Mariah Stewart - Last Words

Beck turned to Mia. “You were going to have someone at the FBI look into similar crimes…”

“And we’ll have his report as soon as he finishes it, yes. But there’s a strong possibility that there won’t be any matches.”

“Because maybe his victims haven’t been found?”

“Exactly.” Mia nodded. “These murders are unique. I think if there were others with similar characteristics in the system, we’d have heard by now. They’d pop right out.”

“Maybe what we need is a run of missing women from this area over the past ten years,” Beck said thoughtfully.

“Let’s start with five,” Mia suggested. “I think if he’d been at this for more than that, some of his victims would have surfaced by now. Let’s see how many cases of missing young women on the Eastern Shore remain unsolved.”

“Do we want to limit the area?” Beck asked.

“No. Let’s go farther. So far, none of the victims have been tourists, they’ve all been living within a ten-mile radius, but who knows if he’s roamed, or how far. Let’s do the Eastern Shore to the ocean,” Annie suggested.

“That’s easy enough to get.” Beck stood. “I’ll have Garland start on that right away.”

He excused himself from the room.

“So how are you feeling?” Annie asked.

“I’m fine. Why?”

“You sounded a bit tired last night,” Annie said gently. “I was worried that maybe you’ve been working too hard for too long without a break.”

“I’m okay. I don’t need a break.”

“Mia, we all need a break once in a while.”

“I’m okay, really. But thanks.”

“I’m going to have to stick around to read over the files Beck has had copied for me. It’s going to take me hours to get through it all. Any chance I could bunk in with you at Connor’s tonight?”

“Sure. I’d love to have you stay.”

“Thanks. I’ll call Evan and let him know where I’ll be.”

“Do you think he’ll mind? After all, you’ve only been married for what, six months now?”

“Six months and eighteen days, but who’s counting?” Annie smiled.

Beck came back and closed the door behind him.

“ Garland is on it. He’ll let us know as soon as he has some results,” he told them.

“So what else do you need, Dr. McCall?” Beck asked. “You have copies of the files, the photos, the reports…”

“That should keep me busy for a while,” Annie said. “Perhaps we could meet in the morning and go over the case?”

“Whenever you’re ready,” Beck replied.

“Let’s say eleven tomorrow assuming you work on Sunday. That should give me enough time to get through all this. If I feel I need more time, I’ll give you a call.”

“Sunday’s are like any other day around here.” Beck nodded. “Thanks for making room in your schedule for this, Dr. McCall. I’m sure you’re busy.”

“It’s an intriguing case. I’m looking forward to examining the files.”

Beck turned to Mia. “Before you leave…”

“Right, Jessica Flynn. She’s the girl who was going to rent a condo in Ocean City for a long weekend with Colleen Preston.”

“We know that.”

“Yes, but what you don’t know is that according to Jessie, Colleen was supposed to be meeting with the owner of the condo on Wednesday-the day after she disappeared-to pay for the rental and get the keys. But what if she met up with him a day early?”

“Would it be too much to ask that Jessie knows the name of the owner?”

“It would be,” Mia told him. “It seems that Colleen was the only one who had any dealings with the owner. She made all the arrangements. Jessie didn’t even know where this place was located, except that it’s a high-rise right on the beach.”

“Of which there are dozens in Ocean City.”

“Anyone around here own one of them?” Mia asked.

“Only about a third of the population of St. Dennis,” Beck said.

“Why would you buy a place on the ocean if you live on the bay?” She wondered.

“There’s been a building boom in Ocean City over the past ten, twelve years. Like I said, there are dozens of those high-rise condos on the beach. Lots of people have bought them as investments and rent them out. Then there are people who like the ocean, and a condo is an affordable way of having that weekend place. At least it used to be affordable, I don’t know what those places are going for now. If it’s rented during the summer, it can pretty much pay for itself.” He sighed. “So, yeah, many people around here own condos in Ocean City.”

“Don’t people who rent mostly go through rental offices? Would you deal directly with the owner?” Mia asked.

“You might if you knew the owner personally,” Beck replied. “Then again, there’s always the possibility that there was no condo, that it was just a ruse to get her to meet him someplace. And maybe Jessie just assumed that the person who had the key was the owner instead of a rental agent.”

“Jessie told me that she’d given the money to Colleen and that Colleen was going to give this guy a check.”

“Then we’ll check with her bank and get a look at her recent transactions,” Beck said. “We’ll need a warrant, but that won’t be a problem.”

“Do you think there’ll be a check?” she asked.

“Nah. I think the whole condo thing was a means of getting to Colleen. But it’s a thread to pull on. So let’s see if anyone knows if Holly or Mindy had any dealings with anyone in real estate before they disappeared.”

Beck glanced at his watch, then stood. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting with the mayor. Dr. McCall, unless I hear from you, I’ll see you at eleven. Agent Shields, you’ll be there?”

“I will.”

“Good.” He started toward the door, then stopped. “You’re not planning on that walk around my neighborhood in the middle of the night tonight, are you?”

“No.” Mia walked into the hall ahead of Annie. “Tonight I’ll be reviewing the file on Mindy Kenneher. And I promise, if I have any thoughts about interviewing anyone connected with the case, I’ll give you a heads-up.”

“I’d appreciate it.” Beck turned off the light at the wall switch. “The chief of police over in Cameron was pretty adamant about not bringing the FBI into his investigation.”

“We’ll bring him around,” Mia said over her shoulder as she and Annie headed for the lobby.

“No doubt you could,” Beck said under his breath as he watched her walk down the hall. “No doubt at all…”

“So, what’s it like, living out here all by yourself?” Annie sat at the kitchen table and watched Mia fill a pot with water and put it on the stove to boil.

“Quiet. If I didn’t work so much, I don’t know if I could stay,” Mia admitted. “You’re actually the first visitor I’ve had since I moved out here.”

She opened a box of pasta and tossed it into the pot, then added, “Unless of course, you count the wildlife. Deer. Fox. Raccoons.”

“You could always move back to Arlington,” Annie reminded her.

Mia made a face. “Too far. John’s been assigning me to a lot of the action on the Eastern Shore. Over the past few months, I’ve had several cases in Dela ware. I think once Connor comes home and wants his house back, I may consider moving to Wilmington. It would be more convenient, I think, and there are some nice areas around the waterfront.”

“You mean Wilmington, Delaware, not North Carolina.”

“Right.” Mia searched the cupboard for a jar of spaghetti sauce. She found it behind a box of cereal she’d brought with her when she moved in, but had never opened. She opened the jar, poured it into a pan, and set it on a burner.