Page 5 of Bad Mother

“Great.”

She had to hope the ME had found something more to add to what they did have, which wasn’t nearly enough but also wasn’t nothing. Sergeant Ingrid Dahlen had met them at the crime scene earlier that morning and gone over what Kat and Sienna had already taken in about the victim and the props. Despite the time, the older woman had shown up looking wide awake and completely put together, as if she never slept and might have been sitting at her desk doing the paperwork she’d told Sienna she hated when the call had come in. She hadn’t had any guesses about the cards, either, and didn’t know what to make of them. But she’d volunteered to meet with the medical examiner first thing that morning and then let them know what he’d found. Sienna was eager to get started hunting down the person who’d committed this crime, but she was grateful not to stand in a chilled room with an open cadaver while the medical examiner pointed out all the ways she’d been brutalized. It was a necessary part of the job but one she’d rather read the report on. And if that made her a less hardened detective than others in her profession who were able to detachedly look at a dead body that had been alive and vital mere hours before, then so be it.

The door opened, and Sienna looked back, expecting to see the sergeant, but instead, a man in his early to midthirties with a short beard and wearing a janitor’s uniform came in, wheeling a large garbage can. He looked up, obviously surprised to see them, bringing the hand not holding the garbage can up and removing one of his earbuds. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know anyone was using this room.” He gestured to the trash can near the front of the room and then to another one near the coffee station. “Mind if I just empty those real quick, and I’ll be out of your way?”

“Hey, Ollie, it’s fine,” Kat said, and Sienna couldn’t help noticing the man seemed surprised Kat had used his name. Ollie put his earbud back in, wheeling his trash can forward, as Kat looked back at the folder of papers she had on the table. “Oh,” she said, addressing Sienna, “the bus driver who drove that route yesterday will be in at eleven thismorning. The last stop across from the crime scene is at eight p.m., so considering the time of death, it’s likely there wasn’t anything to see when he made the stop.”

“And considering the spot where the victim was posed was likely chosen in advance, the killer would have known what time a scheduled bus would be driving by, right?” Sienna added.

“If he’s even halfway good at murdering people and posing them, yes.”

Sienna sighed. She hoped he wasn’t very good at it, because that would make catching him a lot easier. “Okay. What other items are on our list?” When Kat didn’t immediately answer, she looked up to see Kat watching Ollie, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Ollie,” she called, waving her hand to catch his attention. At her gesture, he looked up, once again removing the earbud, and looked at her expectantly.

“You’re a card player, aren’t you? I’ve heard you talking about it with some of the POs.”

He gave her a lopsided smile. “I play some blackjack on the weekends sometimes if my girlfriend wants to hit the casinos, but I only play for fun. Why?”

She tipped her head toward the board where the cards were hung. “Does that hand of cards mean anything to you?”

He looked to where she was pointing, tilting his head as he studied the suits, then shook his head. “The two jacks are a good start if you’re playing poker, right? Or maybe the nine of hearts and the jack of hearts if you’re looking to complete a straight flush... or is it a royal flush?” His brow dipped. “No, that’s all face cards, right?” He shrugged. “Like I said, blackjack is more my thing, and I’m not even that great at it. Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Kat said. “And the suits of those cards stay in this room, okay?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Thanks for your help.”

Ollie nodded, but his eyes were still on the board. “Gavin Decker,” he muttered.

A spike of prickled heat shot down the back of Sienna’s neck, and her gaze, which had gone back to the notepad in front of her, leaped to the janitor studying the picture of the cards on the board.

“Excuse me?” Her voice sounded strange, slightly choked. She cleared her throat to cover her reaction.

Ollie gave his head a slight shake, seeming to come out of a trance. “Sorry, sorry, I wasn’t much help with the card suits, but the design on the back of those cards... the swans...” He reached down and lifted a small garbage can and distractedly dumped the contents into the larger one and set the empty can back on the floor.

“Yes?” Kat said, eyeing him speculatively.

“Yeah, so the design looked familiar, only I couldn’t place why or where I might have seen it before. Then as quick as I questioned it, the answer came to me. Gavin Decker.”

Sienna’s heart skipped a beat.That name again. That damn name.And how the hell was it that it was being mentioned to her not even a full week since she’d arrived back in her hometown?

“Why does that name sound familiar?” Kat asked.

Sienna said nothing, letting them talk about Gavin Decker as though she had no idea who he was. And she supposed that—at this point—it was mostly true.

“He won the World Series of Poker two years in a row,” Ollie said. “He’s well known in Reno because he’s from here.” His brow wrinkled. “I think he might do some kind of security over at the Emerald Isle. Fans love to get photos with him and whatnot.”

“Okay, so what about the cards?” Sienna prompted, making a concerted effort to regain her equilibrium. The mention of Gavin’s name had just surprised her. And now that she looked closer, she could see that the design she’d thought was merely an intricate pattern of swirlswas really the repeating picture of two swans, their necks positioned so that they formed a heart.

“Oh yeah, so I guess he had a tattoo on his wrist that he became sort of known for. Some company used the tattoo art to have a deck of cards printed, and they started being sold in casino gift shops.”

Swans. Tattoo.She swallowed.

“So they’re still sold in gift shops here in Reno?” Kat asked.

Ollie shrugged. “They’re not as popular anymore, which is why I didn’t immediately recognize the design. I used to see them a lot more, but yeah, I’m sure you could find them—maybe at the Emerald Isle, where he works.”

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