Bring Me Flowers (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“You mean apart from knowing this animal is a psychopathic, exhibitionist, murdering son of a bitch?”

“That would be the general consensus but you have a knack for figuring out how a killer’s mind works. How long do you think before he strikes again?” She closed the book and stared up at him.

“Right now I don’t have a clue.” Kane rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m hoping the emails I sent out last night to the sheriff’s departments of other counties might be able to shed some light on this monster.” He followed her from the cage and pulled the door shut behind them. “There have to be other murders with the same M.O. The murderer is making a distinctive statement and I’m sure will kill again. These crazies usually have a pattern: They start slow, as long as six months between kills, then the hunger gnaws at them and the distance between each murder becomes smaller. Think of killing to them as an addiction: Once they are hooked, they keep needing a bigger fix and crave it more often. So, with two on the same day, we can expect him to act again very soon.”

Jenna headed into her office and took her seat behind the desk piled high with takeout cartons of cakes and sandwiches. She lifted her gaze to Kane. “How much do I owe you? After the trek you did through the forest, this meal is on the department.”

“I’m good.” Kane slid into a chair. “There is nothing to spend my money on around here, is there?” He selected a packet of sandwiches. “I didn’t have to pay for the tickets to the dance on Friday night either. The guy gave me a bunch for nothing and said we were all welcome to attend.” He glanced at Wolfe. “As you requested, I arranged for four deputies from two other counties to help out Friday night and all this weekend, so we can be undercover at the heart of any trouble if you agree?”

Jenna shrugged. “Sure, but I want uniforms as well. Rowley and Walters can pull the night shift during and after the dance. The three of us will be at the dance, and I’m sure Shane would like to take his daughters out for the evening, or a part of it?” She glanced at Wolfe and smiled. “At least your seventeen-year-old will want to join in the fun.”

“Yeah, Emily has been harping about going since we got to town. Not the other two, they can stay at home with the nanny. I can’t watch all three at once, and we have a killer in town, in case it slipped your mind?”

“I’m not likely to forget seeing the bodies of Felicity Parker or Joanne Blunt anytime soon.” Jenna selected a sandwich and peered inside. “Aside from the articles we logged in the evidence locker, run me through what else you noticed on scene. So that we don’t get confused, just Felicity Parker’s crime scene for now.”

“First and most significant is I’m sure the killer murdered her in the river. The evidence tells me he lay in wait for her to arrive and had everything he needed on hand.” Wolfe placed his cup firmly on the desk. “He killed her then carried her to the rock to act out his fantasy.”

“First impressions on the evidence so far?” Jenna looked at Kane.

“I agree with Wolfe. The killer planned the murder. He had too much stuff with him for it to be a random thrill-kill. We found evidence of rope, condoms, not to mention the evidence proves he used more than one knife.” Kane took a bite from a sandwich, chewed, swallowed, then shrugged. “What I can’t get my head around is Felicity told her parents and her friend she was heading in the opposite direction. What happened around the time she left home to make her go into the forest alone?” He reached for his coffee, took a gulp, then cleared his throat. “The timeline we have for her movements makes no sense at all.”

“What do you mean?” Rowley leaned forward in his seat and frowned. “We know the time of death was between eight and ten. It has to be. Felicity was seen at eight and found just after ten.”

“No, you have me all wrong.” Kane placed his sandwich back in the box and looked at him. “We have to assume the killer planned the murder. People don’t carry all that equipment around just on the off chance a girl will wander into the forest alone. The killer had the scene set up to trap her if she tried to run. He was there well before she arrived and lay in wait.”

“That makes sense.” Wolfe scratched his blond buzz cut.

“Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.” Kane’s blue gaze moved from Wolfe to Jenna. “So how could he possibly know Felicity would be in the forest at that precise time?”

Jenna stared at her deputies across her desk and a cold shiver slid down her spine. “There is only one explanation. Felicity knew her killer. He might have arranged to meet her or maybe he bumped into her on the street and talked her into going to the river with him.” She glanced at Kane. “What do you think?”

“I’m sure he didn’t meet her accidentally. From the evidence at the crime scene we have to assume he set up the killing area well ahead of time.” Kane met her gaze and raised one dark eyebrow. “I would like to know how the killer knew what time she would be leaving the house. You mentioned Aimee usually drops by to give her a ride into town. So, if the killer had been watching Felicity, he wouldn’t be expecting her to walk to Aimee’s house.”

“You said she had an argument with her boyfriend.” Wolfe raised his ice-gray gaze to her. “Has anyone checked to see if he called her? Young women can be secretive about their boyfriends. If she planned to meet him at the river to make up after their argument, it would make sense she wouldn’t tell her parents and make an excuse to walk to Aimee’s house.”

Jenna swallowed her sandwich and nodded. “Yeah, that’s a possibility, but her mother mentioned she made a habit of telling her if she planned to meet him.”

“We don’t know what peer pressure she was under from her friends. Maybe going out with an older boy and then breaking up, she couldn’t take her friends ‘told you so’ attitude and kept the meeting to herself. What do we know about this boyfriend?”

“Not much.” Jenna picked up her notebook and flicked through the pages. “He is twenty, on the football team at college.”

“Would you like me to check the cellphone records and see if he called her at any other times, ma’am?” Wolfe shrugged. “That would be a place to start.”

Jenna let out a long sigh. “Walters is downloading them as we speak.” She glanced at Kane. “What was your impression of the boyfriend?”

“Derick Smith doesn’t fit the profile but I don’t think we should discount anyone at the moment. We know he delivered a car and picked up the loaner but we don’t know the timeline and George can’t give an exact time he returned to work.” Kane rubbed the stubble on his chin absently. “We’ll need to check out the owner of the car, Mrs. Bolton.”

Jenna made a few notes in her daybook. “Okay, I’ll keep him on the list.”

“Although, I’m sure this wasn’t a crime of passion, her face wasn’t touched. It is unusual for this type of psychopath to kill women they care for. He did say he planned to marry her.” Kane’s brow wrinkled in concentration. “And we know the same killer murdered Joanne Blunt.”

“Maybe she decided to end the relationship and he lost his temper and killed her accidentally then took it out on a stranger as well.” Rowley’s young face paled. “It happens.”

Wolfe flashed Rowley a look that could kill. “I want you

to take a real long look at the crime scene photographs and tell me why you think what that monster did was accidental.”

“Ah well… I guess.” Rowley’s ears went bright red.