Jack nodded. “I’m heading over to Corbin’s shop now to see what the crime scene techs have found—if anything. We went over his home earlier—figured if there was anything at all, I’d wake you.”
“Thanks. And?”
“Nothing.” Jack looked at his watch. “I’ll have everyone convene in an hour at the station. Because we’ve damn well got to come up with something.” He turned to Devin. “It may not be your friend, but someone is out there killing, and I want him stopped.”
“An hour,” Rocky agreed.
*
Devin was grateful that Rocky had pulled strings to get her into the meeting. She sat and listened, impressed by the collected expertise gathered in one room. As a group, they were carefully analyzing every piece of information on the three recent murders in an attempt to create a trail of evidence leading to one specific person. Rocky reported on Barbara Benton’s movements on the day of her murder. Angela did the same for Carly Henderson, who had closed the salon for the day and then done some shopping on her way home. She’d purchased candles at two different Wiccan shops, and soda and cheese at a deli. But she’d never retrieved her car and never made it home. Her roommate had been out late with friends and hadn’t noticed her disappearance until the following morning.
“What all the named victims have in common, going back to Melissa Wilson,” Rocky pointed out, “is that the women were all attractive, all young—only Carly was over thirty―and had been, at some time during the day, at one of the shops in Salem that sold Wiccan supplies.
“None of the victims was sexually molested. According to the M.E., the killer was of medium to tall height, and he came up behind the women and took them by surprise. I believe they all knew or trusted their killer, which is why they had their backs to him. The throats were slit left to right, indicating a right-handed killer. After death they were placed on their backs, their arms and legs arranged, and the silver pentagrams placed on their chests.”
He paused and looked across the room at Devin. “As you know, a fire was lit in Miss Lyle’s yard last night, with accelerant poured in the shape of a pentacle. At some point after five this morning and before 1:00 p.m., someone slipped into her hotel room and placed a similar medallion on her table. Whether these were the separate actions of someone with a grudge against Miss Lyle or are related to the case, we have yet to find out. However, this person was able to hack into and erase the hotel’s video surveillance system.”
When Rocky finished, one of Jack’s men reported on the medallions that had been found on the victims. They were all similar, but the composition of the silver and artistic techniques suggested different artisans.
Jack spoke next. He stood before the group and said, “We executed search warrants on Mr. Corbin’s place of work and home this morning, but we found nothing to tie him to the murders, and the cell phone found in the pocket of his jacket had been wiped clean of prints, making it impossible to confirm or disprove his contention that it was placed in his pocket without his knowledge in an attempt to frame him. In the absence of any new evidence, Mr. Corbin will be released later today. At this point, we have to assume we still have a killer on the streets.”
Then the lab technicians got up and began reporting on facts and figures, and Devin zoned out. She did notice when a young officer came in and approached Rocky, who listened to him gravely and nodded.
The officer left, and Devin felt Rocky’s eyes on her. She looked at him questioningly. The meeting was finishing up, and he motioned to her to join him, and then he and the rest of the Krewe adjourned to the room Jack had set aside for their use.
“They have a fingerprint,” Rocky said.
“From where?” Sam asked.
“Devin’s back door. Whoever set the fire wasn’t wearing gloves,” Rocky told them.
“Did they find a match?” Angela asked.
“No, whoever’s print it is, he’s not in the system,” Rocky said.
“So no career criminal?” Devin asked.
“No, and no one in the legal system, no one who has ever been printed for work purposes,” Rocky said.
“So...we’re nowhere,” Devin said.
“No, we’re somewhere. We just have to start collecting prints,” Rocky said.
“Is that legal?”
“It is if we do it legally,” Sam said.
“How do we do that?” Devin asked.
“We buy everyone drinks,” Angela told her. “And then we hang on to the glasses.”
“I think it’s time to host a get-together,” Rocky said.
“Where?” Devin asked.
“Your house.” Rocky looked at his watch. “Brent will be free by then. I’m going to ask Jack to expedite his release. Because he needs to be there.”
“And you think he’ll come to any party you’re at after being jailed and grilled?” Devin asked.
As if on cue, there was a tap at the door. Jack.
“Rocky, Brent’s lawyered up, but we still have a few hours left if you want us to hold on to him,” Jack said, “but I think we’re still agreed on releasing him, yes?”