“And the other?”
“Zachary.” She was no longer smiling as she headed toward the front door now being opened for Griffin by a forensic tech. “Zachary wouldn’t believe I’d even come close to being perfect … unless I was dead.”
*
GRIFFIN SPOKE TO THE tech at the door and then motioned to the assembled investigators. “Okay, we’re on. Put on evidence gloves on the way in and try not to destroy the place, okay?”
Kendra and Lynch entered the building behind Griffin, Metcalf, Gina, and the dream team, filing past a young FBI agent whose only job seemed to consist of handing out plastic evidence gloves.
Kendra glanced around the sparsely-furnished condo, which featured hardwood floors in the kitchen and dining area and slightly outdated tan carpeting in the living room. There were no pictures on the walls.
“Not much to it,” Lynch said to Kendra. “Does this tell you anything?”
She scanned the walls from floor to ceiling. “Well, it does look like the home of someone who moves around a lot and isn’t in the habit of putting down roots in the places he does live.”
“How brilliantly perceptive.” Agent Gale smirked sarcastically. “Now I can see why you were brought in to give us a hand.”
Lynch strolled over to Gale and leaned into his face. “You’ve done nothing on this investigation since you got here except talk trash and take up space. Unless you have something useful to contribute, try keeping your mouth shut.”
Gale didn’t give an inch. He smiled. “Is that an order? Because I don’t see where you fit in the chain of command around here.”
“Consider it friendly advice,” Lynch said softly. “Which might get considerably less friendly if you don’t do as I suggest.”
“Enough,” Kendra said. She didn’t need Lynch to defend her, and Gale had no idea who he was up against. “If you’re through flinging testosterone at each other, we should take a closer look around.”
Lynch stepped back toward her and murmured, “You weren’t impressed by my protective instincts?”
“No, I can protect myself.”
“That goes without saying. But I thought you might appreciate having someone around who’s willing to beat the hell out of a patronizing dirt bag for you when the occasion demands.”
“That’s a little too caveman for me.”
“Just putting it out there. He annoyed me.”
“Obviously.” Kendra walked through the tiny kitchen before circling back to the living room. “Okay, Hagstrom comes home from work every night, cooks a frozen dinner in that microwave, then eats and watches TV alone on the couch.”
“I’m sure you can smell all kinds of processed foods that I could never pick up,” Lynch said. “But how about the couch?”
She pointed toward the living room. “Only one side of that couch is depressed. On the arm is a faint impression of the size and shape of a dinner plate. Also on the arm are stains from about a dozen different meals. It’s probably where he eats dinner every night, right in front of the TV.”
Gina motioned toward the dinette set. “But the chair looks worn.”
“Only on the edge. He does something else there, something that requires focus and concentration on the table.” She ran her gloved fingers across the tabletop. “Something that leaves this fine metallic powder.”
Metcalf stared at the dark residue. “Metallic shavings … Some kind of sculptor?”
“Possibly.” She looked closer and smelled the shavings. “But could also come from…” She glanced around. “Are there guns here?”
Griffin called out from the hallway. “The advance team found four guns under the bed, plus an assortment of scopes and replacement parts. They’re now on the floor of the bedroom, if you’d like to see them.”
“Guns?” Roscoe said. “Zachary has never used guns before. Anywhere.”
Suber nodded. “Although there is some indication he may have used a gun in Florida in the initial abduction stage of one of his killings.”
Kendra was still staring at the table top. “These are barrel filings, perhaps to fit a scope. Hagstrom is a gun enthusiast.”
“Like half of the other people in America,” Lynch said. “Still, nothing to connect him to any of your killings.”
Kendra and the other investigators were moving to the bedroom, where the guns and parts where displayed on a small tarp.
Roscoe crouched and inspected them. “Nothing unusual here. Barrels haven’t been tampered with to disguise ballistic signatures.”
Kendra glanced around. “Any knives here?”
Griffin shook his head. “Just a few in the kitchen drawer. Nothing even close to the type that would have caused the victims’ stab wounds.”
“Let’s take a look anyway,” she said.
They filed out of the room. Metcalf closed the door behind them and Kendra froze in her tracks. “Wait.”
The other investigators stopped and looked at her quizzically.
Kendra pointed to Metcalf. “Open that door and close it again.”
He swung open the door and pulled it shut.
“Again.”
Close your eyes.
Concentrate.
Once again, he opened the door and closed it.
She looked at the others. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Griffin said.
Kendra rapped on the wall next to the hinge side of the door. She then did the same to the wall on the doorknob side. “Listen. There’s a metallic sound over here. That’s what I was hearing.” She closed her eyes as she ran her fingers over the wall. “Let’s go back into the bedroom.”
They followed her back into the bedroom where she ran her hands over the wall. “The drywall texture is slightly different here. It’s probably newer with fewer coats of paint. It may have been recently replaced.” She rapped on the wall again where the slight metallic sound was obviously more perceptible to the others.
“Maybe an HVAC duct?” Gina said.
“No, that’s a different sound,” Kendra said. “Usually more of a rattle. This sounds more like…” Kendra pushed on the drywall and it suddenly clicked and swung open slightly.
“Whoa,” Metcalf said. “If that leads to a hidden dungeon, I’m gonna freak out.”
“No dungeon.” Kendra pulled on the drywall panel to reveal a tall, slender metal cabinet.
“A gun safe,” Griffin said. “That’s what you were hearing.”
“Kind of an elaborate setup for a place like this,” Gina said.
Roscoe inspected the hidden drywall door. “Interior hinges and spring-loaded latch. I’ve known people to put these in their homes. You can do it in an afternoon if you know what you’re doing.”
Kendra tried the safe door. Locked. She turned to Griffin. “Do we need a warrant to get inside here?”
“Nope. We have Hagstrom’s permission for a full-premises search though he probably didn’t think we’d find this.” Griffin examined the key-lock. “I have a guy in the next room who can get us inside in under a minute.”
Lynch stepped forward with two L-shaped picks he’d pulled from his jacket pocket. “You have a guy in here who can do that even faster.”