Margo was already at the cemetery and released the scene right away. She again gave Isaiah the cold shoulder and hardly said anything to anyone but Carson. However, Kenzie was able to approach her before she could run off.
Margo seemed to be a little friendlier to Kenzie now, but her eyes showed she was still worried about her daughter. But she was civil enough when she answered, "This one here, based on liver temperature, has been dead for about two weeks. All the others have been dead less than 48 hours."
"Thank you."
Margo nodded and went over to talk to Carson, but he was approaching Kenzie, who had begun to take pictures.
"This breaks the pattern even more than hiding the body," Carson said.
"How so?" Kenzie asked.
"I know who this man is. The other victims haven't been identified yet, but fingerprints have been taken and sent to the lab. This man is a local criminal, part of the crime syndicate. He's been running around with some lowlifes breaking into stores and stealing things. Even got away with a celeb's trophy. Glad we got it back."
"So you're saying this victim is a criminal, and he's well known?"
"Yeah, he's not the brains of the syndicate's operations but he's working his way up. We've been after these guys for months."
"Looks like someone did the job for you. Or it could be the same vampire trying to throw you off."
"That's not the case," Isaiah said from the ground where he'd brushed some dirt away from the victim's neck. Kenzie noticed he was at least considerate enough to wear gloves.
"Why do you say that?" she asked him.
"This bite wound is different. The other victims have had the same distinguishing bite marks on their necks. Each victim had only been bitten once, but there have been three different bite marks in total. These are different."
"How can you be so sure? They all look the same like this. You'd have to do some lab work to be sure."
"Not me. I'm a vampire, remember? I can see things more clearly."
"Oh, right. My mistake."
"Not a problem. But the lab has confirmed that there have been a total of three different bite wounds prior to this victim's."
Kenzie stooped down and took a picture of the bite mark, now free of dirt. She noticed that this body had also been drained of its blood, just like the others. Margo was getting into her car and Carson was shaking his head. Margo frowned and slammed her car door before driving off.
"What was that about?" Kenzie asked.
"Margo was trying to convince me not to put Valerie in juvenile detention," Carson explained. "I told her that no matter what was going on, her daughter isn't above the law. She was trying to tell me that Valerie's just going through a phase and she'll eventually grow out of it. But I can't take that chance. If one person gets away with breaking the law, then everyone thinks they will."
"By breaking the law, you mean her not going to school?"
"Yeah, she hasn't done anything dangerous, at least not yet thankfully, but she can't just skip school."
Kenzie turned back to the body and dug out her evidence kit. She put on rubber gloves and began inspecting the body. She found the victim's wallet in the front pocket of his torn jeans, which she handed to Carson. She didn't find anything else on the body however, just like all previous victims. Except those victims hadn't even had ID on them.
A transport truck then arrived and loaded the victim's body into the back. The man informed Carson that the body would be transported to the morgue to be analyzed by Margo. Carson nodded and the man climbed into the passenger seat of the truck, which then drove off.
Kenzie was puzzled by this latest discovery. All previous victims had been intentionally left out in public, as though the killer wanted people to find them. They'd also had no means of identification on them. This victim, however, had been buried in an attempt to be hidden and ID had been left on him. And it was also a well-known criminal, someone that would easily be recognized even without ID. What did this all mean? Was it the same killer trying to throw the authorities off track?
But what of Isaiah's note of the bite marks being different? Could the current vampire killer have gotten an accomplice? But Isaiah had also said that all previous victims had a total of three distinguishing bite marks on them, each body having a different set of the three. That meant that more than one vampire was on a killing rampage.
"Kenzie, are you all right?" Isaiah was asking. Kenzie realized she was standing very still, probably staring off into space, which she did when she was deep in thought.
"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking."
"Mind sharing your thoughts?"
Kenzie looked at Isaiah. He looked sincere enough; maybe he was keeping his word and not reading her thoughts. She found herself saying, "You said there have been a total of three distinct bite marks on the previous victims. That means there's more than one vampire doing all this killing. And now there's a fourth one that doesn't follow the previous patterns."
"You're frightened."
"No, I'm not. I'm just worried. I don't want anyone else to end up dead."
"Neither do I. But I can sense your fear."
"If I am afraid, it's for any future victims. Not myself."
"Honestly, who are you trying to convince?"
Kenzie wasn't sure how to respond. The victims and patterns of the killers were unpredictable, and she needed some way to catch them. But how? It had to be done soon, or someone else was going to die. She felt so helpless.
Carson finally spoke up. "I think we should head back. We should start comparing notes."
"I have my notes on my laptop at the hotel," Kenzie said, "so I'll stop there and pick them up. I'll add today's discovery to the list."
"Sounds good. I'll meet you back at the station."
Kenzie headed to her car and found Isaiah following her. "Mind if I accompany you?" he asked.
"I can get the files myself."
"I'm sure you can, but I can sense your fear, whether you admit to it or not."
"I just...I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm failing this case."
"You've barely been here for one day. No one could have predicted this."
"I just wish I could do something more to help. People are dying and I'm nowhere closer to finding out who's responsible. Now I find out there is more than one killer, and now there's a new pattern, and someone else can end up dead at any moment..."
Kenzie stopped talking when Isaiah's hand landed on top of her own, which was on top of the car. Her heart rate sped up. What was he doing?
"That's why I wish to come with you," Isaiah said as he looked into her eyes. "I'll keep you safe if no one else. I believe you're truly the only one that can solve this case."
"No pressure there."
"What I meant was, you're a very intelligent young woman. The other detectives didn't even come close. I just know you'll get to the bottom of this."
Kenzie couldn't help smiling, just a little. "Thanks," she said. "Okay, you can come with me. It won't take long."
So Isaiah climbed into the passenger seat and Kenzie drove them to the hotel. Isaiah had said she'd solve this case. She only hoped it wouldn't be too late.
No comments:
Post a Comment