Murders of the Zodiac Boxed Set

by Paris Morgan

  “Yep. I just thought the people I saw were supposed to be there. They never tried to talk to me. I haven’t been able to communicate with them even now that I’m more open. I’d just see them and sense something about who they were.”

  “Can you see or sense a presence on video? Like they do on those ghost hunter shows?”

  “No, I have to be physically present to see if someone’s dead. I’ve been contemplating meeting my other family over spring break. They might be able to train me a little bit, but I’d have to obey their rules or they might not even let me past the door.”

  “You don’t sound excited.”

  “I’m torn, really, because I want to know more, but in doing so, not only can they reject me, I’m acknowledging that I’m different, you know?”

  “Makes sense. It could help explain things you never realized before, like the ghosts hanging out with you.”

  “Which is the biggest reason for me to go, and so far, all the signs are aligning. It will be up to the path if it’s open in March or completely closed off. Thankfully, my mother was willing to talk to me for a little while. She’s thinking about going with me so that they’ll help me. A recommendation from her could help, but it might also hurt with getting a foot in the door.”

  “Things like this are tough. Let me know when you go. I’d love to hear about all the things you learn. It could be a crash course in basic psychics 101.”

  She let out a laugh. “You’re so right. I just need to approach this as a way to learn, and anything gleaned from it will just be that much more I know. Thanks.”

  We talked for a while before I decided to get Ryan out of my system with a little Jerome time. This booty call thing could become a habit.

  ***

  “Hmm…that was nice,” I moaned as I pulled the sheet up to cover me.

  “Just nice?” He grinned at me mischievously. “Do I need to try that again so you come up with a different word to describe it?”

  “No.” I snuggled closer to his body. “It’s just nice having someone to do the horizontal tango with. But, unfortunately, I have to run. I’ve got a conference call shortly on a case in Wisconsin.” I tapped his nose with my finger, wishing the sheet could cover me while I got dressed.

  “You’re leaving me?” He pouted. “You could always take your call, and then come back to bed.”

  “While that sounds lovely, I may have to do some follow-up work, depending on the information I get from the call.” Slipping my jeans on, I grabbed my boots and sat on the bed to put them on.

  “It’s that detective, Ryan, isn’t it?” His tone changed suddenly.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, hoping that he wasn’t implying that I was involved with Ryan.

  “That you’re sleeping with me, and then going off to do something else with him. I don’t want to sound possessive, but I’m not going to be made a fool of.” Jerome got out of bed and started getting dressed as well.

  “Okay, I’m not sure what just happened here, but I have a consult on a case. Yes, it is with Ryan, but he’s in Wisconsin where his friend was almost murdered. I’m not sure how that equals cheating or a romantic phone conversation, but if you can’t deal with the fact that I work with other guys, then this isn’t going to be a very long relationship.”

  He came around to sit next to me on the bed with only his jeans on. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be one of those jealous pricks. I just know that when I saw you, I couldn’t imagine how the other guys weren’t all lining up to date you. I don’t want to share you with others.”

  His words sounded sincere, but there was a problem with what he’d said.

  “All right, I get that men think differently than women do. No woman wants to be owned or possessed, at least I don’t. It’s a real turn off. If we were married or engaged, then I would expect loyalty and a certain amount of possessiveness, but beforehand is a real flag on the play. Not only do I work with other people, but I’m going to have friends and talk to others, which doesn’t mean that I’m jumping into bed with them. It’s perfectly normal to be around other people.” I sighed. This was so much harder to explain than I thought it was going to be.

  “Look, you’re nice and we’re having fun. I could see this going somewhere, but not if it means that you’re going to question me every time I leave the house or go to work. A relationship has to be built on trust, and I think we should do a little more getting to know each other outside of the bedroom before we continue into the next phase.”

  “You’re right, and I’m sorry. I overreacted. I just don’t want to lose you to someone else. My last relationship didn’t go so well, and I found out that she was cheating on me. It’s given me trust issues, and this is the first time since then that I followed my instincts.”

  “I understand that, and we all have baggage. Just don’t assume anything or jump to conclusions. I’m a pretty up-front kind of person, so just ask me. Anyway, I’m going to go, but I’ll call you when I have a chance in the next day or two so we can do dinner. Can you handle that?”

  I scanned his face, hoping that this wasn’t the end for us.

  “I’ll really try, but you’re gonna have to be patient and call me on my crap if I go overboard. Deal?”

  Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nodded.

  He pulled me into his lap and laid a sizzling kiss on my lips.

  “Now that should be more than nice, and will make you consider the possibility of a future together.”

  I wanted to take his words at face value, but it almost sounded like a threat instead of a happy promise.

  With a little wave at the door, I left, feeling like I was fleeing the scene instead of just having a fun booty call. This wasn’t going to be easy to shake off, and a second chance would take some consideration before I made a decision.

  A sudden urge to shower off our activities made the drive home pass quickly. Maybe I was supposed to stay single instead of dating someone that was turning out to be a jerk.

  Chapter 7

  Ryan

  I’d spent all night going through the case files, and most of the day interviewing others about the suicides that had taken place. There’d been another one in Madison, and Chief Montier had called to get me permission to visit the crime scene early the next day.

  It wasn’t too late to call Leslie and give her an update with the new info I’d uncovered earlier. I punched her number in from memory and waited for her to pick up.

  “Yeah? Uh, sorry. How’s it going?” she growled through the phone.

  It didn’t sound so good on her end. In fact, she seemed upset that I’d called.

  “Hi. It’s going okay. I found out a few things I thought you might be interested in knowing about,” I suggested cautiously.

  “Right, go ahead.”

  “Jesse had a list of cults on his computer that he’d checked out. This one group has a fair amount of suicides connected to them. The leader’s name is Simon, and outsiders call them Simon’s Followers, because those in the cult do everything he says.”

  “That sounds promising. Do they have a theme?”

  “Not one that’s been made public as far as I can tell. Most of its rumors that circle around the leader, Simon Templeton. He brings anyone in that has money or connections. The men who’ve been murdered or led to commit suicide are more gullible and prone to guilt. It wouldn’t have taken much to tip them from being successful businessmen to being ready to jump off a cliff.”

  “Does that really track with our profile of the serial killer, though? I’m not sure this cult fits with what’s been happening.”

  The chill over the phone felt visible, but I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d done something to piss Leslie off.

  “I didn’t think so either, but I have an interview with the cult leader tomorrow. He’s agreed to come in and chat with me without a lawyer.”

  “Well, that’s stupid.”

  “Leslie, is something wrong? You don’t seem like yourself tonigh
t.”

  “I’m not, but that doesn’t matter. We’ve got to find this guy, so keep going.”

  “Uh, sure.” While we hadn’t worked very long together, it appeared that she had something she needed to work through.

  “Flora didn’t have any new information for us at the moment. It appears that the cosmos are just going to ignore all these people dying.” She used the pause to update me, but I wasn’t certain that I had anything else to give her that could help us.

  “Could you check on the list of men and find out what their connection to the Urban Energy Company is? There has to be some reason that everyone involved works there.”

  “Jesse didn’t work for the company, did he?”

  “No, not that I know of. But I think they did it based on the fact that he was trying to find the killer.”

  “Got it. It’s been a long day. I’ll see what I can find out tomorrow for you.”

  “Thanks. I really appreciate you working on this after hours.”

  “Yeah. I’m ready to catch this killer, so whatever it takes. I’ve got to go.”

  “Certainly. Maybe this Simon guy will be an open book.”

  “Ha, right. Bye.”

  Okay. I wasn’t sure what to make of the conversation. I mean, the conversation was practically finished, but it felt different. I was normally the pessimist, and now Leslie was taking a cold shoulder approach. Hopefully, it was just the long hours, but I knew that I needed to hear Shea’s voice before I drifted off for the night.

  ***

  The most recent crime scene in Madison didn’t look any different than the one’s I’d left in Green Bay.

  A patrol officer was acting as tour guide because the detective on the case had been called to another victim’s house.

  Careful to look for the magnets with Pisces on them, I almost slid as I entered the kitchen. There was a slight film of sand on the floor. I hadn’t noticed that on the other floors, but then again, I hadn’t been looking for it either. Sand was one of the things that was more likely to be found, or a sand-salt mixture that helped to keep the roads from freezing in the winter.

  “Was there any sign of sand or salt at the other scenes?” I asked the officer as he locked up.

  “I’m not sure, sir. You’ll have to talk to the detective in charge about that, or ask one of the techs who processed it.”

  “Right. Can we go to the current scene?” I was thankful that I’d been able to park at the station, and didn’t have to navigate through another unknown city.

  “Yes, sir. He’s requested that you come take a look since you’re already in town.”

  Once we were on our way, I said, “I appreciate you driving me around.”

  “Oh, no problem. It means that I don’t have to stand out in the cold at a traffic stop this morning,” he acknowledged with a grin. “Here you are. I’ll wait in the car for you.”

  It wasn’t hard to find the crime scene, because there were still plenty of techs processing things. I found the detective, Tom Stevens, standing over the body, jotting down notes in his phone.

  “Excuse me, I’m the detective that’s working with the Green Bay division.”

  “Of course. Come on in and tell me what you think.” He motioned to the gloves that were sitting just inside the doorway.

  “Thanks for letting me crash.”

  “No problem. Just tell me what you see.”

  “It looks like he threw the rope over the beam up there before tying it off. Then he stepped up on the stool, put the noose around his neck, and kicked the stool out from under his feet,” I explained, surveying the scene.

  “Yep, that’s my take on it as well. Anything else?”

  “From what I’ve seen at the other scenes, most of them don’t have a note of any kind, but there’s a magnet on the fridge with some sort of calendar indicating it’s their birthday. I’m going to take a wild guess and say the guy works for the Urban Energy Company, or a branch of it.”

  “Hmm,” the other detective grunted, taking what I’d said for truth.

  “I did find some sort of sand at the last scene. Did you find anything at the others like that?” I scanned the floor, but if there had been some here, it would have to be in the carpet.

  “Not any large amounts. We just assumed that is was from the elements outside. Certainly something that we see in a lot of houses this time of year.”

  “Agreed, but there was a lot at the last scene, like someone had spilled sand everywhere.”

  “You seem to be well acquainted with these cases. Any reason why when you just got to town yesterday?”

  “We think it could be connected to a case we thought was closed in Texas. This is a slightly different M.O. than what we experienced, yet the presence of the Pisces cards on the refrigerators would make me lean toward the premise that even if it’s not the same killer, they’re playing the same kind of sick game.”

  “Oh, you think the suicides in Green Bay and Madison are connected and are murders instead?” Tom studied me carefully.

  “It’s a distinct possibility. How many suicides do you normally have in a given winter season? Four or five suicides over what, a six-month time period? You’ve had that many within a few weeks. What changed?” I asked, running a finger over the carpet, looking for the possibility of any leftover sand.

  He followed my path as I looked for clues. “After this morning, I’m going to advise that any and all suicides be listed as unsolved until further notice. If there’s anything we can do to help, please let me know.”

  “Thank you. I really want to see this through to the end.”

  I had a feeling that this killer was just getting started, and it was going to be a long year.

  ***

  Retracing Jesse’s steps to all the crime scenes was overdoing it, but I had the feeling that I was going to find trace amounts of sand that had been overlooked before.

  GPS managed to be my friend as I drove around the city. It wasn’t the same as working the streets, then moving up in the department which had allowed me to learn and memorize the shortest routes anywhere in my town.

  Each place had a faint trace of sand—a few had more than others—but there was certainly enough to add it into evidence and see if we could trace someone who was buying large amounts of it.

  Long overdue for some food, I stopped at the first place I saw called Poke the Bear. It looked more appealing compared to the hospital food, which was where I was headed to next.

  As I sat there watching people, I tried to figure out why the killer would need sand to accomplish what they were doing. The only thing that made sense was if the person was smaller than the victims, they could use the sand to get them up. It would mean that most of the victims were unconscious before they were killed. The killer would have to use the sand on the other end of the rope to hoist them up, and get them on the stools or chairs to balance them. We needed to run a tox screen for sedatives.

  If I was a betting man, I’d bet they were drugged first so they didn’t struggle, and after the killer had things setup, they would kick the chair or stool out and let them hang.

  My instinct were saying that the killer had watched to make sure they were dead. Something with Jesse had gone wrong, and they hadn’t been able to stay around to see it through.

  I needed to see Jesse. I had a feeling that he’d seen or knew something that the killer didn’t want him to know. It could wait until I’d devoured this wonderful smelling food, though.

  ***

  At the hospital, Lucy was standing outside Jesse’s room when I got there.

  “Hey, there. We’re just about to go. The doctors are saying there’s no change.” She quickly wiped away some tears as the children came out of the room.

  I quickly reached over and gave her a hug. “He’s tough. Having the kids talk to him helps keep him fighting to wake up.”

  “That’s the only reason we’re coming to see him every day. I wish we could stay all night, but the kids get an
xious, and I don’t want to change their schedules if he…” She trailed off, not wanting to say it in front of the children.

  “We have to believe it.” I dreaded having to go in there and see him like that.

  “See if you can get her to eat something, will you?” Lucy had hustled the kids to the waiting room, but nodded toward Jesse’s mother, who was sitting by the bed.

  “The nurses will kick her out after a while. I’ll walk her downstairs to make sure that she eats,” I assured her.

  “Thanks. I just don’t know what to do at this point.”

  “I’ve got it for now. Make sure the kids are okay. I’m doing my best to find the person who did this to him.”

  Squaring her shoulders, she gave me a tight smile. “I hope for their sake he makes it.”

  “Me too.”

  I watched her walk out with the kids, and braced myself before going into his room.

  He was still hooked up to the machines, but some of his bruises had changed color. I couldn’t decide if that made it better or worse, actually.

  “How you doing?” I asked.

  “He’s breathing. That’s the most I can hope for at the moment. The doctors don’t think he’ll wake up, but I have to believe that he will. I can’t lose my baby like this.” She jumped up to leave the room.

  I found her standing around the corner, sobbing. I took her into my arms and tried to comfort her the only way I knew how, by being there for her when she needed it the most. I barked out a laugh, which made her look up.

  “It’s just ironic. Years ago, I would have done anything to be holding one woman while she cried. And now, in less than an hour, I’ve hugged two of you. It’s not exactly what I’d pictured.”

  “You silly boy. That’s something Jesse would have come up with too.”

  It didn’t stop her tears completely, but it did lessen them a bit.

  “Shall we go get you something to eat? We can come back before visiting hours are over.”

  She gave me a squeeze and hooked her arm through mine. “Lead on, but you have to tell me fun stories from college that Jesse would never let me know about.”