Jenna and Sam were from the area. Just a few years earlier they’d solved the case of a massacre at Lexington House and exonerated a boy—supposedly haunted by demons—who’d allegedly murdered his family and several other people. Rocky had met Jenna and Sam already. The day of his interview with Jackson he’d met the other agents who made up what were loosely called the Krewe of Hunters and the Texas Krewe, names derived from the fact that Adam Harrison—the overall director of the Krewes—had first put a team together in New Orleans and then expanded their numbers into Texas.
Sam was an attorney as well as an agent. He had the size and bearing to be a good backup man in a pinch and also had the careful, ever-vigilant mind of a well-trained attorney. He still owned a home in Salem, one that had been in his family and was now rented out.
Jenna, a bright pretty redhead with large hazel eyes and tremendous energy, as well as abilities that had proven themselves time and again, had been one of the first Krewe members. It was obvious, though they were careful not to be obvious, that she and Sam were a couple.
Jane, a tall and attractive brunette, had been sent specifically because she was a forensic artist; she didn’t have a law enforcement background, but she had been a consultant on many cases in San Antonio before heading to the academy and then joining the unit.
“We’re going to have a ‘Yankee’ Krewe before long, the way our numbers are rising,” Angela told him. She was a beautiful woman. After his interview, she’d been the one to show him around and he had learned that she felt she had found her true calling when she’d first joined the New Orleans Krewe. And of course, she’d added with a rueful smile, she’d also found Jackson Crow.
The five of them sat around the table, and at first Angela and Jane just listened as the others discussed growing up in New England.
“We both knew about Melissa Wilson’s death,” Jenna told Rocky. “You couldn’t live in this county without hearing about it. But I was a teenager and Sam was just off to college. When you’re that young...you hear about terrible things, but you don’t feel like there’s much you can do about them.”
“I hadn’t thought about it again until Jackson Crow brought you in to meet us,” Sam said.
“So who’s the lead detective?” Angela asked him.
“An old friend of mine,” Rocky said. “A guy named Jack Grail.”
“So does that mean he’s being helpful?” Jenna asked.
“Completely. I was in before we got the okay,” Rocky said. He turned to Jane. He’d heard about the Krewe. Hell, he’d investigated the Krewe before seeking out Jackson Crow. But it still seemed odd as hell to say certain things out loud.
“Devin Lyle, the young woman who found the Jane Doe, has a...dead aunt who lives with her. It used to be the aunt’s house. The aunt saw someone at the window, and it wasn’t our dead woman. She could be another victim.” He waited. No one laughed; no one questioned him.
“Is the aunt an outgoing spirit?” Jane asked him. “Is she easy to talk to?”
“Yes, very.”
Jane looked at Angela. “How about you and I head over to meet the ghost and her niece after we all go to the station?”
It was agreed. Angela and Jane took their rental; Sam and Jenna went with Rocky. At the station they met up with Jack Grail and were introduced to the other officers working on the case. Jack accompanied them when they gathered in the “feds’ room,” and Rocky went over his charts and explained why he was so certain they were looking at one killer, not a copycat.
“Do you think it could be someone who comes and goes from the area?” Jenna asked. “Because that would make this really, really hard.”
“Yes, it would—except that I believe the killer’s from the area, and that he doesn’t necessarily come and go. Or, necessarily, that he’s a ‘he.’ The victims don’t distrust their attacker or even see him coming. Angela, if I may...”
Using her as his mock victim, he demonstrated the killing technique they’d discerned from the autopsies.
“So a woman could be the killer,” Jack mused.
“A tall woman,” Jenna noted. “Or the angle of the blade would be different.”
“You’re right,” Rocky said. “Based on forensics, the killer stood between five-eight and six-one, possibly six-two.” He shrugged. “I’ve played with a dummy at different heights, but I haven’t been able to narrow it down any further. We need to go at this from all angles. With all of us on it, we can dig deeper, looking for connections and similarities between victims, or trying to come up with a psychological profile and pinpointing people who fit.”
“So it’s computer time,” Sam said.
“I’m good at that kind of thing,” Jenna offered. “I can search Essex County residents from thirteen years ago till now, just give me something to look for.”
“Our killer might have come and gone,” Jane said.
“I’ll take that into consideration.”
“Jenna,” Rocky asked, “can you do a search for residents who purchased athames in that time frame?”