Slenderman by CeeRee Fields (good novels to read TXT) 📗

had the list of dealers who made pugiones. She had a meeting set up this weekend at a Halloween party most of her family was attending along with Kyle and Kyle’s Legends of Stone contact. The thirty pieces of silver aspect had been of no help. They’d hoped the other countries might have an easier time tracking the money, but it was all generic coins in shiny silver. And the killer used the lowest denomination they could. In the US it was nickels; in Norway, it was the one krone; in England, it was the five pence piece and so on. As if the victim deserved nothing more.

Redden snapped his laptop closed and turned at the door. “By the way, Ian’s contact came through so you’ll have a list of each person’s movements from my office, and the identities of the potential international victims with their movements too. Which Ian said if you can separate those for him, he’ll send it to Interpol so they can give it to law enforcement in the relevant countries.”

Jo frowned. “Way to bury the lead.”

“It still needs to be sorted. If we can figure out their activity, maybe we can figure out who in the clan is killing them or at least whittle down the three hundred names. The company is willing to help, but they won’t fork over everything due to privacy.”

“Okay. We’ve got the team working on this for the next four days. So we’ll get the list torn apart first, and then we’ll home in on their schedules to see if anything pops. Rottensteer’s the latest victim so he’ll have the most current schedule.”

“Good idea. I’ll email that to you all, and you send me the list as soon as you have it.”

“Will do. Have a safe trip.”

Redden waved as he left.

Jo pulled up her emails and shot a quick text to Karma, Maker, and Sullivan requesting an all-nighter with the promise of Marta’s spaghetti. Before she started on her new set of tasks, Jo jogged to the kitchen. “We’ve got company coming tonight.”

Marta hummed. “Should be plenty-I made extra so you could have meals the next few days.”

She groaned. Of course she’d have to give up her leftovers, but if they could dig out a nugget that would put them on Slenderman’s trail, she was more than happy to pay with spaghetti. Hopefully four days would give them plenty of time to explore the new leads.

~ ~ ~

The office Rhys set up was more comfortable and spacious than the den of Jo’s old apartment. Empty pizza boxes littered her desk. There wasn’t a need for Marta to cook for them every night when they could order in. Lisa kept Rian and Evan busy with their moving plans while Jo worked.

Karma’s fingers clicked across the keys of her laptop at the yellow table to Jo’s right while Sullivan and Maker’s deep voices overlapped each other on her left. The knitting needles clicked as Jo’s fingers wove a hat for Rian to match his scarf. Her overstuffed easy chair cradled her while she dissected each piece of their case spread across the whiteboard.

“Still no luck finding anyone who’s made the dagger,” Sullivan said, leaving the desk and slumping on the couch next to Jo’s chair. “We have three crafters that state they can make one but have never received orders for them.”

“I don’t see how he could buy the dagger everywhere he went. It’s too specific, and he moves around too much.” Maker joined Sullivan on the couch, both looking at the board.

The victim in Tennessee kept drawing Jo’s attention. Something about the date the victim died niggled at her. Giving up, she faced Sullivan. “What were we doing September thirteenth?”

Sullivan released a long, drawn-out groan. “I was suffering through a convention about superheroes or whatever they’re called with Arabelle, Elle, Rhys, and Rian while you appeared in court for sentencing on a case.”

Jo remembered the case; it was when Sullivan had been on vacation, and she’d arrested a mid-level drug dealer who’d tried to kill his girlfriend. The drug dealer had pleaded guilty since all of it had been caught on film and uploaded to a video sharing site. Jo had only needed to appear in court, which sucked since she hated going to hearings but also rocked since she didn’t have to go listen to days of sci-fi and fantasy talks at the convention. The date and event clicked, and Jo grinned.

Now she was glad one of them had attended. “They dress up at those things, right?”

“Don’t remind me. Some of those people should not be wearing spandex ever. Why?”

Sullivan knew her. Knew she wouldn’t be asking while they were focused on the case. “Is there a way to find out if the Legends of Stone game was represented there?”

“Oh, that wouldn’t have mattered. People came dressed up in . . . ” Sullivan’s eyes widened as he caught up to her train of thought. “Holy shit.”

Karma turned in her chair. “I don’t get it.”

“Some of the costumes are brought in instead of purchased. Most are made.”

“Holy shit,” Maker chimed in using Sullivan’s favorite saying. “The killer brought the dagger—”

“I think the killer brought an entire costume, including the dagger, and attended the event.”

Karma’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “You’re on to something. There was another convention in Michigan when that victim was killed, and one in Canada.”

“He’s not buying the dagger, he’s bringing the weapon the same way he would on a quest.” Jo pointed to Karma. “I can see him flying from Michigan to Tennessee and then killing in Alabama and Georgia since he could drive, he wouldn’t need the cover of a convention. But the list you’ve been sorting. Were there any people in Mississippi or New Orleans?”

“No. So he flew from here to Texas?” Sullivan asked.

Karma clicked a few keys. “Maybe. There were two conventions, one in Dallas and one in Houston, so he could have flown.”

Maker stood and headed for the hall. “I’m calling Redden