Night Fall

by Nancy Mehl

  “As I’m sure you know,” Logan said, “most serial killers work alone. That’s brought some confusion to this situation. We’re not sure how the two cases fit together.”

  “Wichita tells me a circle was drawn with blood on a wall inside the house,” Karen said to Alex. “With your name in the middle. Do we need to provide you protection?”

  “No. I believe that was done by someone who is connected to the Circle—and knows I’m with the FBI—just so I would back off. It seems likely they knew I took Willow’s copy of The Book. But they thrive on secrecy, and even though they might have killed my aunt and her caregiver, harming someone in law enforcement would certainly increase the chances of bringing them out of the shadows.” She smiled. “Besides, I’m capable of taking care of myself.”

  “Why do you think they knew you had The Book?” Karen asked.

  “The more I think about it, the more I believe the Circle was watching Willow’s house regularly because they wanted her copy of The Book after she had her stroke and stopped hosting Circle meetings. Nettie wasn’t cooperating with them, and then they saw me take away the bag from the house and suspected I had it.”

  “If the attacker was someone from the Circle, the only thing that makes sense is that he knew The Book wasn’t there,” Logan added. “Nothing was disturbed. Not a drawer, not a closet.” He paused. “Unless the attacker didn’t care about The Book.”

  “Couldn’t he have just tried to make it look as if the Circle was involved?”

  Alex shrugged. “Maybe. But the Circle is so secretive, there’s very little chance someone who’s never been a part of it would know enough to draw that symbol above my . . .” Alex stumbled for a moment. Logan realized she’d started to say my bed. “Above the bed,” she finished. “I realize it sounds as if we’re speculating, but I understand the Circle better than anyone who isn’t actually a member. The point is, my experience tells me that Adam Walker is the Train Man and that he has the virus. I believe someone else killed my aunt and Nettie Travers. Somehow it’s all related. I think we have to keep looking at the Circle when it comes to these murders in Wichita.”

  “I’m still concerned about your safety,” Harrison said. His eyes narrowed. “I want you to stay at the command post as much as possible. Anytime you leave, I want to know.”

  “I’m with her almost constantly,” Logan said. “We’ll be careful.”

  “See that you are.” Harrison crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. Logan could see the weariness in his face. “Before Nettie Travers died she tried to tell you someone she knew was in the hospital. Tell us more about that.”

  “First,” Alex said, “she recognized Jimmy in the sketch I made of a man I saw when my aunt had a Circle meeting at her house. I was probably around thirteen by then, maybe fourteen. And as you know, sir, Jimmy showed up at our hotel in Wichita yesterday. He admitted he was at the hospital, even inside Willow’s house after the police had gone. He says he was part of the Circle once, but that he didn’t hurt either woman. He was just trying to protect them. Now he wants to help us find whoever killed them. We think he’s on the level. And since he said he’d nose around and let us know if he learned anything new, we let him go for the time being. He’s willing to be questioned further, though, and we know where to find him.”

  She paused. “Second, Nettie said he was there, but I don’t think she meant Gedrose. I believe she recognized someone else at the hospital, but she died before she could reveal a name. The doctor told us she should have recovered, so she may have been killed somehow. We’re waiting to see the autopsy report.”

  “We suggest you bring in Jimmy Gedrose and talk to him as soon as possible,” Logan said. “We think he might be able to help us, and if he’s on the level, he may need WITSEC.”

  “We’ve already talked to him, as has Chief Rogers,” Harrison said. “We’re bringing him in, and I’ve alerted the U.S. Marshals. They believe he would definitely qualify for the Witness Security Program.”

  “Good,” Alex said. “He can at least shed more light on what it’s like to be inside the Circle.”

  Harrison reached for a pile of papers and pulled off the top one. “I agree with you about the murders of those women. I doubt it was Walker. And not only because the timeline doesn’t fit. Seems he’s been busy sending another letter to the Kansas City Journal, telling them where we could find sacrifice number five. Thankfully, the paper contacted us and promised not to print the letter . . . for now.”

  “I wish they hadn’t printed the first one,” Logan said.

  Harrison shrugged. “I guess they thought it would interest the public. At least they’re willing to work with us this time. We impressed on them how dangerous printing this letter could be. We don’t need this guy glorified, and we also don’t want him to know what we know.” Harrison sighed. “He’s trying to be more creative. He knows we’re watching the trains closely. Frankly, if he stuck with the trains, we’d be more likely to catch him. Now we have no idea where he could be. We can’t even find the car registered to him. I’m hoping this letter will tell you something I’m not seeing.”

  “When was it mailed?” Alex asked.

  “I know why you’re asking. The postmark indicates he was somewhere near Kansas City when your aunt was killed in Wichita.”

  “That settles it for me, then. I don’t think he killed Willow or Nettie. In fact, I’m confident of that. The timeline doesn’t work with the first letter from him, and the MO between the murders here and the murders in Wichita doesn’t match.”

  Logan took the copy of the letter Harrison handed him and began to read it out loud.

  “‘The Master has judged the world and found it wanting. The fifth sacrifice has been offered. The worldly, blind police still haven’t found him. Here is your clue. This is the only help I’ll give you.

  ‘I’ve sadly benched our number five. Too late to find our friend alive. Instead, I’ve staged a great grand hunt. Don’t rail against my latest stunt.

  ‘The last sacrifice is already being prepared. It is time for the Virgin to be offered. When this happens, the demons will set the earth on fire. The angels will fight for mankind, but they will lose. The world will know the Master is God. It is the will of the Master, and I delight in serving him. Do not make the mistake of thinking you can understand the plague I will visit upon the earth. You cannot. It is stronger and more dangerous than you can comprehend. We have created something so powerful there is no cure for it. And as you die, I will laugh. LONG LIVE THE MASTER!

  ‘You should close your eyes, pretend to sleep, and very softly pray,

  or else the evil Train Man may carry you away.

  ‘The Train Man.’”

  “I hate that poem,” Logan said. His throat felt tight, and he had to clear it. “So what does this clue mean?”

  “It’s Union Station,” Alex said.

  “How do you get that?” Logan asked, surprised.

  “The words,” she said, looking at Logan as if he were simple. “Grand refers to the Grand Hall. Hunt is the Jarvis Hunt Room. Of course, rail—”

  “I get it,” Harrison said. “And stage is probably the City Stage Theatre.”

  Alex nodded. “I think our victim is sitting on a bench somewhere near or on the stage.”

  Harrison stood and hurried across the room to where a group of detectives from the KCPD had gathered in front of a large map of the trains that ran through their target area. Karen stood and followed him. After the two spoke to them, the detectives grabbed their coats and hurried out the back door, obviously headed for Union Station. One of them already had his phone up to his ear.

  “Did you notice this letter says the virus has no cure?” Alex asked Logan.

  He nodded. “What does that mean?”

  Harrison returned to the room. “We should find our victim soon,” he said. “Karen is staying here so she can coordinate the search.”

  “We were just talking about this part of the letter,
” Logan said. “‘We have created something so powerful there is no cure for it.’ He said we. Do you think he’s talking about the chemist in Ethiopia?”

  “Seems likely, but here’s a new twist to the story. A few hours ago local authorities in Addis Ababa found Martin Kirabo dead. They think he’s been murdered.”

  22

  Alex couldn’t believe her ears. “By whom?”

  “We don’t know, but we’re wondering if it was the Circle.”

  “I have to say I’m surprised,” Alex said. “People keep telling me the Circle is bigger than I thought it was. That’s hard to believe if it’s true that very few copies of The Book exist, but I’m beginning to think they’re right.” She shook her head. “Everyone has to use a pseudonym. They’re not allowed to use their real names. How could such a huge group come from that?”

  “I don’t know,” Harrison said. “But somehow they’ve managed it. The way they’ve organized this thing has made it almost impossible for us to track them down. That’s why Jimmy Gedrose is important to us. He’s the only known member of the Circle left alive we can talk to.”

  “What about Marcus Pannell?”

  “Dead end. Really dead end. The guy died a few months ago. Nothing sinister. Kidney disease.”

  Alex looked at Logan. “I wonder if Jimmy knew that. Maybe that’s why he gave us that name.”

  “Maybe,” Logan said. “At this point, we can’t be sure.”

  “If the Circle is so deadly, why is Jimmy still alive?” Alex asked. “I have a hard time understanding that. He says he told the group he was ill and could no longer attend the meetings, and it seems they’ve left him alone even though he’s actually recovered. But he presents a hole in their secrecy. Even though I tend to believe him,we need to be careful. He could be a plant.”

  “Noted,” Harrison said. “I’ll contact the Wichita office and suggest they proceed with caution. Hopefully he’s who he seems to be.”

  “I think that’s wise,” Alex said. “If he is for real and the Circle finds out he’s helping us . . .”

  “I’ve distributed your assessment and recommendations,” Harrison said, “but I want you to go over it with our team. You know the drill.”

  Alex nodded. “We’ll do that here?”

  “Yes. I’ll gather the troops.”

  A few minutes later the agents assigned to the case and several of the detectives assigned from the Kansas City field office were gathered around the table. Karen was with them. Alex recognized some of them, but others were strangers to her. The group also included crisis-management agents and an attorney should they need warrants or legal advice. Alex was pretty sure she’d spotted the attorney when she came in. Black suit, shiny shoes, manicured nails, and carefully coifed hair all said lawyer to her.

  Monty slid into the chair next to her. “Glad you guys made it back,” he said. He lowered his voice. “Between you and me, we’ve hit a wall. Hopefully, your friend in Wichita will help us.”

  “I hope so. They’re picking him up today.”

  “Good idea to keep him safe. People are dropping like flies.” He shook his head. “I’ve never been involved in a case like this. It’s crazy. It really is.”

  “I understand,” Alex whispered back. “But we’ll get him.”

  “As long as we’re in time.”

  Monty hadn’t needed to mention time. Alex was certain everyone was thinking the same thing. She could almost hear the tick-tick-tick of an internal clock that wouldn’t shut up. When someone put a hand on her shoulder, she jumped, then looked up to find Mike smiling down at her.

  “Mike,” she said. “Good to see you.”

  “I asked to be assigned to the CP. Since I lived down the street from your aunt for years, I’m hoping I can help identify people coming in and out of her house. I’ll be working with a sketch artist.”

  “That’s smart. You had a better chance of seeing them than I did when I lived there. I was busy hiding in my room.”

  Mike sat down next to Logan and opened his notebook. Everyone around the table had either paper notebooks or electronic tablets.

  Stephen Barstow came up to the table and sat down across from Alex. He smiled at her. “Good to see you again, SSA Donovan.”

  “Good to see you too.” The detective’s dark hair and deep blue eyes made quite an impression. She noticed a female agent sitting a few chairs away from him reach her hand up to check her hair. Then she wiped the sides of her mouth with her finger, no doubt trying to remove any clumped-up lipstick. Alex was pretty sure the woman would have grabbed her purse and checked herself out a little more if she’d seen Stephen before he sat down.

  Harrison moved to the end of the table and stood there flipping through some pages in a large notebook. Finally, he sat down, still looking at the information in front of him. The sound of fingers on keyboards created a steady hum from the other room as analysts searched for anything that would help them with the case.

  Harrison cleared his throat. “Some of you know SSA Logan Hart and SSA Alex Donovan. We’ve given you all copies of their assessment, but I want us to go through it with them in case you have any questions. Also, I need to tell you that we’ve heard from the Train Man again.” He picked up another pile of papers and passed it to his left. “This is a letter the Kansas City Journal received early this morning. Read it, please, before we start.”

  He waited a couple of minutes until everyone at the table looked up at him.

  “We’ll go through the assessment first. Then we’ll talk about this letter.” He turned to Alex and Logan. “Let’s just hit the high points. Like I said, everyone has read the information you sent us.”

  He turned back to the group. “We’re convinced we’re looking for a man named Adam Walker, and we’re pretty sure he’s part of the Circle. As you know, the local newspaper received a letter where the Train Man boasted about having a contagion that could kill millions of people.”

  He gestured toward a woman sitting at the other end of the table. She was short, about sixty, and had blond hair streaked with silver, cut to just above her shoulders. Her expression was solemn.

  “This is Dr. Grace Greene from the CDC. Grace, will you tell us what you know about the virus Walker may have?”

  Grace nodded. “We’re trying to piece the puzzle together the best we can. First, we know a chemist in Ethiopia named Martin Kirabo colluded with a lab research assistant in the United States—the man we’ve identified as Adam Walker.”

  Harrison jumped in. “And Kirabo has been found dead—possibly murdered, maybe by the Circle. We don’t know for sure. Authorities in Addis Ababa have retrieved his cell phone. He called the same number in the United States over thirty times. We discovered that number belonged to Walker based on information from his workplace. That definitely connects them, but that phone is no longer working. We suspect Walker has disposed of it and secured a new one.” He nodded at Grace to continue.

  “We have a lot of concerns about the sample Walker may have. As I said, Kirabo was a chemist, and it’s possible he altered the sample. He may have attempted to turn it into something far worse than Ebola itself. Something we have no vaccine for.”

  “Is it airborne?” a woman asked. Alex had no idea who she was.

  “We hope not. Ebola is normally spread by contact. An exchange of bodily fluids—and before you think I’m just talking about sex, I’m not. A simple kiss on the cheek can spread the virus. The person kissed touches their face and contact is made. Someone coughing without covering their mouth can do it too. Unfortunately, then, it’s very easily spread. And we have no idea how this sample has been engineered. It could be much more lethal than a regular strain.”

  One of the detectives raised his hand, and Grace nodded at him. “My understanding is that we have the capabilities to contain an Ebola outbreak, but you’re saying this guy may have created a superbug? One we can’t control?”

  “We’ve come a long way in our handling of viruses. Our expe
rience with COVID-19 has allowed us to be better prepared. We know outbreaks are usually in one area, and if we can track everyone who comes into contact with an infected person before they travel outside of our containment zone, we can usually stop the spread. But if someone releases Ebola in different areas of the country at the same time, or if it’s spread through different kinds of transportation—planes, ships, even cross-country buses—we could suddenly have such a high number of infected individuals that it would be difficult or impossible for us to locate everyone and contain the virus.”

  “How do you think Walker might spread it?” Harrison asked.

  “I have no idea. But he has the knowledge to spread it in a way that will affect the most people.” She sighed. “Walker is the worst kind of person to get their hands on one of these virulent viruses. His expertise makes him extremely dangerous.”

  “But it’s just a small sample, right?” Stephen asked.

  “It doesn’t take much to start the cycle.”

  “Are you surprised Walker was able to get his hands on this virus?” one of the detectives asked.

  “Yes, I am. The lab here in Kansas City is a biosafety level 4 facility. BSL-4 is the highest rating for labs that work with infectious agents. It was set up during the COVID-19 pandemic. You have to remember that the lab believed they were receiving inactivated samples, and a technician they trusted received those samples. Not until someone in Addis Ababa noticed that one of their active samples was missing did they become concerned. Of course, when Walker went missing the next day, as did the chemist in Ethiopia, that rang alarm bells.” She sighed. “The lab in Addis Ababa has been shut down, and the lab here is under investigation. I can guarantee you that something like this will never happen again.”

  “If this thing has been reengineered, what are we looking at?” Harrison asked.

  Grace took a deep breath, then let it out before saying, “If Kirabo created something new, we could see an outbreak beyond anything the United States has ever seen. And as I said, if infected people travel to other countries . . . Well, we could completely lose track of it. The good news is we do have ways to prevent infection. A drug called Ervebo can keep people safe as long as the virus hasn’t been altered too much.”