The Truth Seeker

by Dee Henderson

  “I’ve got it covered. Jack’s coming, he was just parking his car.” The front door opened again. “He can help.”

  “Sure I can. Help with what?” Jack asked.

  “Drinks.”

  “I want one.”

  “Fix six. Marcus and Lincoln are joining us.”

  “Oh, okay. Got any fizzy water?”

  “No, I don’t have fizzy water. You can have lemonade.”

  “With pizza?” Jack asked in disbelief.

  Quinn looked over at Lisa, saw her struggling to keep her laughter silent as they listened to Kate and Jack move into the kitchen.

  “Jack, you’re my guest. Quit complaining.”

  “I’ve got time to run to the corner store.” There was the snap of a towel. “Missed,” Jack said cheerfully. “Does Dave know you’re practicing with that?”

  There was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” Jack quickly volunteered.

  The door was unlocked and pulled open. “Marcus, buddy! You stopped at the store?” There was the crinkle of paper bags.

  “We did decide on pizza, yes?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Then Kate’s cupboards need help. The jalapeño peppers are for Quinn and me. Save me a couple of those sodas.”

  “Marc—you’re a lifesaver. Hi, Lincoln. Good to see you again.”

  “Jack.”

  There was the sound of the refrigerator freezer opening and ice being retrieved.

  “Marcus—you’re spoiling Jack,” Kate complained.

  Marcus burst out laughing. “And you’re not? That pizza’s got Italian sausage on it.”

  “Really?” Jack asked.

  “It is almost your birthday,” Kate conceded.

  “As good an excuse as any,” Jack agreed. “Hey, Lizzy, how are the music lessons coming?” he called down the hall.

  She put her head in her hands.

  “What else do you need, Kate?” Marcus asked.

  “Plates and napkins. I think everything else is ready.”

  The group finally appeared in the doorway: Jack in front carrying four glasses, Kate behind him carrying three stacked pizza boxes, Marcus and Lincoln bringing up the rear with plates and towels. Quinn accepted drinks for himself and Lisa.

  “Hey, kiddo.” Jack sat down on the armrest of Lisa’s chair.

  “Jack.”

  He dug into his shirt pocket and handed her a small gift-wrapped package.

  “What’s this?”

  “Open it.”

  She tugged at the wrapping paper. It was a small, thin, bright blue square with a grid at the top and a big red button.

  “If you get another note that takes your breath away.”

  She pushed the button and a Halloween scream echoed through the apartment. Kate winced and Lisa laughed. “This is great.”

  “Jack, you’ve got to grow up someday,” Kate noted, stopping beside him to ruffle his hair.

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re acting like a fifth grader with your gag gifts?”

  “Hey, this one was practically practical.” Lisa giggled at her own pun.

  “And her doctor would love me. Laughter’s good medicine.”

  Lisa hugged him. “Thanks.”

  “You’re very welcome.”

  Quinn caught Jack’s gaze, prepared to be amused as Kate was but found himself instead looking at a very serious man behind the humor. He thoughtfully nodded and made a note not to get fooled again by the surface lightness. The humor was deliberate, a serious purpose behind the laughter.

  “Lisa.” Marcus held out a plate.

  “Thanks.” She accepted it and looked at the boxes being set out on the coffee table. “Kate, which one is just cheese?”

  “I think I insulted Carla with your request. She gave me a lecture about the virtues of at least a vegetarian pizza.”

  “She’ll forgive me when I call and rave about how good the pizza was.”

  Kate slid a thick piece from the box. “She put cheese in the crust for you.”

  “See? She’s just protesting for the sake of it.”

  Quinn joined Marcus in starting on the supreme pizza.

  “Kate, where’s Dave?” Jack asked.

  “He’ll be here shortly. He was having dinner with his sister, then was going to pick up dessert on his way over.”

  “Cheesecake?”

  “Knowing Dave, probably.”

  “Great.”

  “You just like to eat.”

  “Freely concede the point,” Jack replied, taking his second slice of Italian sausage pizza.

  “Lincoln, are you having any luck with dates I gave you?” Lisa asked.

  “Where Grant Danford was on the dates the women disappeared?”

  Lisa nodded.

  “Emily is still working on it. He did some traveling, but proving where he was on a particular day a decade ago—not an easy proposition.”

  “Lisa, forget about work for a while,” Marcus recommended.

  “I’ve just got a couple questions.”

  Marcus tugged her purple sock. “They’ll keep. Eat.”

  “Has anyone heard from Jennifer?” Jack asked.

  Lisa perked up. “She was supposed to call after the doctor released her today.”

  “I talked to her this morning,” Kate said. “She’s going to call when she gets to the hotel.”

  “She should be there by now. Let’s call and see.”

  Jack reached over and snagged Kate’s phone. “What’s the hotel number?”

  “It’s the Bismark Grand Hotel in Baltimore,” Lisa replied.

  Jack called information, was connected to the hotel, and asked for Tom or Jennifer. Nodding, he twisted his wrist to move the phone away to pass on the answer. “They’ve just checked in. He’s ringing Jennifer’s room.”

  He moved back the phone, smiling. “Jennifer? It’s Jack. Want to marry me?”

  Lisa giggled. Jack’s opening was an old family joke.

  “Oh, I don’t know. We were sitting around debating if we should show up for this shindig of yours next weekend.” Jack laughed. “Really? In that case I’ve got to be there.”

  “What?” Lisa whispered.

  “She says I get to throw you in the hotel pool after the wedding,” Jack whispered back, obviously improvising.

  Lisa shoved him.

  “You want to talk to Lizzy? She’s acting pretty ditzy at the moment.”

  “Give me the phone.”

  “Hold on, here she is.”

  Jack passed the phone to Kate instead, who accepted it with a laugh. “Jen, Jack is being his normal jokester self tonight.” Kate reached for another napkin. “Lisa’s fine—although she had me order cheese pizza from Carla’s again. How are you doing? Ready to fly home tomorrow?”

  “Sure. Which ones? The true white or the cream?”

  Kate turned to Marcus and mimicked writing a note. He reached behind him to the end table for her notepad. She nodded her thanks as she took it and the pen.

  “What else?”

  She started making a list. “Not a problem. If I don’t have it, Stephen will.” Kate looked over at Lisa. “Do you know if you kept one of Tina’s lace handkerchiefs in your scrapbooks? Jen needs to borrow something old.”

  “I’m sure I did.”

  Kate added it to the list. “I’ll bring everything,” she confirmed to Jennifer. “Dave’s flying us down at noon Friday. Have you tried on the dress again?” Kate smiled. “I can’t wait to see it. I’d better hand you over to Lisa now.” Kate passed over the phone.

  “Jen? They’re ganging up on me again,” Lisa protested. She listened for a moment, laughed, then settled back in the chair. “Really? I don’t know.” Lisa glanced over, caught Quinn’s gaze. “I suppose I could ask him.”

  He quirked an eyebrow at her, wishing he could hear both sides of that conversation. Jen said something and Lisa dropped her eyes, actually blushed, a fact that made Quinn sit up straighter and grin as he wat
ched Lisa.

  “No.” Lisa snuggled deeper into the chair and turned her attention to pulling threads from the tear in the knee of her jeans as she listened to Jennifer. “Maybe.” She shook her head. “No, it should be Rachel.” She made a face at the phone. “Jen—”

  “Oh, all right. Hold on.” She held out the phone to Quinn. “She wants to talk to you.”

  Quinn accepted the phone with some surprise. “Hi, Jennifer.”

  “I need a favor.”

  He knew when it was time to be cautious. “Okay.”

  “Lizzy.”

  Quinn looked over, found her watching her. “Humm.”

  “She’s being stubborn. I want her to be my maid of honor. But she wants it to be Rachel or Kate, and they both insist it has to be the others. My wedding is going to get here before it gets settled. So I’ve made an executive decision. It’s going to be Lizzy. But I’m not there to convince her.”

  “Jen.”

  “Come on. After all this time, don’t you have a little pull? Sweet-talk her into it or something.”

  “Or something.” Still, Quinn smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Thanks. So have you asked her out yet?”

  “Jenny.”

  She laughed. “I vote with Kate. It would be good to keep you in the family.”

  He couldn’t think of a reply.

  “Are you blushing?”

  “Probably.” His drawl had intensified, a good indication he was.

  She laughed. “Then I’ll be nice and let you go. But I want you at my wedding wearing your tux and your boots. And I’m putting you in charge of Lizzy while she’s here.”

  “Impossible, but I’ll do my best.”

  “Thank you. Pass me to Marcus. My brother and I need to chat about this bachelor party thing. I want Tom awake at our wedding.”

  Quinn laughed and complied.

  Marcus accepted the phone. “Hi, precious.”

  “What did she want?” Lisa leaned over to ask softly.

  “That would be telling.”

  “Quinn.”

  He loved watching her struggle with patience. “Later.”

  Quinn watched Lisa stretch her hands over her head, her movements slow, then wince when she tried to straighten her arms. She hurriedly lowered her arms, taking a deep breath as she pressed her hand against her ribs. He saw it, Kate didn’t. The family gathering had just broken up. Marcus, Lincoln, and Jack headed out together. Dave was still lingering. Quinn could understand that. He wasn’t in a hurry to leave either.

  “It’s later. What did Jennifer want?”

  Quinn looked at Lisa, then glanced over at Kate. “Kate, give us a minute.”

  Kate paused in picking up the clutter, looked at him, and stopped what she was doing. “I’ll walk Dave to his car.”

  “Circle the block.”

  She grinned. “Did you hear that, Dave?”

  He stepped back into the living room. “What?”

  “You have to take me for a walk around the block.”

  Dave leaned against the doorjamb and grinned. “Really? I have to?”

  Kate encircled his waist with her arm. “Yes.” She glanced at Quinn. “We’ll be back in half an hour?”

  “Good enough.”

  The two of them left.

  “You just tossed her out of her own apartment,” Lisa remarked, stunned.

  “She didn’t mind,” Quinn replied, amused, knowing it was true. He got up to finish the task Kate had been doing, replaced the candy dish and magazines that had been moved from the coffee table earlier, and carried the drinking glasses into the kitchen, using the time to decide what he wanted to say.

  When he returned, he settled on the couch and studied her. “I’ll get you out of being maid of honor if you’re saying no because you can’t wear the dress that long.”

  Lisa cringed. “That’s what she asked you?”

  “One of the things.”

  She leaned her head back against the tall wingback chair and closed her eyes. “Quinn, I don’t want her to know. The last thing Jennifer needs to be doing is worrying about me.”

  “If you were to wear the dress for literally just the wedding ceremony?”

  “Even if the seamstress could work magic tomorrow—” She shook her head. “The painkillers will help, but the maid of honor is the host of ceremonies for the reception. Even if I could change out of the dress, I’d be hurting and Jen’s way too perceptive.”

  “Do you want to be able to say yes?”

  She nodded.

  “Then let me work out the logistics. I can make it happen without anyone realizing it’s happening.”

  She looked doubtful.

  “Trust me.”

  “Okay, I’ll tell her yes.”

  “Let me tell her. I’ll call in a few markers when I do it.”

  Lisa nodded. She awkwardly pushed herself out of the chair, then turned to look out the living room window. “Quinn, about the note?”

  “What about it?”

  “Do you think it was Marla’s killer?”

  “Yes.” He left it simple and straightforward. It was always the better choice.

  “I want to go back and look again at the scene where Marla was found.”

  “No.”

  She turned and looked at him. “It’s not a light request. I need to see what I missed. It’s time to ask a lot of questions.”

  “Lincoln and Marcus are on the case full-time now. There is no need for you to be in the mix.”

  “Quinn—”

  “No. That’s final. From both of us and your boss.”

  “You talked to Ben?”

  “Yes. And the only way you keep working these cases is if you listen to what we’re telling you. He has no desire to see you get hurt again, and Marcus and I don’t want you in the way of the investigation.”

  “It’s my job to investigate suspicious deaths.”

  She wasn’t going back to Knolls Park until the person responsible for that note was stopped. “Whether you like it or not, you’re a civilian and this is a job for a cop.”

  “Don’t take away my ability to do my job.”

  “The limits are there for your own protection.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  The mutiny of emotions on her face mixed together—relief not to have to face Knolls Park again, frustration that she was being ordered to stay away. Quinn kept his voice calm. “I know, but you’ll keep within them anyway.” He took a risk, invaded her space, settled his arms around her, and hugged her. “I don’t want you thinking about any of this tonight. I want you to get some sleep.”

  He’d surprised her; she tensed but then he felt her relax. She moved her cheek against his chest. “Not going to call and wake me up to talk?”

  She sounded disappointed. And he felt hope. “Another time.”

  Seventeen

  “They were all buried near water.”

  Quinn looked up from the police report on Mrs. Treemont. The whiteboard had become a grid: down the left side were the victims’ names; across the top, common traits. Buried face down was marked for all of them. Tape was marked for Heather, Vera, and Rita. Lisa had added the word water at the top of the grid as a common trait.

  “Rita, buried near a river. Marla, buried near a pond. Heather, buried under a fountain.” She noted a yes in the grid boxes.

  “Mrs. Treemont was found buried near her rosebushes, and Vera Wane was found next to her garage,” he countered.

  “We haven’t visited the scenes.” She put in question marks for those two names instead of a no. “The officer may not have realized the significance of location to this killer. Maybe there’s water nearby and it simply isn’t mentioned.”

  “Daylight,” Quinn offered.

  She wrote that as a common trait. “That has to be significant. It’s not only the added risk he takes, it’s the fact that it’s true in all cases. He hasn’t struck at night.”

  “What’s that tell us?
He works nights, so has to kill during the day?”

  Lisa winced. “Or he’s in a job where his boss doesn’t realize he’s gone.”

  “Lisa, we think he was watching the victims for some time before he struck, correct?”

  “That would definitely appear to be the case with Marla.”

  “In order to take advantage of their routines, he’d have to snatch them about the same time of day he’s been observing them.”

  She hurriedly found a piece of paper to jot down the idea.

  “He watches them for several days if not weeks to learn their routine. He grabs and kills and then buries them, the location of the grave being a significant part of his MO,” Quinn summarized.

  “He can’t be doing that with an occasional day off work. His job is taking him to his victims and putting him into their worlds.”

  “Exactly. A working man killer.”

  “But look at the geography pattern,” Lisa noted. “Who would travel that kind of range? Be able to stay in one area for a week or weeks necessary to make the selection of a victim, establish her routine, and carry out the crime?”

  “A salesman would be in and out. Even repairmen would be too temporary.”

  “A builder,” Lisa offered.

  Quinn slowly nodded. “Knolls Park has been undergoing a lot of restorations over the years turning it into an upper-middle-class neighborhood. And didn’t Vera have a garage built recently?”

  “Where’s the master list of case names? All the people the police indicated they interviewed. If we take them for all the cases, sort them together—maybe there will be a common name across all the cases.”

  “Give it to Diane to work up. There are a lot of names in these files.”

  Lisa started marking pages with Post-it notes to photocopy for Diane.

  Quinn set down his pen and rested back against the chair to look at the board. “We’re making progress.”

  “Slowly. I wish we had some indication of who left the note.”

  “The odds of getting prints were small. I find it more interesting that he was so bothered by what we were doing, he risked telling us he was around in exchange for scaring you. That risk doesn’t make sense.”

  “Maybe he saw it as an opportunity to tell someone what he did. It’s a nine-year-old crime. He got away with it, but no one knows.”