Hothouse Orchid (Holly Barker 6)
Page 45
“Not really. She was apparently dragged into the woods and raped there; the ME found sand on her body. Then she was posed, naked, behind the wheel of her car. One thing was different: her right front tire was flat. We think, maybe, a spike strip was used.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Holly said.
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“Why not?”
“You’re saying he would lay a spike strip on Jungle Trail in advance of the crime? How would he know a woman alone would hit it?”
“Well…”
“I think it’s more likely that he got lucky on the flat tire.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
“I think you ought to close Jungle Trail to car traffic until this guy is apprehended. This is the second attack, if you include me.”
“We’ve already done that. We thought we might have gotten lucky when we found a man’s name in Mason’s diary, a Jack Smithson. We talked to him, but he says that he arrived in Vero on Wednesday afternoon, and she met him at the airport and showed him a house, which he promptly rented. All that was in her diary.”
“Doesn’t sound right; all the other victims have apparently been strangers to our perp.”
“That’s what we figured. Smithson was cooperative, gave us a DNA swab.”
“There was no semen from the other victims, though.”
“Right.”
“What time did the attack occur?”
“Some time after midnight.”
“Tell Jimmy Weathers he ought to have Orchid patrols stop any male who is driving what looks like an unmarked patrol car driving after dark.”
“That could be a lot of cars.”
“Well, at least take the tag numbers and run them.”
“I’m sure they could do that.”
“One thing you don’t want to do, Lauren.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t drive around alone at night looking for this guy; you might find him under unfavorable circumstances.”
“You have a point.”
“If you want to be a decoy, make sure you have plenty of backup.”
“All right. I just thought I’d let you know about the new attack.”
“I appreciate that, Lauren. If I have any ideas, I’ll call you. Bye-bye.” She hung up, and the phone rang again almost immediately.
“Hello?”
“It’s Josh.”
“Hi, there.”