Chris Carter - Gallery of the Dead

‘What do you mean “we”?’ Agent Williams replied, trying to suppress a sarcastic chuckle. ‘Did you think that Director Kennedy was talking to you too?’

Hunter questioned Kennedy with a simple stare.

Kennedy nodded. ‘I’m sorry, Robert, but Special Agent Williams is right. The offer for a joint operation is extended only to you.’

‘You have got to be kidding me,’ Garcia said in disbelief.

Hunter signaled his partner to give him a moment. ‘That’s not what you said, Adrian.’

‘What do you mean? I never said anything about your partner.’

‘Yes, you did.’

‘What?’ Agent Williams intervened again. ‘When?’

Hunter was still addressing Kennedy. ‘You proposed a joint operation between the NCAVC and the LAPD’s UVC Unit, right? Those were your words. Well, Detective Garcia and I are the LAPD’s UVC Unit, not me by myself. The only reason why this unit has the reputation it has, is because we work together.’ Hunter’s turn to pause for effect. ‘So if you want this joint operation to go ahead, Adrian, you better make room for the two of us.’

Kennedy hesitated for a moment and Agent Williams took over one more time.

‘Well that’s just not going to happen, is it? If you think—’

‘Special Agent Williams,’ Kennedy stopped him. This time the gravel in his voice was coated with annoyance. ‘If you interrupt me one more time, you’ll be removed from this investigation and on a plane back to Quantico in the next hour, am I clear?’

‘But sir!’

‘Am I clear, Special Agent Williams?’

Agent Williams looked down at his shoes like a schoolboy who’d just been severely reprimanded.

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Maybe you should borrow the dog-house keys from your partner,’ Garcia said.

‘Detective Garcia,’ Kennedy said, his whole demeanor booming with authority. ‘If you are to be part of this operation, you will have to tone that sarcasm of yours way, way down.’

Garcia was about to come out with a new dig, but he caught a glimpse of the way Hunter and Captain Blake were looking at him.

‘OK,’ he finally conceded. ‘I think I can do that. No problem.’

Kennedy readdressed Hunter. ‘So you’re in?’

Hunter peeked at his partner.

Garcia nodded once. ‘Oh, I’m definitely in. I want to catch this sicko.’

‘This will be a joint operation,’ Hunter told Kennedy. ‘The NCAVC and the UVC Unit will have equal levels of authority, command and clearance throughout the investigation. No one keeps anything from anyone.’ His stare moved to Agent Williams. ‘This is not a competition. We’re all after the same end result. Can you work with that?’

Agent Williams took a deep breath to steady himself. ‘Yes, I can work with that.’

‘Carlos?’

‘Yes, of course. I have absolutely no problem with that.’

Hunter looked at Linda Parker’s skinned body photographs pinned to the picture board.

‘OK, Adrian, we’re in. You’ve got your joint operation.’

‘What?’ Special Agent Fisher said once she was allowed back into Hunter and Garcia’s office. The look on her face was as if the world had turned upside down during her absence. ‘A joint operation?’ Her stare sought Agent Williams for help, but all he could do was shrug.

‘That’s right, Special Agent Fisher,’ Kennedy confirmed.

‘But sir, that’s absolutely unnecessary. We have this whole investigation under contr—’

‘Special Agent Fisher,’ Kennedy stopped her yet again. This time he sounded angry. ‘We’re not going to keep on doing this and if you are to stand a prayer of being a part of this operation, you better snap out of this superior attitude of yours, and you better do it pronto, do you understand me?’

Agent Fisher looked like she was about to breathe out fire.

‘If I hear that even a single second of this investigation has been jeopardized due to your attitude, you’ll be stuck with office work for the rest of your FBI career. Have I made myself clear?’

Agent Fisher’s stare went from Kennedy to Agent Williams, to Hunter and finally back to Kennedy.

‘Have I made myself clear, Special Agent Fisher?’ Kennedy’s voice was resolute.

‘Yes, sir,’ she replied with a nod. ‘Crystal. You’ll get no problems from me.’

Garcia was about to let fly a new sarcastic comment when Hunter gave him an almost imperceptible headshake.

‘OK,’ Kennedy said, addressing his agents and positioning himself behind Hunter’s desk. ‘Now that we’re all in agreement, how about we get everybody up to speed on what we’ve got so far?’

‘That’d be a good start,’ Garcia said.

Kennedy nodded at Special Agent Williams, who retrieved a blue file from the briefcase he had brought with him.

Kennedy stepped back from the desk, as if to give everyone more space.

‘OK,’ Agent Williams began. ‘The Surgeon first came to our attention a little over two months ago, on February fifteenth to be exact.’

‘The Surgeon?’ Garcia asked.

‘That’s the moniker the FBI is using on this creep,’ Agent Williams explained. ‘The reason, I think, is pretty obvious.’ He indicated the board. ‘But I’ll get there in time, anyway.’

From the blue file, Agent Fisher obtained an eleven-by eight-inch colored portrait of a woman and placed it on Hunter’s desk.

‘The Surgeon’s first victim was Kristine Rivers, a twenty-year-old college student from Wayne State University in Detroit.’

Hunter, Garcia and Captain Blake stepped closer to examine the photograph. As they did, Hunter felt an uncomfortable knot begin to tie itself up at the back of his throat. Though the girl in the photo looked to be no older than seventeen, she reminded Hunter of Professor Tracy Adams. Her gentle heart-shaped face was stylishly framed by long red hair. Her almond-shaped eyes were blue and they seemed to carry a naive sparkle in them. Her lips were full and adorned by a deep red lipstick. Her nose was pointy but delicate, and her cheekbones were prominent and smooth-curved.

‘Miss Rivers was born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio,’ Agent Williams continued. ‘Where her family still lives. She was accepted into law school at Wayne State two years ago.’ He flipped a page on the file he was reading. ‘Miss Rivers shared a small apartment, located on the outskirts of the university campus, with two other sophomore law students: Susan Temple, also twenty years old and from Michigan, and Rosanna Rodriguez, twenty-one years old from Iowa. On the night of February thirteenth or morning of the fourteenth, Miss Rivers failed to come back home from her waitressing job in an All-American Diner in Springwells Village.’

‘Springwells Village is about three miles from where she lived,’ Agent Fisher added.

‘How did she usually get home from work?’ Garcia asked. ‘Did she walk?’

‘No, she took the bus,’ Agent Fisher replied. ‘We checked all the buses’ CCTV footage, talked to all the drivers who had worked that route that night — nothing. It doesn’t seem like Miss Rivers ever boarded the bus home.’

‘What time did she finish work?’ Garcia again.

‘The Diner closed at half past midnight,’ Agent Williams answered. ‘According to everyone who was working that night, Miss Rivers left, by herself, ten to fifteen minutes after closing time. No one noticed her talking to anyone in particular, either. No customers or anyone else who could’ve invited her out once her shift was over. In fact, some of them were grabbing a beer after work, but Miss Rivers said that she needed to get home because she had class early the next morning.’

‘How far away was the bus stop from the diner?’