Rick Mofina - Into the Dark

“Invitation accepted,” she said, removing her jewelry, then her clothes.

She entered the shower, welcoming the hot water and his hands all over her body. They moved to the bedroom where they made love. Afterward, Claire snuggled against Robert. Too wound up to sleep, she remembered a concern and got out of bed.

Claire still hadn’t been assured that Amber Pratt had been placed in a shelter and wanted to check her laptop for any messages there. She’d slipped on her robe, and while padding to her office, noticed something as she passed Robert’s office.

The door stood open a crack. Something was on the floor. She entered and picked up a small photograph.

Robert was smiling with his arm around a pretty woman.

The note in Robert’s handwriting on the back said “With Cyn in the mountains. Happier times.”

Claire had never seen this before. It looked as if it had fallen from a framed painting that was ever so slightly askew, as though it might’ve been hidden behind it.

She left it there, then walked out of the room.

What the hell is going on with him?

Downey, California

“Aren’t you getting tired of that book?” Joe Tanner, on the sofa, asked Samantha as she handed him Green Eggs and Ham and her brush.

“Dad, I told you it’s my all-time favorite book in the whole world. Sam-I-Am. Sam! Me!”

“All right, smarty-pants, turn around.” Tanner laughed.

Samantha had just come from her bath wearing her robe, slippers and smelling of soap. She stood for the ritual combing of her hair and dramatic “ouches” whenever he’d hit a tangle.

Then came story time. After the book it was bedtime, but Sam stalled.

“You know, Dad, if you wanted to have a girlfriend, it would be all right.”

“Oh, it would? And what brought this on?”

“I was talking with Aunt Kim. She was asking me what I thought if you got a new girlfriend and stuff.”

“Aunt Kim brought it up, did she?”

“We have lots of girl talks. Anyway, she said I should let you know that we think it would be all right, especially if you’re feeling lonely.”

“I tell you what-” Tanner stopped when his phone vibrated. He pulled it from his pocket and read a text from Mark Harding, the reporter.

Working on the story. Need to talk to you now about the case.

Tanner texted that he would call Harding shortly.

“Sorry, hon. I’ll tell you what. I’ll keep all this girlfriend business in mind. Now you get yourself ready for bed, pronto.”

After Sam brushed her teeth, got into her pajamas and said her prayers, Tanner tucked her in with a kiss. Then he went to his study and called the number Harding had left.

“It’s Tanner. What’s up?”

“Thanks. Listen. I’m getting pushed. We’ve got to have more on the killer’s signature.”

“No, I can’t do that because it’s something only a few detectives and the killer know.”

“My editors in New York are pressing me to give readers more detail on why you guys think the five old murders are connected.”

“Like I said, a common thread surfaced one month ago.”

“With the Bradford murder?”

“Yes, in reviewing the files we discovered an overlooked piece of evidence, a cryptic message left at the scene by the killer.”

“Was it a note? What did it say? Was it a recording, a picture? Can you give me a summary?”

“No, Mark. You’re an experienced reporter. You know we’ll do everything to ensure the integrity of our investigation. I already told you, and you can quote me, the killer wanted us to know that he’s responsible for these five murders across L.A. He’s very intelligent.”

“Yeah, I got all that. So you won’t budge on the message?”

“I can’t.”

“I’ll let New York know.”

“The link to the five murders has never been made public before.”

“Right. Thanks for the info on the relatives. We talked to them all and got photos.”

“Be sure to put in your story that anybody with information should call us. But, and this is important, we think the killer’s dead or in prison.”

“Right, Joe, I know you’re playing me.”

“Yes, but you’re getting a scoop. When will it run and where will it go?”

“In a couple of days. It’ll go to every newsroom in the country and to all of our international subscribers around the world. They’ll have the option to use it. Joe, if you get a lead from my story, I want exclusivity on it.”

“I’ll consider that but it depends on what, if anything, comes of this.”

“Thanks, gotta go.”

The call ended.

Tanner let his phone drop to his desk and massaged his temples. Getting this story out was critical for all kinds of reasons. Harding’s challenge pulled him back to the handprint with the killer’s message.

Yes, the cases were linked, but no one outside the investigation knew the details.

Tanner unlocked his desk, took out a bulging accordion file holder. Again, he went to Charlene Podden’s full lab report on the handprint and reread it.

Her analysis showed that the tips of each finger had been rolled onto the paper in a “fingerprint process.” The substance used for making the prints was human blood, but the blood used was not always the same. The left thumb impression belonged to Bonnie Bradford and was made using her blood, which was O positive.

None of the other prints belonged to Bradford. One of the remaining four prints was made in O positive blood, two were made with A positive and one was made in B positive blood.

Tanner and Zurn had gone full bore on running the four remaining mystery prints, submitting them to ViCAP, the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program database of violent crimes, and IAFIS, the national fingerprint and criminal history system, and every regional, state and local computer repository available to them. Within days they had hits on all four and each of them pointed to an unsolved cold case within L.A. County.

The print of the left index finger belonged to Fay Lynne Millwood, 27, A positive blood. Next they identified the print from the left middle finger of Monique Louise Wilson, 30, B positive blood. The next fingerprint was from the left ring finger of Esther Fatima Lopez, 29, A positive blood. The left baby fingerprint belonged to Leeza Meadows, 21, O positive blood. The five murders were the work of one killer.

Sitting alone in his home office, Tanner stared at a page containing the haunting handprint. Five families had been destroyed by the monster who’d made it.

Tanner glanced at Becky’s framed picture. He knew what it was like to lose a part of your life, to have the earth under your feet crumble.

His thoughts went back to the handprint and the killer.

He couldn’t stop her killer, but this guy was different.

You better not be dead, because we’re coming for you.

San Marino, California

I’m probably overreacting, Claire thought as she drove to her office with lingering unease over Robert.

It had been two days since she’d come upon the snapshot of his ex-wife. Yet she’d never voiced a word about it to him, because she’d rationalized every suspicion. Their ex-spouses had been part of their lives. She had photos of Cliff somewhere. If one happened to go astray, was that a big deal? Not really. So why make the picture an issue?

Let it go.

And as far as Robert’s preoccupation went, his reasons were sound; he was anxious over rumored layoffs, and he was having a few aftershocks from the accident. He had a lot on his mind. They both did, what with parenthood on the horizon.

As for her part, Claire thought, wheeling into her space in her office parking lot, she was still a bit pumped after facing down a violent ex here some forty-eight hours ago. She gave the immediate area a quick scan as her remote key lock chirped twice.