by RJ Blain
I waited until Kenneth set his phone back on the coffee table to ask, “What happened to the recordings?”
“They’re dragging their feet about it. I’ll probably have to get another court order to get them to hand an unaltered copy over. Their security team is supposed to be monitoring the pool; there were no warning signs stating the area wasn’t unmonitored, which might make them liable depending on the cause of the lapse and how the murder was committed. My bets are on strangulation using a cord of some sort. That leads me to believe the killer is a woman.”
“Not strong enough to strangle someone with her bare hands?” I speculated.
“Correct, and the gouges on the woman’s throat weren’t deep enough to be consistent with a man’s strength. While the killer could be a weak man or a man trying to hide his gender, I find it unlikely.”
“But how would a woman haul someone into the ceiling like that without anyone noticing?”
“I’d place my bets on a pulley system of some sort, but we need to wait until everything has been documented and filed as evidence before we can try to replicate it.”
“Can we try a different spot down the hallway as an experiment?”
“We can go down and ask if they found any evidence a pulley was used and see what else they’ve scrounged up while we’ve been up here going through this information.” Kenneth gathered the papers, set them in his briefcase, and locked it. “Here’s the first rule of investigating with me as your partner. We lock up all evidence in the most secure places we can and take it with us whenever possible. If I don’t have a secure place, I head to the nearest police station and use one of their safes. I’m considered paranoid, but if the wrong person gets a hold of the information I’m working with, it can cause problems with the investigation.”
“And let the guilty parties get ahead of us. Makes sense. No handing over anything to anyone, since we don’t know what abilities someone might have, either.”
“Well, you’re ahead of the curve. The last individuals my boss tried to partner me with found me a little too paranoid for their liking.”
“Why do I have a feeling part of the reason you’ve been solo undercover in narcotics is because you’re such a pain in the ass that not even hardened FBI agents can handle you?”
“At risk of being assaulted by an aggressive, angry swan, you’re smarter than you look.”
I planted my hands on my hips. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
“If you decided to take up a career in pole dancing, you’d make a fortune. You’re not society’s standard bimbo, but you’re packing the goods in a way that make men pay attention. I’m blaming your mother for that, for the record.”
Damned Mom, daring to pass some of her succubus genes to me. “I think you need your eyes examined, Kenneth.”
“No, I don’t. My eyes are just fine. I’ll enjoy proving you’re wrong. It’ll be enjoyable for one of us.”
Killing Kenneth wouldn’t do; he needed to live a long time so I could pop his smug little bubble at my leisure. “You just love yanking my chain, don’t you?”
“It’s quickly becoming my favorite hobby.”
Of course. I should’ve known. One day, I might understand Kenneth and his weird sense of humor. With the way my luck was headed, I’d end up stuck with him for a long time. At the rate I was going, I’d like it.
I blamed Dad and inheriting his virus for that. Lycanthropes liked a challenge. However, just to be sure, I’d ask Ma if I’d been dropped on my head as a baby. That might explain a few things, too.
Chapter Nine
Progress had been made since we’d retreated to our room to talk about the situation. The woman was gone and several people were on ladders examining where her body had been hidden. Kenneth observed for a while before clearing his throat to catch their attention, soft enough he wouldn’t startle someone into falling. “Got anything for us up there?”
“Would a stash of busted security cameras interest you?” one replied, climbing down with a plastic bag containing a broken mess of wires and plastic. The middle-aged man, his dark hair peppered with gray, nodded to me before focusing on Kenneth. “I think we’ve figured out why security didn’t see anything in the pool. We’ve got at least twenty individual camera units up here. Looks like someone was in a hurry and needed a place to dump the evidence. We’ll check for latent prints in the lab; it should be the first thing we have back for you.”
“Any evidence of a pulley system up there?”
The man’s brows rose. “Have you been down there waiting that long?”
“Not quite. We were trying to figure out how the killer got her up there.”
“Well, you figured right. Someone jury-rigged a pulley system to one of the support beams up here. Shoddy but functional job. I got some useful information for you, though. Even more useful than the pulley, I think.”
Kenneth stared up into the ceiling, his eyes narrowed in thought. “What did you find?”
“Someone used an aversion on the pool, the dumpster where the third body was found, and this hallway, and we think we have it timed out to lasting an hour and a half, plenty of time to knock out the cameras and keep anyone from coming to investigate. We’ll have better information on the times of death by morning. Also, I’m confident all three victims were strangled and relocated after death. We believe the killer used aversions strategically placed in the building to hide the movement of the bodies, although I don’t think the bodies were dragged to their destination. Unless we can recover something from the cameras, we may not be able to confirm how the bodies were moved unless we get a lucky break.”
“Or the killer made a dumb mistake. Considering you’ve already found the cameras, I’m uncharacteristically hopeful.” Kenneth gestured to the ladder. “You mind?”
The man pointed at a box of latex gloves tossed off to the side. “Look but don’t touch. I’ve got a full set of photographs for you, which I’ll upload within the next hour. The chief will send you the credentials to access them.”
“Excellent.” Kenneth snatched a pair of gloves, snapped them on, and scrambled up the ladder to have a closer look in the ceiling. “What the hell? It’s a dumpster up here!”
“Gathering evidence has been an adventure.” The man flashed a grin at me. “Welcome aboard, ma’am. I’m Trevor, and I’m in charge of this motley crew of forensics gophers here to help you make sense of the senseless.”
“Emma.”
“If you call her jail bird, she bristles nicely,” Kenneth added.
“You’re lucky you’re near evidence, Agent Bernard, or I’d be kicking the ladder out from beneath your ass.”
Trevor chuckled. “I like a woman who knows to respect the evidence.”
“Her father’s a lycanthrope and a lawyer. Flirt at your own risk,” Kenneth warned.
“If you’re trying to mark your territory, come down here so I can laugh in your face.” I shook my head. “Any idea how long she was dead before she was found hanging from the ceiling?”
“I won’t be able to confirm anything until we’ve had a closer look at her, but judging from the setup, she was stiff when she was put up there and was just starting to soften when her body was discovered.”
In ideal conditions, rigor mortis began four hours after death with eight hours being considered a typical average. That someone had stuffed her up there while she was stiff surprised me. “She’d be a lot harder to move during rigor mortis, and it’s not a long window. Moving her probably sped the softening process, too.”
I remembered his mention of the aversion lasting approximately an hour and a half, and I wondered how the killer’s magic factored into the woman’s time of death.
“Roughly. If she was outside, could be shorter, but from the looks of her, she’d been dead for around twelve hours before being found. I’m surprised. You actually know something about human decomposition.”
“Call it an unhealthy interest in criminal law.”
&n
bsp; Kenneth sighed. “She’s a lawyer, Trevor. She’s also got this infuriating habit of understating her knowledge and abilities, so she might have enough schooling in forensics to make us look like slouches.”
“Huh. Do you even have a suspect yet? A little early to be bringing in a lawyer.”
“She’s being recruited to be my partner. Apparently, my boss really wanted me on this case when I’m pretty certain Boulder has at least one office here and could’ve brought in someone local for this.”
I sighed. “Your boss wants you out of narcotics and working with homicides.”
“Not just homicides, serial killers.” Kenneth sighed and climbed down. “It’s a mess up there. What is that junk?”
“We’re not sure, but we’re looking at a few hours bagging everything.”
“What a bloody mess. You have my cell?”
“The chief gave it to us.”
“Give me a call if you find anything interesting. Let’s go take a walk and see what we can find before they kill us for contaminating their crime scene.”
“Want to see if we can find how the bodies were moved?”
“Exactly.”
I nodded and followed his lead. Our first stop was to the lobby, where Kenneth ambushed the poor woman behind the desk and asked for a map of the resort. He dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a marker, uncapped it, and headed to the front doors. “We’ll do the exterior first. If someone’s using an aversion while we’re doing this, we’ll be able to see it on the map.”
I frowned. “Really? Wouldn’t we notice where we haven’t checked?”
“No. It doesn’t work like that unless it’s a mutated ability. The aversion would make us completely forget about the place, so we wouldn’t touch it on the map. Once the aversion wears off, it’ll be the only place we haven’t looked. If the aversion is really strong, it’ll contaminate the map itself, so no one will notice we haven’t been there until it wears off. It’s a very dangerous ability, perfect for a killer who doesn’t want to get caught.”
“They could have all the time in the world with their victim and no one would go near them.” I shuddered at the thought of being trapped with someone out to kill me with no hope of help. “Won’t that make her dangerous to apprehend?”
“I’m armed, and being able to set an aversion doesn’t make her immune to bullets. Stick close to me, and you should be fine. If we’re separated and she gets you alone somewhere, no matter what happens, keep fighting.”
“I will.”
“Good. After we do our walk around, we’ll go to our room. I’ll teach you a few self-defense tricks that might help in a pinch.”
“That might be a good idea.”
Dad cleared his throat behind me, and I sighed. “If you say a single thing about what you’ll do to him if I get a single bruise, we’re joining forces and beating the sense back into you.”
“You need to have your virus levels checked, Emma. You’re grouchy enough your mothers are worried about setting you off. You might murder your man before you have a chance to get laid. I tried telling them you’d probably be less grouchy after you get laid, but that earned me a double beating.”
“Why haven’t my mothers killed you yet?”
“They adore me. They’d miss me if they indulged in my murder. I also agreed to go with their harebrained scheme to try to marry you off so we can have another chick.”
I eyed the nearest wall and wondered how hard I’d have to hit myself to make the pain go away. “Why hasn’t it occurred to you idiots you can have another chick whenever you want? I’m an adult. I think I can handle my parents having another child. If you get rid of me, you lose your free babysitter.”
“Your mothers made me swear to one at a time.”
“My mothers are idiots.”
“What are you two up to?”
“We’re investigating,” I replied, mindful of Kenneth’s warning to keep investigative matters private.
“You’re welcome to investigate with us. I’m concerned our jail bird may be one of the targets. So far, she fits the profile.”
“I’d noticed a few disturbing similarities in the victims.”
“You’ve seen them all?”
“Someone posted photographs of the bodies online, presented with a mention of the resort. They were taken after the bodies were found but before they were taken to the morgue. I’m willing to bet your killer’s hanging around and wants everyone to know about the deaths.” Dad grunted and ground his teeth together. “I hate when they’re so damned proud of themselves. They want the notoriety. They want the attention.”
“Or they want to send a message.” Kenneth held up his new map of the resort. “We’re going to get the lay of the land in case we’ve missed something or an aversion has been placed.”
“There’s been a lot of those around here, that’s for sure.” Dad fetched his phone and placed a call. “Hey, babe? Mind coming to take a walk around with the chicks? They want to do an evidence sweep and might get caught up in one of those aversions plaguing this place.”
“Wait, what do you mean by plaguing the place?” I demanded.
“They’ve been popping up all over the resort all day. Guests have been complaining left and right it’s taking a long time to get to their rooms. The elevators keep getting hit, which is making a mess of things.”
I blinked, and it occurred to me we’d taken the stairs without thinking about it. “You’re right. We took the stairs. Why the hell would we take the stairs from the top floor?”
“We needed the exercise.”
I glared at Kenneth. “Maybe you need the exercise, but I’m in good shape, thank you. I dance every day.”
“When are you going to dance today?”
“Before bed, if you must know.”
“Can I watch?”
“Don’t sound so hopeful. That’s pathetic. I don’t care if you watch, but it’ll be boring for you.”
“Emma, let the poor man flirt with you. He’s trying to flirt with you. He’s not doing a good job, but he’s trying. You’re going to have to be more aggressive than that, Agent Bernard. She’s dense. That’s from her ma’s side of things.”
Ma appeared, and as I didn’t spot a flash of light, the evil wench of an angel had been spying on us while invisible again. “You’re a bad person, Ma.”
“Your father’s right. If we don’t give you a road map to follow, you’ll get lost on the way, and I might never get any grandchicks.”
“Ma, you’re trying to get rid of me so you can have another baby.”
“That, too. This way, everyone’s happy. Have I applied enough pressure yet? I bribed him, and I’m not sure what I need to do to get you on the move. Where did I go wrong with you, Emma?”
“You didn’t do anything wrong with her. She’s perfect just like she is,” Kenneth protested.
I shot him a look before glaring at Ma. “One of you is wrong, and I’m not sure who.”
“If I told you, that’d ruin my fun,” Ma replied.
“This is all your fault, Dad.”
“Why is it my fault?”
“You couldn’t pick a normal woman. No, you needed an angel, which meant you needed a succubus, and in a lapse of judgement, you picked my mothers. This is all your fault.”
“I have no complaints with the situation.” Dad laughed, shook his head, and herded me along. “One of these days you’ll learn. The more you whine about it, the more we enjoy toying with you because we can. You should know this by now.”
Kenneth looked me in the eyes and said, “How have you not killed them yet?”
“I really don’t know.”
Bloodstains marked where the third woman’s body had been found, and had the serial killer put her in the dumpster rather than behind it, it would’ve taken a long time for someone to find her. A body buried in the bottom of a full dumpster might make it to the local dump or junkyard, effectively ensuring a difficult—or impossible—investigation. T
he bloodstains worried me; the other victims hadn’t bled much, most of the fluids a consequence of decomposition rather than physical violence.
Bloodstains pointed at a different cause of death, be it a from a shooting or stabbing. While bloodied noses could leave stains, the volume pointed at a lethal injury.
It also pointed at a murder of opportunity, one that’d taken place on site rather.
“That’s a curious expression,” Kenneth announced, nudging me with his elbow. “What’s on your mind?”
“The other murders had the victim relocated. With this much blood, do you think she was moved after death?”
Dad grunted, crouching by the bloodstains, and he shook his head. “As far as we can tell, she was killed here. An aversion kept anyone from finding her until late last night. That’s our current theory.”
“Time of death?” Kenneth asked.
“From what I can tell from the photographs I saw, I’d bet early morning yesterday before the dance retreat started.”
We had a busy serial killer on our hands—or killers. Several people working together could make the timing work, although the pulley system led me to believe someone weak, likely a woman, held sole responsibility for the deaths. “Brown hair, blue eyes, my build?”
“Of the three victims, this woman looks closest to you,” my father replied.
Shit. I ran my fingers through my hair and gave my scalp a good scratch. “All right. Do you have a copy of the picture, Dad?”
“I do.” He retrieved his phone, unlocked it, and tossed it to me. “I saved the entire lot to my pictures.”
Whoever she was, the killer enjoyed taking pictures of her victims, which offered a wealth of information about their deaths. The third victim did resemble me, and the killer had stabbed her more times than I cared to count. I compared the image with the bloodstains, narrowing my eyes. “I think she was moved.” I held the phone to Kenneth. “That’s not nearly enough blood for the number of stab wounds in that photo.”