“She just loved it that we had lobbyists, senators, campaign heads, congressmen and congresswomen, secret service—you name it!—in here. She liked all of them. I’m telling you, there wasn’t a mean bone in her body,” Sue said. “I miss her so much!”
Her eyes filled with tears she tried to blink back, and Matt knew she couldn’t break down in the restaurant; she wanted to keep her job.
“Please,” he said. “Call me with anything.”
Sue nodded.
He gave her an encouraging smile. About to leave, he paused. “Does Congressman Walker ever dine here?”
“He’s been in once or twice. Oh! Yes! He used to come in with my favorite customer!” She looked around and lowered her voice. “I thought the world of Congressman Garth Hubbard. What a loss, too. Such an intelligent man. And so polite. He could be in the middle of a political argument and yet he never failed to thank his waiter or waitress. First his heart attack, and now Cathy—it’s dreadful. They say the good die young. Well, Hubbard wasn’t exactly young, but you know what I mean, right?”
“Absolutely. Thank you,” Matt told her.
She waved his card in the air. “You should come back here, too. The food is very good. And honestly, it’s not overpriced.”
He smiled and made his way out.
Maybe there was a connection between the murdered women and Lara Mayhew’s disappearance. What it might be he couldn’t begin to fathom.
And maybe there was something to the idea of a conspiracy.
But a conspiracy to do what?
*
Leaving her new not-much-of-a-home-yet town house, Meg discovered that Angela was driving them back to the OCME. The remains of their first victim had been brought there, and Wong and Kat were both going to comment on their findings.
“I don’t think there’s anything new,” Angela told her. “But we’ll meet up with Matt and talk to Dr. Wong and Kat.” There wouldn’t be much they didn’t already know, but it was a chance to see the other victim. And to touch her.
And learn if, somehow, Cathy Crighton might still be there, among them.
They didn’t expect to find ghosts, the remnants of the human spirit—whatever word you wanted to use—at the morgue. Nor did it seem that spirits liked to hang around in a cemetery. In a situation like this, they were usually seeking a way to tell others what had happened.
Some remained where great or traumatic events had taken place, while some weren’t even sure why they lingered. Some merely enjoyed their status. Others were anxious to move on—once justice was done, a loved one helped—or perhaps after seeing a beloved child grow up.
Cathy Crighton wasn’t in the morgue—other than in her raggedly damaged human form.
Water, be it from a river, a lake or an ocean, wasn’t kind. Creatures lived in water of all types and consumed tissue and flesh.
Discoloration occurred.
When life was gone, a body was an empty shell. And in circumstances like this, the body was barely recognizable as the woman she had been.
Meg would’ve had the same fear she’d had earlier—that this young woman might have been Lara, had she not died weeks before Lara had gone missing.
“We still haven’t been able to identify the young woman recovered this week,” Wong said. He glanced over at Kat Sokolov. Apparently, they’d worked together before and Wong got along well with her. “We agree she’s between twenty-five and thirty-five, but there’s one difference—she’s not a natural blonde. As far as we can tell, the murder occurred in exactly the same way. He seems to take them completely unawares. Chloroform—on a handkerchief, napkin, whatever. He knocks them out, and hits them with the stronger drug, strong enough for surgery. Then he slits their throats.”
“Would you compare him to any other well-known serial killer?” Matt asked.
Wong shook his head. “No. At least not in the obvious ways. He’s not taking pleasure in their pain. Most serial killers enjoy the victim’s terror, and sexual killers generally need the power. That’s how they get off. But this guy...he doesn’t rape them. He doesn’t need to see their fear—he almost wants to avoid it.”
“Methodical,” Matt Bosworth said.
Kat nodded. “As for the victims, they were both young. Similar in appearance.”
“When we learn this young woman’s identity, I believe we’ll find that she’s from similar circumstances,” Matt said.
“Meaning?” Kat asked.
“She’ll be someone who could disappear for a day or two without others noticing. She lives alone. She has a job where she wouldn’t necessarily be expected in every day. The killer watches them for a long time before he takes them,” Matt said.