Mitch looked back at the road. “Well, you know, you just be might be in luck, Salvi. Both the Children of Christ church and hall have BioLume products, as does the house of the good preacher.” He glanced back at her. “What do you say, would you like to poke around the preacher’s bedroom?”
Salvi didn’t respond but opened another file on the display and began looking through the imaging that had come in from Swaggert. She studied the vic’s house again. It was neat and tidy, her bedroom girly, innocent, colored in whites and soft pinks. Fluffy teddy bears rested on her bed. There were statues and figurines dotted around her room; of doves, and Jesus, and Mary, and…
“Hello…” she said, leaning in closer as she looked at the image of Sharon’s bedroom displayed.
“What?” Mitch asked.
Salvi zoomed in on the photo, right up to the white-silled window.
“Put it on autodrive. You better look at this,” she said. Mitch kept driving but studied the screen in between glances at the road ahead.
“Is that…?”
“A friendly neighbor?” She smiled, studying the image. The window of Sharon’s bedroom was aligned perfectly with a window in the house next door. And there, standing at the other window looking through, was Sharon’s male neighbor, casually sipping from a mug.
“The neighbor’s house on that list of BioLume properties?” Mitch asked.
Salvi pulled up the relevant report and scanned through it. “Well, I’ll be,” she said. “We might just have a peeping-tom BioLume killer next door.”
“Sheriff Holt canvassed him, though, right?” Mitch asked.
Salvi scrolled through the data to find the Holt’s notes that Riverton had transcribed. “Yeah. Claims he’d been at work, in the city. He’s an accountant. James Stackwell. Thirty-two and single.”
“Alright, we’ll start there, then pay another visit to Tobias.”
They pulled up at James Stackwell’s house at 7.45am, hoping to catch him before he left for work. He was partially dressed and halfway through a shave when he answered the door. Salvi picked him to be just shy of 6’ and about 180, maybe 190 pounds. From his shirtless torso it was clear he worked out.
“Yes?” he said.
Mitch lit up his badge and introduced them.
“I’ve already spoken with the local police,” Stackwell said.
“We’d like to ask a few more questions,” Mitch told him. “It won’t take long.”
Stackwell sighed, but let them in. “I have to leave for work soon.”
They moved into the lounge and took a seat. There were hand weights on the carpeted floor and a health bar wrapper on the coffee table. Salvi looked up to the ceiling and saw a BioLume globe, a faint green tinge mixing with the early-morning sunlight that filled the room.
“What’s this about?” Stackwell asked. “I already told Sheriff Holt that I was at work and didn’t see anyone coming or going around the time she was murdered.”
“You never heard any screams or sounds of struggle at any time?” Salvi asked.
Stackwell looked at her. “No. Do you think if I had, I’d just leave it? I assure you if I heard something I would’ve called the cops.”
Mitch stood and moved to the window, looking out onto the vic’s house. Stackwell watched him.
“Had you seen any regular visitors?” he asked. “Or anyone unusual visit recently?”
“No.” He shook his head. “She hung out with the Children of Christ. I saw them visit from time to time. But they were all, you know, like that.” He shrugged.
“Like what?” Salvi asked him.
“Like that,” he said. “Religious.”
“And you’re not?” Salvi asked. “I thought the whole town was?”
Stackwell gave her a nervous look as though he’d said something he shouldn’t have. “Hey look, I’ve got nothing against religion, but I’m normal. This was my uncle’s house. He was religious but didn’t have any kids of his own. When he died, he left the place to my dad, hoping that he would see the religious light and move here, but he didn’t. My parents were going to donate it to the church and I said ‘hell no. I’ll take it.’ It’s free rent! It’s nice and quiet and a hell of a lot more spacious than anything I’d get in the city. And the SlingShot gets me there in no time.”
“You don’t mind the technology ban?” Salvi asked.
Stackwell looked at her. “Honestly, I’m trying to cut down.” Again he looked nervous. “I’m kind of here to… get away from it.”
“Why?”
“Health reasons,” he said shortly, then looked back at Mitch.
“Anyone visit the Gleamer house more than any others?” Mitch asked, still staring out the window.
“Look, I got better things to do than watch who comes and goes from her house.”
Mitch looked around at him, his face suggesting that Stackwell think harder.
Stackwell understood the request. “There was one guy. But he was part of that religious group. They used to, like, pray and stuff.”
“How do you know that?” Mitch asked.
“Er,” Stackwell stammered, “sometimes they’d do it on her porch. Sometimes… I’d see them through the kitchen window.”
“She wasn’t one for drawing her curtains much, was she?” Mitch said, looking out the window. “Too trusting.”
“Excuse me?” Stackwell said.
Salvi held out her iPort, engaging the hologram function. The image of Stackwell staring through his window into Sharon’s bedroom appeared.
He paused upon seeing it and looked back at Salvi.
“You had a nice view into her bedroom,” Salvi said. “What room are you standing in here?”
“Oh, hey,” Stackwell said straightening, “I was just seeing what all the commotion was about.”
“What room were you standing in?” Salvi asked again.
Stackwell hesitated, “My… bedroom.”
Mitch looked around at him again.
“Mind if we take a look?” Salvi asked him.
“Do I need a lawyer?” Stackwell asked.
“I don’t know,” Mitch said. “Do you?”
“We just want to take a look,” Salvi said. “May we?”
Stackwell considered them both, then nodded cautiously. He led them upstairs to his bedroom. His bed was unmade and there were clothes on the floor. Salvi and Mitch moved to the window and looked across at Sharon’s bedroom.
“You had a good view,” Mitch said.
“What are you getting at?” Stackwell asked. “Look, I have a girlfriend, alright? She lives in the city at the moment, but we’ve been together a long time.”
“You told Sheriff Holt that you’re single,” Salvi said.
“Well, we’re not married,” he said.
“Your neighbor was pretty cute, though,” Mitch said. “You’re telling me you didn’t peep just once?”
Stackwell stared at him. “I think I’m going to call a lawyer.”
“There’s no need to panic,” Salvi said soothingly. “Did you ever… accidentally, look over and see her in there with anyone?”
“Look, what she did was her business, alright? I don’t want to get involved.”
“Mr Stackwell, she was brutally raped and murdered right next door to you,” Salvi said bluntly. “I’m sorry if we’re putting you out here, but she went through hell and we’d like to find the person responsible. So, if you saw something, you should tell us.”
Stackwell looked between them. “Look, I didn’t see anything.”
“You did,” Mitch said. “You’re a bad liar, James. You need to work on your body language.”
“Excuse me?”
Mitch looked down at a strewn shoe and placed his beside it. “What size are you?”
Stackwell looked agitated now. “Look, you want to talk to someone, go talk to her boyfriend. Or whatever he was. He was the only one I ever saw step foot in her bedroom.”
“She didn’t have a boyfriend,” Mitch sa
id.
“Well, he sure looked like it to me,” Stackwell said, putting his hands on his hips.
“What makes you say that?” Salvi asked.
“I…” he hesitated. “I saw them kissing.”
“In her bedroom?” Mitch asked.
Stackwell hesitated but then nodded. “Yeah, but that’s all I saw. I swear,” he said, averting his eyes.
“Body language,” Mitch warned again and Stackwell huffed.
“Who was the boyfriend?” Salvi asked.
“I don’t know. One of those religious guys.” Then he scoffed a laugh. “Guess he wasn’t that religious.”
Salvi moved over to Stackwell and projected an image of Tobias from her iPort. “That him?”
Stackwell eyed the hologram and nodded. “Yeah. That’s him.”
Salvi nodded and glanced at Mitch. “Thank you for your time.”
They moved back downstairs toward Stackwell’s front door. “If you think of anything else, please get in touch. Hub 9, SFPD.”
Stackwell nodded, and Salvi and Mitch stepped out the front door again. As they did, they noticed a Serene standing at the front door of the Gleamers’ house. They paused and watched as the Serene knocked on the door and waited. Upon hearing no response, he bent down and placed the flowers he carried onto the doormat.
Mitch looked back at Salvi, then turned to Stackwell. “How often do they come around?”
Stackwell looked at the Serene then back at Mitch. “At least once a week. They knock on your door and ask if you need help with anything.”
“They help the Gleamers with anything?” Mitch asked.
Stackwell nodded. “Yeah, I’ve seen them in their yard from time to time.”
“You didn’t think to mention that?” Mitch said.
Stackwell shrugged. “This is Bountiful. They help everyone with stuff. I gotta admit I was hesitant at first, but they’re harmless. They’re pretty handy too. They train them to garden and fix stuff at the Complex. Who’s gonna turn down a free worker if it saves you time and a buck or two, right?” Stackwell looked between the Serene and Mitch’s fixed stare upon it. “What, you think one of them did it? I thought they were like eunuchs or something?”
Mitch stared at the Serene as it made its way back to the sidewalk, heading toward Stackwell’s house.
“I think it’s good,” Stackwell said. “Making them pay for what they did. Putting them to good use. Better than sucking up our taxes while they sit on their asses in prison, right?”
“Thank you for your time,” Salvi said to Stackwell, then tapped Mitch on the arm. “Come on.”
They moved down the steps of Stackwell’s porch and onto the sidewalk, just as the Serene reached them.
The Serene smiled and bowed to them. As he did, Salvi studied the strange silver device wrapped around the back of his skull, from one temple to the other. The Serene stood straight again and went to enter the Stackwell property, but Mitch stepped in front, blocking his path.
The Serene stepped back and looked at him. “I’m sorry,” he said calmly. Pleasantly. “May I pass you?”
Mitch stared at the Serene for a moment, his eyes cold and hard, before he stepped around him and continued on to the Raider. Salvi watched his brooding figure, then glanced back at the Serene now talking with Stackwell on his porch. The Serene was still just that. Serene. Mitch’s disposition hadn’t affected him, hadn’t upset him. She turned back to the Raider, saw Mitch sitting in the driver’s seat, revving the engine, and she moved toward it.
Before Salvi could deconstruct the Stackwell conversation or the Serene incident with Mitch, her iPort signaled an incoming call. She didn’t recognize the number, and the call was audio only. She switched her iPort to private and pressed the receiver in her ear.
“This is Detective Brentt.”
“Detective Brentt? This is Martha Felling, Ellie’s mother.”
“Mrs Felling,” Salvi said, glancing at Mitch and switching the call to speaker so he could hear. “How can I help you?”
“Ellie has something she needs to tell you.” There was a muffled sound as Mrs Felling passed the phone over to her daughter. “Tell them.”
“Miss Brentt?” Ellie’s childlike voice said tentatively.
“Ellie, Hi. It’s Detective Brentt. You had something you wanted to tell me?”
“I-I don’t want to get anyone in trouble but–”
“Tell them!” Ellie’s mother could be heard in the background. “God is your witness!”
Salvi could hear Ellie gulp deeply with nerves. “Sharon would sometimes go down to the SlingShot station. I saw her.”
“Tell them why!” Mrs Felling pestered her daughter.
“I don’t know what they were doing! Honest!”
“They?” Salvi asked. “Who was she with?”
“I saw her walking there with Tobias.” Ellie hesitated. “We’re not supposed to go there. Preacher Vowker warned us not to. He said bad people were there. He said the SlingShot station was a doorway to sinners and temptation.”
Salvi exchanged a look with Mitch. “And you really don’t know what Sharon and Tobias were doing down there?”
“No. I stopped following because we’re not supposed to go there. I… I knew she was straying from the Lord. I knew it. I should’ve pulled her back… I should’ve done more. May the Lord forgive me.”
“I’m sure you did what you could, Ellie,” Salvi said. “Thank you for the information. I’ll be in touch if I have any more questions. If you think of anything else, you let me know.”
“OK,” she said, the misery evident in her childlike voice.
Salvi ended the call and looked back at Mitch.
He gave a single nod. “It’s time we have another chat with Tobias.”
They went to the hardware store but found that Tobias hadn’t shown up for work, so they headed to his house, a couple of blocks away from Sharon’s. As they drove, the Raider’s console signaled an incoming message. Mitch tapped the screen, read the message, then looked at Salvi.
“Rape kit’s in,” he said. “Check it out.”
“Ford’s pulled some strings to get it this fast,” she said, tilting the screen toward her and reading through the results. “Rape kit positive… Weston found a single DNA source external to the vic and on the mattress. So, we’ve got a single perp.”
“I take it there’s no hits on the DNA?”
Her eyes scanned the report, then she engaged her lenses and contacted Riverton.
“Yes, Detective Brentt,” it answered.
“Riverton, confirming you’ve registered the forensics report on Sharon Gleamer and will run the DNA through CODIS?”
“Yes, Detective. The DNA has been submitted.”
“Great. Can you also provide a background check on James Stackwell, Sharon’s neighbor?”
“Of course. One moment.” Silence sat in the Raider while Riverton processed the request. “It would seem Mr Stackwell is in financial difficulty,” the AI said. “He has defaulted on several loans and appears to owe a substantial amount of money to a company called Winchester. According to my records they are a sports betting company.”
“So that’s why he’s hiding out in Bountiful,” Mitch said. “The guy’s got gambling debts.”
Salvi nodded. “The free rent and abstinence from technology would be very appealing in that case.”
“Yeah, but does he really want to live here, or did his parents push him into it?”
“Thank you, Riverton. End request.”
“Stackwell’s admitted to peeping through the window,” Mitch said. “I think we can work up enough of a case to get DNA warrants for him and Tobias. Once we get the names of the Serenes and Subjugates that have been servicing her street these past few weeks, we’ll check them out too.”
Salvi glanced at him, and Mitch returned the look.
“It fits their previous MO, Salvi. They’re convicted murderers and sex fiends.”
“Who have supp
osedly been cured of their murderous ways and passed all examination.”
“They’re more likely to have done that to Sharon than one of these religious guys.”
“Maybe,” Salvi said with a shrug. “But people snap all the time, Mitch. It could easily have been one of these religious guys. From what information Riverton has gathered, these Serenes and Subjugates make these Bountiful folks look bad. Those things wrapped around their heads somehow stop them from reoffending. These guys are apparently numb to all the feelings that once excited them. They can’t feel those things any more. The guys of Bountiful can.”
“Check in with Ford, would you?” Mitch said. “We’re still waiting for our time to visit the Complex.”
Salvi sighed and engaged her lenses. She called Ford, watching the connection screen in her vision. The call went unanswered. White text began to scroll upward, asking her to leave a message. Salvi hung up.
“She’s not answering.”
“Why’s it taking so damn long?”
“It’s like Sheriff Holt said, it’s effectively a prison. There’s hoops we have to jump through.”
“Screw protocol.”
“Easy tiger,” Salvi said. “Let’s go chat with Tobias first and see where that leads us.”
Mitch looked at her. “Is Tobias smart enough to cover his tracks and leave the scene pretty clean like that?”
Salvi stared back but couldn’t answer.
They found Tobias at his home. His roommate answered the door. Salvi recognized him from the group photo Mitch had taken from Sharon’s fridge.
“He’s… not well,” the roommate, Kevin Craydon, said when they’d asked if Tobias was home. About 5’11 and maybe 140 pounds, he had longish auburn hair and brown eyes.
“We need to see him,” Salvi said.
Kevin nodded and let them in. They waited in the living room while he tried to rouse Tobias. Salvi looked around the house and saw candles, an empty pizza box, Christian comics, and a framed picture of Jesus on one wall.
“Electricity,” Mitch said, looking up at the ceiling. Salvi did too, then scanned the lights in the other rooms that she could see.
“No BioLume here,” she agreed.
“But there is down at his work,” Mitch said quietly.
The Subjugate Page 7
