Page 36 of Their Wicked Games

THIRTY-THREE

In the small space outside the interview room, they all peered through the two-way mirror at Jimmy Two Cents. The fact that he looked so absolutely normal surprised Jenna. Even though she understood that most psychopaths blended into society without a ripple, she somehow thought that a man who had killed so many would show some signs of madness. Although in his prison orange, the man appeared relaxed without a care in the world. He could be your local shopkeeper, the doctor, or even a teacher. Someone you wouldn’t hesitate to trust because he looked so darn normal. She leaned into Kane and when his strong arm came round her and squeezed, the world seemed to drop into focus. He would never allow anything to happen to her and she drew strength from that. Taking a deep breath of the musty air, she turned to Jo. “Let’s get at it.”

Inside the interview room, the smell of stale sweat seemed to creep across the air toward them like an entity. Beads of sweat formed on James Earl Stafford’s forehead and his eyes betrayed his excitement. When he inhaled deeply and his lips curled up at the edges, Jenna’s stomach rolled in revulsion. Jo was wearing a dab of perfume, and from the way Stafford’s nose flared, he was savoring it. Avoiding eye contact, she placed her iPad on the table and sat down. She’d been very careful with her dress this morning. She’d chosen jeans and a long sweater that came down to her thighs. Jo on the other hand was wearing a black suit with a knee-length straight skirt and heels. It was obvious she was using Stafford’s lack of female company to encourage him to cooperate. She understood that Jo had requested that, the warden intimated, if the interview went well, she would be returning on a regular basis. This was true to some extent, as Jo liked to leave the door open for further visits if the information received from the psychopath was valuable.

The silence in the room was almost deafening, with only the heavy breathing of Jimmy Two Cents. Perhaps the fear of sitting before a mass murderer was getting to Jenna. She had the very strange notion that he couldn’t possibly kill them because she didn’t have any pennies with her.

“Mr. Stafford.” Jo introduced them and started the voice recorder she’d placed on the table. “You do understand that any interesting information you give me on your crimes may be included in my latest book?”

“Yeah.” Stafford grinned at her. “Do I get a copy?”

“That will depend on just how juicy the information is you give me.” Jo leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs, gaining his immediate attention. “The fact you placed coins under the eyelids of your victims has never been in the public domain until recently. Have you ever discussed this fact with anyone?”

“Maybe.” Stafford shrugged. “Time and conversations all roll into oblivion inside these four walls.”

“Can you tell me what significance the coins are to you?” Jo looked down as if examining her notes, but Jenna had seen this ploy before. Her seeming disinterest in him was having an effect.

“Don’t you know about the ferryman?” Stafford leaned back in his chair and grinned. “When you die, you need money to pay him to get to the other side.”

“I find it hard to believe you had any feelings for these people, let alone worried about if they passed through the pearly gates or not.” Jo uncrossed her legs and, after lifting her briefcase onto the table, took out a folder and spread crime scene photographs over the desk. “These injuries don’t look like they were inflicted by someone who cared.”

“Oh, I wasn’t doing it for them.” Stafford’s shackles jingled as he moved his hands. “I was doing it for me. No one is going to put coins on my eyes when I die, so I was building up a credit.” His fingers stretched out to touch one of the photographs. “I enjoyed this one. Are you going to include the pictures in your book?”

“Maybe.” Jo crossed her legs again. “The warden mentioned that you have many pen pals. Do you discuss the murders with them?”

“I’m not allowed to discuss the murders with anyone outside the prison.” Stafford towered his fingers and stared at her with an unsettling directness. “I can’t take a dump in here without them knowing. Being able to speak freely with you, without anyone listening in, is like a vacation in Miami for me.” He scanned the photographs again and then lifted his gaze to Jenna. “This one isn’t mine.” The chains clanked as he tapped the table in front of an image. “Nice work. The pennies are there, but pennies don’t make them my kills.” He snorted. “That’s why you’re here isn’t it? I have a copycat and they know things they shouldn’t about my MO.”

The image was of Alicia Palmer, and Jenna watched his face closely when Jo pushed it toward him. To her surprise, he ran his fingers over the young woman’s face. His expression had changed, hardened, and his eyes had become hawklike. Before her eyes, he’d changed from the guy next door to a predator. It was a startling transformation and one Jo had mentioned in her books.

“Do you recognize her?” Jo had picked up on the change in him too. She took more photographs out of her briefcase and then spread them over the top of the others. “Her name was Alicia Palmer and she was a dental hygienist from Black Rock Falls. It was a frenzied attack as if someone lost control. Have you ever lost control?”

“No.” Stafford stared at her with dead eyes. “I probably would with you, but then there’s always a first time.” He wet his lips as if enjoying the thought of killing her and then stared at the image again “Yeah, I know her, but you already know that or you wouldn’t ask me. She was one of my pen pals and visited me a few times.” He rolled his shoulders. “They told me you were a doctor, some fine analyst writing a book, and you’re really a stinking pig.”

“Iama behavioral analyst writing a book.” Jo reached into her briefcase and pulled out her latest release. “See for yourself, my picture is on the back.” She slid it toward him. “Many men just like you are immortalized in my books.”

“Okay.” Stafford flicked through the pages and then slid it back to her. “Ask the questions. I’m getting bored.”

“You have many pen pals. Are they both male and female? Do men visit you as well?” Jo leaned back in her chair, with her attention fixed on him. “What do you talk about if not your crimes. What’s the interest?”

“The women are like buckle bunnies.” Stafford snorted and his chains clanged. “They write about sex and relationships. They want to be my girlfriend. Even though I killed my wife, they still want to share my bed.” He laughed. “Go figure.”

“And the men?” Jo looked at her notes and then at Jenna.

“Hunting.” Stafford shrugged. “They want details of my kills, but that’s not allowed, so we talk about the times they went hunting.”

His statement slammed into Jenna’s head. Suddenly everything made perfect sense. She scanned the files on her iPad, rereading the information in Stafford’s file. Convinced she’d finally made a breakthrough in the case, she turned to Jo. “I need to step outside for a minute.” She looked at Stafford and gave him an apologetic smile. “Are you good with that?”

“Don’t leave me sitting here too long or I’ll call the guards and go back to my cell.” Stafford glared at them. “I’m doing you a favor answering your stupid questions. Don’t forget that.”

“And I’ll show my appreciation by making sure you’re given extra privileges.” Jo stood and pushed the photographs toward him. “I’ll leave the pictures for you to look at. Maybe you can let me know if any of the others don’t belong to you?” She stood and gave Jenna a long stare but followed her from the room.

“Is there a problem?” Kane stared at her with one eyebrow raised.

Bubbling with excitement but keeping her voice to just above a whisper in case Jimmy Two Cents overheard her, she moved closer to her team. “Did you hear what he just said? He discusses hunting trips with his pen pals and visitors.” She looked from one to the other, waiting for a reaction and received blank stares. “He receives phone calls at least one a week, and from the notes Jo received from the warden, all his conversations are about hunting, and yet I don’t recall any mention of hunting game in the information we received about his life prior to imprisonment. So I checked it again. He liked to go fishing. He went to the firing range and was a member of the crossbow club. When they searched his house after the murders, the only trophies they found were from his victims.” She stared at them, waiting for the penny to drop. “He is using his conversations about hunting to instruct his followers to murder for him.”

“That makes perfect sense, but he’s never mentioned anything in any conversations about the coins.” Kane rubbed the back of his neck. “They were on a list of flagged words, and I doubt very much they would have slipped through the net.”

“Part of being an inmate trustee is he has access to the library.” Carter moved a toothpick across his lips and smiled. “In fact, he enjoys working in the library and collects books for the other inmates and distributes them. He is not allowed to converse with them, but they fill in a form that they hand to him for any book they require. It would be too easy to use the distribution of books as a mail service.”

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