DEATH (The Justice Cycle Book 1) by J Kiefer (best classic books to read TXT) 📗

“That’s true,” Johansson replied. “All of the reported murders that have been linked to him have taken place in the city.”

“Then why should we be quick to assume that these two murders, which have not even been connected to each other yet, are connected with the ones in the city? Don’t you think you are jumping the gun a bit here?”

“Hey, I’m not the enemy, Detective Campbell!” Johansson said, putting up his hands. “I’m not here to second-guess you guys, but when you get two grisly murders in as many days in a city that only gets about twenty-four in a year, then I’d have to say that this is definitely more than a coincidence.”

“I’m sorry. This whole thing has just had me a bit on edge lately.”

“Please call me Tom,” he said, waving off the apology. “We are all in the same business here, after all, trying to end the career of sickos like this guy.”

“If you don’t mind me being forward,” Jared interjected, “you seemed to be alluding to something earlier before Detective Campbell interrupted you.”

“I was,” he said winking at Dana playfully, causing her to blush slightly. “I am not really at liberty to tell you, but I’m going to stuff regulations and tell you, anyway. The way I see it, the only way we can effectively work together is if we’re all honest with each other.”

“We appreciate that, Special Agent Johansson,” Jared replied.

“Tom, Detective. ‘Special Agent’ makes me sound so old and stiff. I am just a working-class guy like you.”

Jared nodded.

Johansson leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “These are not the first murders to have occurred outside the city that can be feasibly linked to the Stalker. In fact, I have over twenty known cases that could be linked to him.”

Both detectives were shocked. Twenty cases outside of the city being linked to one killer was unthinkable to the small-town detectives.

“If what you say is true, then that would make him one of the most prolific serial killers to date,” Jared said.

Johansson winked, making a gun motion with his fingers and a popping sound. “Now you can see why we are taking such an interest in your two murder cases here. The Bureau has been trying to track the killer by, for a lack of a better term, following his trail of breadcrumbs.”

“Why hasn’t the press gotten wind of this yet?” Dana asked. “It seems like one of those vultures would have put two and two together by now and broken the story to the public.”

“Murders happen every day in a thousand different cities. But of course you already knew that. If we don’t make a big fuss about them, neither do the newsies. Besides, if it got out that the Stalker was hunting anywhere and everywhere, then there would be a whole lot of people panicking needlessly. It also might alert him to our strategy and cause him to lie low for a while.”

“Needless?” Dana said. “If there are as many people dead from this maniac as you suspect, then I would have to say that their fear is warranted, wouldn’t you?”

“Touché again, Detective. I’m sorry I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just after years of seeing this kind of thing, you start to become desensitized to it. Anyway, I think we can stop this guy before he kills again. We caught Dahmer and Gacy, didn’t we?”

“Only after they killed a lot of people.”

“Do you have any suspects yet?” Jared asked, breaking up the scuffle and shooting Dana a glare. “It would help us a great deal if you could give us any kind of a lead we can look into.”

Johansson sighed. “That’s the catch twenty-two. This guy is so good at what he does that, to date, he hasn’t left one single shred of usable evidence. No fingerprints, footprints, fibers, or anything else that the CSI guys can use. It’s downright bizarre, if you ask me.”

“So what you are saying is that you have nothing,” said Jared.

“Pretty much. I was kind of hoping you’d have some leads in your local investigation here that might be of some help to us.”

Dana rolled her eyes and walked away from the two men and their conversation. This whole thing was starting to overwhelm her, and she just needed to be alone for a few minutes to clear her head. She strolled across the street and sat down on the curb not too far from where the crime scene investigators worked.

The sun was getting high in the sky and it bathed the area with its wonderful light, driving away the few lingering shadows. She basked in its warmth, hoping that it might also chase away the quiet dread she felt.

As she gazed, a tiny glint of sunlight from the grass to her right caught her attention. The strange object piqued her curiosity, so she walked over to see what it was. She found there, barely visible above the overgrown grass, a small golden locket. Realizing that it was out of place, she decided to pick it up to examine it.

It tugged on something as she tried to retrieve it, so she bent down and pulled a little harder. When she saw what it was caught on, she shrieked in horror and fell backward, pulling the locket free.

Jared and Johansson were by her side instantly and they both gasped in shock when they got close enough to see what it was that had startled her. There, lying peacefully in the bushes, was another body. But unlike the first victim, this one appeared to be a male and in some kind of traditional Japanese outfit.

“How in the world could we have all missed this?” Jared fumed. “It’s only a couple of yards from the other one.”

She had screamed so loudly that all of the hustle and bustle in the area stopped as the other officers looked around. Her face flushed with embarrassment as Jared reached out his hand. She took it reluctantly, wishing