We need to look into other angles.”

Paige nodded, andthen remembered that she’d found one, back at the sheriff’s office.

“I wonder if thisvictim knew the other two,” Paige said.

Christopher cockedhis head to one side. “What makes you say that?”

“Just before weheard there was another murder, I found that Debbie Danton and Siobhan Maratyhad messaged each other and met up. They were both wealthy women. Maybe it’spossible that Melody Smythe also knew them.”

“You think thismight not just be a serial killer selecting random victims?” Christopher lookedslightly hopeful, and Paige could understand why. If there was a mundane reasonbehind the crimes it might make it easier to unpick all of this. That reasonmight lead them right to the killer.

“I don’t know,”Paige said, “but where there’s money, there’s sometimes violence, and thingshidden under the surface. It might be worth looking for any personal enemiesthe victims had.”

“I’ll check thefamily statements for the first two victims to see if there’s anything inthere,” Christopher said. “What will you be doing in the meantime?”

Paige didn’t haveto think for long before she had her answer. “I want to talk to Melody Smythe’shusband.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Paige made her wayover to the pool house, and even as she did so, Sheriff May moved to intercepther, not quite blocking the way, but not quite letting her pass either.

“You’re going totalk to William Smythe?” the sheriff said. She looked a little worried by theprospect.

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