Fallen Angel (Detectives Kane and Alton)

What he saw surprised him. “The main problem here is the blood clot on the severed end and, look, above the knee, there’s a torniquet mark. This person was dissected alive.”

“Oh, now that’s darn right nasty.” Kane’s voice came through the speaker. “A psychopath with masochistic tendencies, that’s all we need.”

“I see the same mark on the other thigh and both upper arms, Dad.” Emily stared into the screen. “How do you get someone to just lie there and let someone dissect them? Even if they were knocked out, the pain would bring them around. This doesn’t make sense.”

In his experience in battle, Wolfe had seen indescribable atrocities. He thought back, seeking comparisons, and stared into the camera. “Now the head. Forget the face and show me what’s left of the back of the neck.”

As luck would have it, Kane had no problem displaying the head, and there it was, the two little red dots right at the base of the skull. “Okay, I’ve seen enough. This person, presumably male by the features and size was hit with a stun gun. On high, the shock would have caused paralysis from the neck down. From what I’m seeing, this is torture. This killer gets off on fear. I’ve given the cases a great deal of thought and that’s what connects them all. Dakota Storm, bludgeoned, half strangled, stabbed in the eye, and tossed into a freezing lake. Kitty Pandora, was likely forced into the bathtub and the killer used a hairdryer dangling over the water to scare her, the same motive for Jedidiah Longfellow. He died slowly, stalked by his killer—he was actually scared to death—and now this one. Which of your suspects knew the victims well enough to be trusted? These murders are all very personal.”

“I’ll discuss it with the team.” Kane returned the body parts to the freezer and closed the door. “The problem is we have two hundred people here and as most of them believe we’re playing a mystery game, no one is coming forward at all. I’d expect people to be banging our door down with information but no one is saying anything. I figure they’re concerned that if they’ve found a clue, they’ll miss out on a prize or something. It’s bizarre. Most of the suspects have been involved with each other and the victims at one time. Identifying the killer is like finding the odd strand in a plate of spaghetti.”

Forty-Nine

Glacial Heights Ski Resort

I’ve been waiting for Julie, hanging around a display of books, on constant alert. The mood is different today, the long wait to buy food making everyone jumpy. I lined up at one of the eateries, hoping to see Julie, but she didn’t show. People around me sniff the air, concern over their faces. The announcement of a gas leak in the main restaurant being the main topic of conversation. I smile to myself, knowing the reason the place is closed, and I try to imagine the expression on the person’s face who’d found what I’d left of Riggs. I’d set his final scene to the book, right down to the placement of his hands and feet. I’d made his client rich overnight. Publicity, no matter how gruesome, was always good for sales. No doubt, within the year I’ll be seeing Body Parts made into a movie… of course, with my added touch of flavor. How incredibly amusing, I can hardly refrain from bursting into laughter.

Ah, I see her now, blonde hair flying and with the sheriff strolling along beside her. As Julie greets her friends, the sheriff does a sweeping scan of the immediate area. Casually, I lift a book from the table and peruse the pages. She has interviewed me, but I’m confident I outwitted her. She has no evidence against me and I can see, as her eyes sweep past me, I’m no one of interest to her. I blend in, just a normal person enjoying the conference. But I will take extra precautions, especially after overhearing Julie mention someone photobombing her selfies wearing a hoodie. For now, I’ve kept mine tied around my waist. A cunning move as Julie constantly moves away from anyone wearing one, and that isn’t in my best interest. Later, after the session ends and the rush for the elevators begins, I’ll need to be close by. I’ve made plans to encourage her to take the stairs. People are so effortlessly controlled. With one suggestion, they’ll follow like sheep, and my little lamb can so easily get lost in a crowd.

I leave the bookstand as Julie joins the line into the last session of the day. A panel of experts titled “Forensics Procedures You Should Know.”

As I move in behind her, she peeks over one shoulder and gives me the sweetest smile. Red nails rake through her bangs, and as her perfume fills my nostrils, I move closer. My hands are trembling so hard that I push them deep into my pockets among the discarded candy wrappers. A toss of her head sends silver-blonde hair cascading down her back like wet silk. I open my palm and allow the glossy ends to brush my flesh. My heart pounds. Beads of sweat run down my forehead, tickle across my cheek on the way to my collar. So close, my fingers ache to touch her white flesh. I so need to watch her eyes widen and bulge as I squeeze the life from her. I bite down hard on my cheek and lift my gaze, fixing it anywhere but on her. I feel my control sliding into the abyss. I must remain strong for a few more hours. My job is done here. Now it’s time for fun.

Fifty

In the interview room, Jenna stared at the information she’d correlated from all sources on each of her suspects. The report from Bobby Kalo hadn’t given any more clues on how the suspects and victims were connected, but he’d been able to identify the victim in the freezer using facial recognition software against all the males staying at the ski res

ort. The victim was a literary agent from New York, Quentin Riggs. The man hadn’t been missed, and Jenna had spent most of the afternoon checking CCTV footage to determine a timeline between the last time Riggs was seen alive, during a session in one of the halls, and the time the baker discovered his body. She looked up as Kane and Emily came into the room with Duke close on their heels. “Ah, good. Find anything?”

“Yeah, we discovered where the killer stored the body parts overnight.” Kane went straight to the coffee machine and poured two cups. “By the look of things, he buried them in the snow just outside the staff entrance to the lodge. We searched all around, even took Duke out with us, but found no trace of the torso. No doubt that will show up in the melt. The killer left nothing behind, no evidence we can use. Em collected the blood evidence on scene, but as sure as hell, he wasn’t killed there.”

“The chainsaws were a wipeout.” Emily’s lips were blue and her nose bright red. “I checked them all, but there’s one missing. Mr. Brightway is checking the numbers on them to find out who was issued the missing one. It must be close by somewhere. I figure the killer buried it with the torso.” She took the coffee Kane handed her. “Any pie left? I’m famished. It was freezing out there.”

“Did you establish a timeline for Riggs?” Kane searched the fridge and pulled out a pie, cut it into sections, slid it onto a plate, and handed it across the table to Julie. “That man suffered. This killer is on a personal revenge murder spree. There must be something to link the victims together.”

“I’ve looked over the suspects’ statements so many times my head is spinning.” Rio leaned back in his chair and stretched. “I went and spoke to all of them again today. We need to take out Bradford and concentrate on the two literary agents: Finnian and Rain. We know they’ve both had axes to grind with at least two of our victims. I’m keeping Grayson on the list because apart from the two agents, he’s the only author on the list who can’t account for his whereabouts between three and four this morning. Bradford spent the entire night with a woman, and Jenna verified his arriving and leaving on the CCTV feed. His woman friend’s door is in plain sight of the camera. It can’t have been him. The other three spent the night alone and inconveniently all have rooms in corridors with shielded access to the fire stairs. We can track them to their rooms and leaving this morning, but any one of them could’ve sneaked out overnight and used the stairs.”

“I figure you can take Parker Rain off the list, as well.” Emily sipped her coffee and sighed. “I’m fit and I work out every day, but I couldn’t hold up the chainsaws they have here for more than a few minutes. They’re boy’s toys and so heavy, plus they run on gas and trying to start them is a nightmare. I tried many times and failed. Add the cold and the difficulty of sawing up a body. Rain is my size. There’s just no way she could’ve used one of the chainsaws. They’re too darn heavy.”

Listening with interest, Jenna nodded. “I agree. This cuts our suspects down to three possible.”

“Why can’t you lock them up?” Emily pushed her empty plate away. “If you’d locked them up at the get-go, we’d have had three fewer murders.”

Pushing both hands through her hair, Jenna sighed. “I wish we had that power, but we need probable cause to detain someone, and we have no physical evidence. All of them have cooperated. In fact, we could have this all wrong and it’s a member of the staff.” She pressed her palms flat on the table. “We don’t have anywhere to detain people, no surveillance gear, trackers, or anything else. If we locked them up until the road is cleared, we’d be charged with deprivation of liberty. These people have no access to a lawyer to protect their legal rights. The problems go on and on.”

“Oh, yes, I see.” Emily shook out her long hair from its ponytail, gathered it back up, and secured it. “Isn’t there anything we can do?”

A plan had already been forming in Jenna’s head. “Yeah, it will cause problems, but it’s the only option I can find.” She sighed. “We’ll ask guests to move rooms, so we have the three suspects in rooms under the surveillance of the CCTV camera at the elevator. I’ll explain things to Brightway and insist he places them all in adjoining rooms.” She smiled. “Then we take shifts watching them.”

“I figure as there’s only three of us armed and we have to sleep sometime, we should use the conference’s people to assist us during the day.” Kane eyed her over the rim of his cup. “If one or two of the suspects are in a session, we show the people on the door a photograph of them and ask them to call us if they leave the hall.”

Jenna nodded. “Do you think they’d do that for us? I mean, one of these could be a serial killer.”

“They won’t need to be involved with them at all.” Kane put down his cup and twirled it in his fingers. “Just a simple phone call is all. I figure they’ll find it thrilling, and probably believe it’s all part of an elaborate game… just like everyone else here.”

“Okay.” Jenna nodded. “Rio, print the images of the suspects and get that set up now.”

“I’m on it.” Rio turned to his laptop and moments later the printer whirred into action.