Already Dead, page 7
Laura turned, ignoring the flabbergasted look on Colt’s face. He’d just experienced what was probably the equivalent of a bombshell for him. Thinking he would be arrested, then not being, then being dealt a harsh truth. He was going to have to deal with that on his own. Or with the local police, whichever came first.
She’d known already she was right about him being innocent. Now she was even more sure, and the vision had solidified it.
There was importance in those flames. She had seen them twice, now. She was getting the feeling that they weren’t just something the killer set up on the body. They were more than that. Maybe something intrinsically connected to him, like through his job or something. Some aspect of his personality that would lead them right to him.
Laura stepped outside into the fresh air gratefully, checking her cell phone as they walked back to the car. No new messages. She’d been hoping for something from Rondelle, maybe. She bit her lip slightly, watching Agent Won stalk back to the car like a teenager in the middle of a petulant fit.
If she didn’t sort out this thing with Nate, she was going to be stuck with Agent Won instead. She didn’t want that. She’d rather work alone.
“Get in the car and wait for me,” Laura said, almost hating the way it came out sounding like an order. But only almost, because it was an order. She apparently had to tell him every little thing, or he was going to go off the rails and arrest every passerby and his dog. It was too much like babysitting. She hated it.
Up ahead of them, Detective Waters was leaning by his own car, looking awkward and trying to pretend he couldn’t read Agent Won’s body language. It must have been fairly obvious that they’d had an argument. Laura gestured to him wordlessly from where she stood rather than moving closer to talk, indicating that she was going to make a call and then go. He got into his car, taking the hint to not eavesdrop on her call.
She dialed for Rondelle, knowing he was probably going to be annoyed with her for calling in the middle of a case but unable to help herself.
“Division Chief Rondelle speaking.”
“Hi, Chief,” Laura said. “Look, I was thinking about this whole transfer thing.”
Rondelle sighed. “I know he’s a bit eager, but that’s what they’re like fresh out of the Academy. I know you don’t remember it, but you were like that once as well. Just give him a chance.”
“It’s not that,” Laura said. Although it very much was that. “It’s about Nate. I was thinking, can’t you delay his transfer? Maybe long enough that he has to come back to work to avoid using up all his annual leave? He’s avoiding my calls, but if I can just speak to him…”
“Laura,” Rondelle said, with the kind of fatherly admonishment that only a paternal figure could muster. Which he was, really – for everyone in his division. “You know I can’t do that. My hands are tied. I’ve already put the paperwork in. As soon as it clears, he’ll be moving on.”
“Well, what if the paperwork got pulled back?” Laura said. “Maybe you filled in something wrong on the form and you realized, and you want to correct it before filing it again.”
Rondelle made a noise in his throat, and she could imagine him shaking his head with that sharp look in his eyes. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just suggest that I tamper with employee paperwork in order to suit your own personal agenda,” he said. “Aren’t you supposed to be catching a murderer right now?”
“Yes, sir,” Laura sighed. At least she’d tried.
Rondelle ended the call first, clearly not in the mood to hear any more of her complaints. Laura sighed and got into the car, resting her hands on the steering wheel for a moment as she contemplated their next move.
“We should at least check his alibi,” Agent Won said. He seemed to be subtly fuming under the surface. He was still hung up on it, apparently.
“We can ask Detective Waters to do that,” Laura said. “It’s not a priority, and we need to delegate. I’ve got a better idea.”
“What?” Agent Won asked, in a tone that implied he didn’t really think there was any other possibility that could be better than the lead he’d come up with personally.
“The candles,” Laura said. She trusted in her vision. She was seeing flames for a reason. “We need to go back and look at them. Find out who made them, where they might have been purchased from. This is a small town, and the killer is probably a local. If we’re lucky, it’s going to be some kind of niche handcrafted product that only exists here for the tourists, and they’re going to have credit card records leading us to someone who just bought a bunch of them, and we’ll be able to bring in a new suspect.”
“Oh,” Agent Won said, looking somewhat abashed. He turned to face the front windscreen. He clearly had no way to argue with this idea and hated it.
“Yes, oh,” Laura said. “Evidence and proof, Agent Won.” She started the car’s engine, well aware that it was extremely hypocritical for an agent who relied on psychic visions to say this to a rookie – but also well aware that there was no way he would ever know she got her leads from different sources.
CHAPTER NINE
He filed into the line behind another man, joining the slow shuffle forward as they all took one step closer to having their turn at the counter. He had a small number of items clutched in his hands: some gum, a candy bar, a music magazine. He didn’t really need any of them.
What he did need was an excuse to stand in this line. Her line.
He liked observing her. Sometimes from a little farther away. Sometimes as a customer of hers, when he dared, just like this. Never too much. It would be suspicious if he was here too much. But every now and then, it was a good chance to get really close to her. To hear her speak. To watch her without needing to squint.
Close physically, anyway. They had never been close in another way. Not like that. He’d been watching her for so long, and he’d never been able to get close enough even for a real conversation.
The line shifted up by another customer. Just the guy in front next, and then it would be his turn. He enjoyed the moment, taking her in, making sure not to do it in such a way that she would catch him.
By the counter there were a number of items on sale. A bundle of tea candles caught his eye, and he almost wanted to smile. Their lights were small and went out quickly, which was never going to be right for him. He needed a big statement, a candle that would burn properly, that would take time.
If they burned down too quickly, no one would ever see their light. No one but him, and her. No, for her, he was going to pick out something a lot more special than a discount gas station tealight.
He wanted other people to see it. The light that burned above her when she was laid out for her final rest. It would be a special moment. That was why he had to leave her somewhere public – to make sure that she was found and seen. He couldn’t just let her disappear into the darkness and have no one notice it. That wouldn’t be right. Not for someone like her.
Last time, he’d been so nervous about Ashley not being found that he’d even called the police himself. Well, not as himself, obviously. He’d used a pay phone that wasn’t covered by cameras, and he’d changed his voice a little, and tried not to say anything that would give him away. Just a simple statement, that there was a body and where it was, and that they needed to come look at it. That was all the information they needed. No need to push things by saying more. He’d just wanted to be sure that they would find her.
Ashley had been lovely, and he was glad that he had chosen her. But now that it was done, he had to move on to his next choice. To this woman, even now serving the man in front of him. She had such a lovely voice, even if she didn’t use it often enough. Or nicely enough. She could be surly. But he understood that. Working a job like this, you had to deal with a lot of people who weren’t worth dealing with. That could be hard.
He didn’t blame her for being short with any of them. Even with him. It didn’t matter.
Soon they would be closer, close enough to satisfy him. It didn’t need to be right now.
The man in front moved away, and it was like a bright spotlight shone down on him, lighting up the way; it was his turn now to be served. To be close to her, just for a moment.
There had been many moments like this in all the time he’d watched her. But soon, these kinds of moments would be over.
Soon, they would be closer than they had ever been – and he couldn’t wait.
CHAPTER TEN
Laura glanced up at the darkening sky with unease. It was early evening already, and she had hoped they would be further along than this by now. That there would have been an obvious lead the police had missed, something they could jump on right away. No such luck.
Which was why it was more important than anything that they get this done quickly and get the answers they were looking for.
“Is this it?” Laura asked, checking the GPS again. Without Waters leading them, now that he was back at the precinct, the GPS was their only resource to be sure of whether they were in the right place. The building in front of them appeared to be unmarked. It was just a warehouse of some kind, not looking at all like what she had expected.
Then again, she didn’t know what she’d expected. She hadn’t ever been to visit a candle factory before.
“Looks like it,” Agent Won said. He’d begrudgingly let some of his surliness go when Laura’s hunch had turned out to give them something: the name of the manufacturer who produced both of the candles, despite them being slightly different models.
“Alright,” Laura shrugged, cutting the engine and opening her door. “Let’s get in there fast. It looks like shift changeover time.” She nodded towards the rest of the parking lot as she moved; it was full of cars, some of them entering and some of them leaving. People were also streaming in and out of the doors, which complicated matters as she and Won joined the stream to fight through them instead of being just carried along.
Most of the workers knew exactly where they were going, but Laura was able to pull to the side towards a reception desk in the entrance. The building was similarly sparse on the inside: a simple logo, the name of the company in a sensible font, was placed above the desk on a glass plaque, but there was very little other decoration. Everyone seemed to be coming and going from a swinging door on the left, through which Laura glimpsed what appeared to be a staff locker room.
“How can I help you?” the receptionist asked, a wide-eyed look in her eyes that suggested to Laura unexpected visitors here were few and far between.
Laura placed her badge on the desk. “I’m hoping to speak to someone who’d know all the employees here – maybe a supervisor or a manager,” she said.
The second she saw the badge, the receptionist seemed to dive into her phone with a kind of rabbit-like terror. “Of course!” she exclaimed. “I’ll just call someone through now.”
Laura turned her back to the desk for a moment, watching the people coming and going. They seemed not to be one continuous stream of leavers, as she’d thought, but rather dribs and drabs. They left in pairs or alone, occasionally in a slightly larger group, while the employees going into the factory floor appeared to have dwindled to almost nothing. She figured people were taking their time in getting ready, or maybe that they were finishing off specific tasks before setting off for home.
“He’ll be out in just a moment,” the receptionist said, popping her head back up above the desk.
“Great,” Laura said. “What do you guys make here? I mean, candles, obviously, but…”
“Oh, we manufacture a number of different local and national brands,” the receptionist said, a gleam in her eyes to be back on familiar ground that she was confident enough to talk about. “There’s a number of brand names that you may have heard off.” She slid a laminated leaflet across the top of the desk towards her, letting Laura study it. She noticed the brand that was responsible for the candles their killer was using.
“Are there any which are sold only in the local area?” Laura asked.
“Not really,” the receptionist said, making a face as if she was disappointed that she couldn’t say yes. “We usually send them out to a number of different retailers.”
Laura filed that piece of information away. They could be bought in places outside of Pacific Cove. That only made it more likely, in her mind, that the factory being here was not a coincidence. And who would have better access to the products made in the factory – and more of a deeper connection to them – than someone who actually worked here?
“Hello?” said a voice from behind them, and Laura turned at the same time as Agent Won to see a bearded man in a long white coat and cap approaching them. He was overweight but stout, in that way some men have after middle age when they work on their feet all day long. “I’m the floor manager. Justin. I think you wanted to speak to me?”
Laura stepped forward and held out a hand for him to shake. “Justin. I’m Special Agent Laura Frost, and this is Special Agent Eric Won. Is there a private space where we can go to ask you a few questions?”
A troubled look passed over Justin’s face, but he nodded and led them in the opposite direction to where the workers were still slowly trickling out of the locker room. The door on the other side of the room took them into what was obviously a meeting space, complete with a meeting table and a long glass panel allowing them to see into the factory itself.
Good for observing the workers. Not good for doing it without being seen themselves.
“We’re looking for anyone who might have been exhibiting strange behavior among your employees,” Laura said, the moment the door was closed behind them. “For example, maybe someone was caught stealing candles and taking them home?”
Justin glanced behind himself, through the glass panel. “Candles? No.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not like they’re worth a lot of money.”
“Have any gone missing recently?” Agent Won asked. He was apparently getting his stride back. Laura let it go this time, given that the question was a sensible one.
Justin shrugged again, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s hard to say,” he said. “We have a certain amount of waste product – candles that don’t quite get made the right shape or where one of the lines malfunctions and we have to throw things away. It would be pretty easy for someone to take a candle here and there without anyone ever noticing it.”
Laura nodded, though internally she wanted to scream. Of course. It wouldn’t be easy for them, would it? “How about any other kinds of odd behavior? Anyone missing shifts, acting strange compared to what you’d normally expect of them, or so on?”
Justin turned and searched the factory floor, as if he was waiting for someone to trigger his memory. “I don’t think so,” he said, slowly. “Man, it’s hard to think when you ask me on the spot like this.”
Laura tried very hard not to lose her patience. He was probably right. If nothing came to mind immediately, perhaps a disciplinary procedure he’d had to carry out recently, then there was likely nothing that stood out enough to be a red flag.
“I’m getting a call,” Agent Won said hurriedly, his voice low. “It’s Detective Waters.”
Laura nodded. “Take it outside,” she told him, watching him go with slightly envious eyes. She was sure Detective Waters, who had been tasked with running background checks on the employees at the plant, was going to have something important to say. But he’d called Won, so she would have to wrap up this pointless interview.
Boys would be boys, she supposed. Of course, Waters would call the other young, inexperienced male assigned to the case instead of the scary woman who was both of their superiors. She hated to think of someone characterizing her that way, but she wasn’t here to make friends. She was here to solve a case. If he wasn’t mature enough to get up the courage to call her directly, then that was his issue.
“How has the reaction been to the recent murders in town?” she asked, thinking that this could be another source of suspicion. “Anyone had a strong reaction to it? Really interested in hearing the latest news, or grief-stricken when you wouldn’t expect it, that sort of thing? Or the other way – totally not seeming to care?”
Justin shook his head. “Everyone’s been pretty shook up about it,” he said. “Those two young girls – it doesn’t bear thinking about. Their whole lives ahead of them. And just about everyone here’s eaten at the Fresh Catch or had a coffee at Rise and Shine at some point. We knew these girls.”
Laura fought for control over her patience again. There had to be something. But she couldn’t just scream at the man to bring her a result. That wasn’t going to make him any more observant. And it was entirely possible that the killer, whoever they were, was doing a good enough job of assimilating that no one had noticed anything.
“Do you know of anyone ever having a problem with either of them?” she asked, just in case, though she was losing hope.
“I’m sorry,” he shrugged. “No one. We’re a good community here. Everyone gets along for the most part. I wouldn’t imagine anyone had any problem with them outside of the odd customer complaint about food.”
Laura nodded, pursing her lips together with dissatisfaction. She was going to have to move on. It was a shame, but this man couldn’t give her anything.
Maybe it would be worth a chat with the receptionist on the way out, just to tick off a box. Sometimes, people in those kinds of roles would know things that the management didn’t.
“Hey!” Agent Won called out, tumbling back into the room breathlessly as if he’d just run back in from outside. “Detective Waters found a match in the system. There’s an employee here with a record.”
Laura turned wide eyes on Justin. “You didn’t think to mention this?”
“What?” he asked, shaking his head. “I don’t… who?”
“His name is Toby Martins,” Agent Won said. “He has a history of harassment, drug use, and even assault – a couple of arrests in the local area, too. He’s been at it for years. And he’s a local at the diner, apparently.”
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