Law of Five

by Robin Mahle

  Shaun inhaled, preparing to speak. “I don’t know much about him. I really don’t. Except that he stole my password and broke into the school’s files to get information about you. Look, I don’t want to get fired, okay? I need this job. I’m not one of those privileged pricks whose moms and dads pay for everything.”

  “I’m not going to tell anyone what Edward did, okay? That’s not why I’m here. You won’t get fired,” Katie reassured him.

  “He asked me once, after we’d had a couple of beers, if I’d ever had a threesome. I told him no and he said he had—a lot of them. He said he went to this swingers club or something like that and wanted to know if I’d be interested in that sort of thing. What man isn’t, right? I mean, at least as a fantasy, but that just isn’t me. I told him no. After that, we didn’t hang out as much. I saw him a few more times, but he was distant. Well, until a couple of weeks ago when he asked me to come down and meet him at the bar.

  “I figured he just wanted to hang out. And it started out that way at first, but then he started asking about my job. The kind of information I had access to.”

  “So, somehow, he got a hold of your password and found my file?”

  “I guess.”

  There was no truth in his eyes. Katie had given him an out and he had latched onto it. Edward hadn’t stolen anything from him. Shaun had given it willingly and she had to know why. It was more than money. There had to be another way. So far, she had only gotten information already known to her. What was Shaun hiding?

  Katie thought for a moment about Agent Scarborough and about the profile Agent Myers so diligently crafted. The poem came to mind. I’ll be back tomorrow. And her theory of the Law of Fives. Order from chaos.

  All these things swirled in her mind, trying to fit together, but the pieces weren’t matching up. Four weeks, four murders, four different locations, except for Lindsay, Nick was sure she was an anomaly. Another one was coming and, somehow, Edward had become entangled in it. He knew someone or someone knew of him. This obsession he had with her didn’t seem to fit anywhere in the equation, unless she was to be number five.

  Katie dropped her head, closing her eyes tightly. It just wasn’t making sense.

  “Are you okay?” Shaun asked.

  She noticed his look had changed. He seemed almost pleased by her obvious frustration. “I’m fine. It’s just that I’ve been through a lot, you know?” she began, wondering if an attempt to play on his sympathies might work. “More than a few people have taken to my story, wanting to know more about me and it’s hard to tell where their curiosity ends and obsession begins.” Katie pushed up from her seat. “If you recall anything else about Edward, or know of anyone who was close to him, I’d really appreciate you letting me know. Edward’s in a great deal of trouble and I guess I should be grateful that he’s off the streets, but I’m not entirely convinced of his guilt. I’m not entirely convinced that he intended to harm me, either. But, the FBI’s got him now and I guess I’ll never know his true intentions.” She began walking towards the door, hoping he would stop her. And he did.

  “Katie.” Shaun rose quickly. “Do they really think he’s the Highway Hunter?”

  Katie saw the curiosity now swimming in his eyes. “Did Edward ever mention anything to you about that case?”

  Shaun immediately retreated. “Caught it on the news last week at the bar. That’s all,” Shaun replied.

  “He’s in a shitload of trouble, Shaun. They’ve got a strong case against him.” She opened the door. “Thanks for your time. I won’t get you into any trouble, I promise.” Katie proceeded into the hallway and found herself back in the reception area.

  The girl behind the desk had an anticipatory grin on her face. Katie replied with two thumbs up and a smile before leaving.

  ***

  When Katie returned to the station, Marshall was back in his office and she stopped in to see him. “So you got another case?”

  “Yep. We’re looking for a missing husband. Thirty-nine, white collar job with an investment firm. The wife doesn’t seem to know much about what her husband does for work. She stays at home with their two young kids. He works late hours.” Marshall pushed his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know. I’m running background checks on them now. How about you? How’d you fare with Shaun Hudson?”

  Katie cocked her head slightly.

  “Gibbons told me.” He raised a hand before she could speak. “It’s okay. You don’t have to account for every second of your day to me. You have a job to do and so do I. And frankly, I’m glad to see you’re helping Gibbons out with this—and Scarborough.”

  “Hudson is hiding something, I just don’t know what yet.”

  “What makes you think that?” Marshall asked.

  “The kid was a nervous wreck, first of all. More than you’d expect him to be just for copying a set of files he shouldn’t have. He started talking about how Shalot wanted him to go to those same ‘parties’ you learned of from those women.”

  Marshall shook his head. “So what’s he hiding, then?”

  “He asked if they thought Shalot was the Highway Hunter; asked if he really killed Lindsay Brown.” Katie turned away. “I don’t know. He seemed more than a little curious. He seemed—scared.”

  “Maybe we ought to find out a little bit more about him. Have you said anything to Gibbons yet?”

  “No. Not yet. I just got back. But, you think it’s worth looking into him further?”

  “Why not? Scarborough and his team need all the help they can get. I don’t know if it’ll amount to anything, but better to be sure, rule it out, you know? I mean, the guy repaid Shalot with your personal information. I don’t like him already.”

  ***

  The haze that hung in the air mingled with the clouds as the sun fell behind the mountain. He’d never seen such a beautiful sunset before. The sky looked like an enormous water-colored painting. Maybe Phoenix wasn’t so bad after all.

  Nick turned from the stunning view, retreating back inside from the balcony of his hotel room where Georgia lay resting on the bed.

  Agent Jameson was still at the sheriff’s office, working in the lab with the local CSI team, still evaluating the crime scene.

  The post-mortem revealed once again what Nick had already known, with one exception that could perhaps be the break they needed in this investigation. The exception was what Jameson had remained behind to work on. Getting a possible DNA hit in CODIS. They would again have to wait for confirmation.

  It seemed the perpetrator may have gotten careless, leaving a trace amount of semen in the crease of the victim’s inner thigh. From what they knew so far, none of the other victims had been sexually assaulted. This further confirmed what Nick had already seen coming, that the suspect or suspects, had become more unpredictable and began taking greater chances. This often happened when body counts were on the rise and a killer believed himself to be untouchable. Negligence would prevail.

  Meanwhile, Nick was still coordinating with Kentucky, Colorado, and Virginia. The suspect in the surveillance video from Kentucky still hadn’t been identified, only knowing for sure that he was male and about five feet five inches, slight build. What they knew for sure was that they were dealing with at least two distinct killers. Virginia had turned up evidence suggesting that their suspect was a male, medium to large build, based on the angles of the wounds on the victim and the depth of the incision in her chest.

  Agent Myers further deduced, based on labs and forensics, that they were looking for Caucasian men in their mid to late twenties, also taking into consideration that the murders happened in rural, predominately white locations. With the exception of Lindsay Brown. She was still the odd one out.

  16

  AS IT TURNED out, Marc had been working on his own to identify the person who had anonymously shared so much about Edward Shalot. Katie remained awake at this early hour of the morning, a returned call having finally come from him late last night. She now sat at her
computer, the lone glow casting unkind shadows on her face. Marshall would be up soon. She would tell him what she had discovered, what Marc had emailed to her, and they would need to inform Agent Scarborough.

  Exhaustion only enhanced the sickening feeling that turned her stomach. It seemed she might have been wrong about Edward Shalot.

  The sound of the bedroom door caught her attention, but Katie remained seated. She heard footfalls on the floor approaching from down the hall and cast her eyes away from the laptop, waiting for them to adjust to the dim, dusky light that was filtering through their apartment. Marshall stood in the doorway.

  “Have you been up all night?” he asked.

  “Marc sent me something. Something he got from his source,” she replied.

  Marshall cautiously approached, anticipating the bomb she was about to drop. “This same source who gave him the blog posts and surveillance photos? And did Marc happen to say who this person was?” He lowered himself carefully into the chair opposite the desk.

  “You remember me telling you about Myers’ profile of the suspects? How she believed it may have something to do with that religion called Discordianism?” Katie didn’t wait for a reply.

  “Anyway. I don’t know how far she’s gotten with that theory. I’m guessing she’s still pursuing the idea, considering the ritualistic style of the murders, but Marc sent me this link to a website.” She pressed a button on her laptop and turned the screen around so Marshall could see.

  He began reading it.

  As he read, Katie continued, “These people? They believe in the Chaos theory and the Law of Five. And a part of their beliefs is that in order to be close to their ‘Lady of Discord,’ they engage in what can only be described as orgies. The more the merrier kind of thing. The indiscriminate selection of multiple partners allows chaos to flourish.”

  “Christ.” Marshall rubbed his face. “I haven’t even had my morning coffee yet.”

  “Sorry.” She continued. “From what I can tell, this religion, this Discordianism, doesn’t seem to have any rules. Interpretation is left up to its followers. This particular faction seems to share the same sexual inclinations, the same interpretation of the religion.”

  “A little like our Edward Shalot,” Marshall replied. “But that doesn’t explain the murders. Unless.” He paused for a moment. “Unless they needed to explore their theory of Chaos in more depth, to discover greater pleasures in the disorder. Maybe a few of these guys decided to take it a step further, but I thought you didn’t believe Shalot killed Lindsay Brown, despite the evidence?”

  Katie pressed her lips into a thin smile. “I don’t. I think someone wants us to believe he did. Retribution, maybe. I don’t know for what. But I’m convinced he’s a part of this group. He sure as hell fits the bill. We need to let Agent Scarborough in on this. I have a feeling Agent Myers will be interested in our discovery.”

  “I think he’ll also be interested in the fact that Marc Aguilar seems to be getting an awful lot of information from a source he claims is anonymous. Kate, you gotta get Marc to find out who this source is. This person seems to be the key to everything. If we can set up a meeting between the two, I doubt Scarborough would have any qualms about jumping in and arresting whoever it is Marc is talking to. We can’t let it continue. Lives are at stake here.”

  ***

  The speaker phone rang through to the other line as Marshall, Katie, and Detective Gibbons waited to speak with Agent Scarborough. Gibbons’ people were still digging into Shaun Hudson, but so far, had nothing of any real significance.

  They waited for the agent to pick up.

  “Scarborough,” he answered.

  “This is Detective Gibbons. I’m here with Detective Avery and Katie Reid. Do you have a minute?”

  “I do. Hello, Detective Avery, Katie.”

  Marshall nodded to Katie. “This is your find. Go ahead.”

  After the lengthy explanation into how she received the information from Marc, the website, and about the connection of the cultish religion to what they already knew of Edward Shalot, Scarborough remained silent.

  “And when you talked with Shaun Hudson yesterday, he made mention of Shalot’s interest in these sex parties?” Scarborough asked.

  “He did. With little prompting, as a matter of fact. It was as if Hudson wanted to cast a dark cloud over Shalot. Reinforce the fact that he wanted us to believe Shaun had been used by him to get my files, and that Edward wasn’t a quote, unquote, normal guy,” Katie replied.

  Marshall jumped in. “Gibbons and I were able to speak with a few of the women who had the unfortunate run-ins with Shalot. He asked them to join him in these parties as well. They expressed that he became angry when they turned him down, got physical with them too. They were too afraid to go to the authorities, so some took to the internet. With what we know now, I gotta think Shalot was recruiting for his little group of believers.” Marshall looked to Gibbons for confirmation.

  “I would have to agree,” Gibbons began. “This could very well be the case.”

  “We’ve got Shalot in custody; we’ve got a DNA match. And from what I’m hearing, you all think he’s a part of this cult that Myers initially based her theories on, and because of this information Katie received from Aguilar. So we are in agreement that he did, in fact, kill Brown?” Scarborough asked.

  “I know that I’m probably the only one not convinced of Shalot’s guilt as it relates to Brown. It just seems too convenient, too simple. I do, however, believe Shaun was lying about his involvement with Shalot, Agent Scarborough. He may be a part of this group as well,” Katie said. “And I think we ought to press Marc Aguilar about this source. Whoever it is seems to be feeding him a lot of information; information that appears intent on convicting Shalot.” This was the first time she would express the idea, but it had only just occurred to her. “We should consider the possibility that Hudson could very well be Marc’s source. He’s someone who knows a great deal about Shalot and about his extracurricular activities. And if he’s involved in the same sort of thing, he may be looking for a way out. That would certainly explain why he might be the one sending Marc these details.”

  Scarborough’s heavy sigh was amplified through the speaker. “We’re still working on the Phoenix victim, but I think this is worth hopping on a plane and sifting through this information together. I’ll bring the team with me. I know Myers’ already handed off some of her information to our guys in the BSU who specialize in cult activities. She might have more insight. It’s what, nine a.m. now? I’ll see if we can get on the next flight out of here. If so, it should put us back in San Diego by about eleven or twelve. We’ll plan on seeing you all then.” Scarborough ended the call.

  The room fell quiet as the three appeared to be considering options for this new approach.

  “First thing we need to do is get Marc down here. When I talked to him last night, before he emailed me the link, he mentioned that he’d been trying to arrange a meeting with his contact. If he can do that, we can put a wire on him or something. I don’t know, but this source is the key,” Katie said.

  “If we get a name, we won’t need to wire Aguilar. We’ll arrest the son of a bitch for obstructing an investigation and if it turns out he’s a part of this group, he’ll go down for conspiracy to commit murder too,” Gibbons replied.

  “If Hudson is the source and he’s knee-deep in this cult and looking for a way out, I don’t get why he wouldn’t just come to us anyway as soon as he discovered that Edward killed Lindsay Brown. We could have offered protection,” Katie said.

  “No point in speculating right now. Let’s be sure we know who this source is first. Then we can deal with the aftermath,” Gibbons started. “Avery, I know you’re working on another investigation. Katie and I can handle Aguilar and we’ll touch base when the feds get here.”

  ***

  Marc agreed to meet with them at the same restaurant Katie had met him the other day. During her conversation with
him, she thought he had grown nervous about the fact he hadn’t gone to the police with the information his source had been feeding him. It turned out that it had been a bad call.

  “I see him over there.” Katie led the way to the table where Marc sat alone. “Marc. Thank you for meeting with us. This is Detective Dave Gibbons. He’s working on the Brown investigation along with the FBI.”

  “Pleasure.” Gibbons shook his hand. “Katie tells me you’ve been trying to get your source to reveal his identity. Any luck with that yet?” He wasted no time, as was his style. There was too much at stake and time was ticking away until the next victim.

  “As I mentioned to Katie last night, he finds a way to contact me, not the other way around. He’s never contacted me via email, so I have no way of tracking him down through an IP address. The guy calls the main line and gets transferred to my extension. If I don’t answer, he doesn’t leave a message. If I do answer, his words are brief, the call lasting probably less than a minute. I get my instructions on where to pick up whatever he’s got for me and that’s it.” Marc looked to Katie.

  She picked up on the fact that his look was intended to confirm she was still an ally. The idea that he was keeping this all to himself simply for the sake of a story went against everything she knew about him. “At the start of all this, Marc wasn’t sure this source was genuine.”

  “That’s right.” Marc appeared reassured. “I get this call telling me that this Highway Hunter is coming to San Diego. I mean, do you have any idea how many crank calls we get at the station? Most of these people are just looking for their fifteen minutes. And that’s when I first asked Katie to check in with her friend at the FBI.”