I was torn.
On the one hand I wanted to get to the crime scene, but on the other hand I didn’t really want to go anywhere. If we were right about the Illusionist, we might have found the big break we were hoping for.
Tucker started pulling out the reports from each of the crime scenes. “Yes. Mindy is engaged to a guy from her hometown-Kevin Young!”
“So,” I said, “the killer stole the engagement ring from Mindy and placed it on Reinita’s finger. Then he stole Jolene’s contacts and put them in Mindy’s eyes.”
“Whew. This guy is good. He’s threading everything together for us.”
“Yeah. Touching the player he’s going to take next. We need to go over everything from the beginning, all the physical evidence. I want to know how long this has been going on.”
“Gotcha.”
My mind was spinning, flying over all the facts I’d read so far about the cases, wondering what other clues the Illusionist might have left for us. Does the order matter? What’s the significance of an engagement ring or contact lenses? What else has he left?
But as excited as I was, I also knew there were good people here who could analyze the forensic evidence better than I could. Besides, I had a lot to do today. I needed to get going.
Just then, Sheriff Wallace walked into the room. “Whatcha’ll up to?” His mouth was half full of a sausage biscuit; in his hand he held an overstuffed bag from Hardees. Somehow, even though it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet, he was already sweating. Damp, yellowish stains emanated from the armpits of his once-white shirt.
“Sheriff Wallace,” I said, “I need some of your men to pull all the physical evidence from the previous cases.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Focus on anything found on or near the bodies. Anything at all-rings, glasses, jewelry, brands of lipstick, clothes. Tucker can explain everything. We’re looking for links. Tucker, you on this?”
“Absolutely.”
Sheriff Wallace pulled a cinnamon roll out of the bag and popped it in his mouth. He looked lost.
“He’s reaching across the board,” I explained, “and he’s touching our pieces, then taking them on his next turn.” I realized I wasn’t making any sense, not to someone who hadn’t heard what we were talking about.
Just then his phone rang. He answered it, looked a little confused, and passed it to me. “It’s for you.”
“Yeah?” I said into the phone as Tucker started bringing him up to speed, trying to summarize our theory in as few words as possible. “Bowers here.”
“It’s Lien-hua. I’ve been trying to find you. I tried your phone, then Ralph’s phone-”
“Long story.”
“I thought you were heading to the dump sites.”
“I am. I’m on my way.”
“Where are you now?”
“The federal building. I was just leaving.” I grabbed my computer and whispered for Tucker to call me if they came up with anything else. I headed for the door. “Where are you?” I asked her.
“On the steps outside waiting for you.”
“What? I thought you were in Charlotte.”
“Ralph sent me back early this morning. He tried telling you, but I guess your cell phone died.”
“Actually, it was his. Never mind.”
She yawned across the phone. “I feel like I’ve been up forever.”
“I’m glad I took the chopper last night. When’ll Ralph be down?”
“This afternoon after he’s done interviewing the security guard. He thought it might be helpful if I joined you since I’ve been to each of the crime scenes so far and…”-she paused for a moment-“I’m the one who’s been working on the offender’s profile.”
Don’t say anything stupid, Pat. Don’t be an idiot. “Yeah. Good. The profile. I love profiles.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“I’ll try to remember that.”
I stepped outside and closed up my phone. Wait, not mine. Dante Wallace’s. Oh well, I could give it back to him later. Nearby, Lien-hua was slipping her phone into her jeans pocket. She had on hiking boots and wore a blue North Face fleece pullover and matching windbreaker to fend off the crisp morning air. With the mountains rising behind her, she looked like she belonged on the cover of an outdoor magazine.
I’d subscribe.
“He’s touching our pieces,” I said, unlocking the car.
“What?”
“Climb in. I’ll explain on the way.”