Rachel Dylan - Picture Perfect Murder

“That photograph that was just televised on the local news. Is the reporting on the photo legitimate?”

“Unfortunately, yes. That photograph was found at the scene of the latest murder. The killer struck again yesterday. We found the body last night and the photo along with it.”

She took a deep breath. “Agent Sullivan, I shot that photograph.”

* * *

Rex sped all the way from his office, where he’d planned on working a late night, to Lily’s house. A million thoughts raced through his mind, including why the killer would use one of Lily’s photographs.

He also couldn’t get a good read on Lily. He’d run some background checks on her and found some holes that he couldn’t fill. Plus, it concerned him that she had gone after the killer when he’d attacked her. That wasn’t something most people would’ve done under the circumstances. But even given all the question marks about Lily, she wasn’t the problem. She was a potential target. The killer had zoned in on her and used her photograph to send some type of message.

Lord, more innocent women are going to be killed if I can’t figure this out. Please guide me and give me strength. Rex couldn’t imagine going through life without God. Especially in his line of work, where he dealt with some of the most evil people out there.

After fighting through Atlanta traffic on the interstate, he pulled into Lily’s driveway. He rang the doorbell and heard Grace’s loud bark. He couldn’t help but smile. He really liked that dog. If he didn’t work such crazy hours, he’d have one, too, but it just didn’t seem fair given his lifestyle right now.

The front door opened and Lily stood on the other side. Her coloring was back to normal now, and her bright blue eyes didn’t break contact with his. “Come on in.”

He walked through the front door and was greeted by a very excited Grace. He knelt down for a moment to say hello.

“She really likes you,” Lily said.

“I love dogs.” He gave Grace another pat before he stood up.

“They’re great. I’m so glad I have her here with me. Come on into the living room, and I’ll try to explain everything.”

The yellow Lab followed him closely as he walked into the living room and sat down in a big beige chair. Lily took a seat on the navy couch across from him, and Grace jumped onto it to join her.

“Why don’t we just get right to it and you tell me about the photo,” Rex said.

“All right. When I saw the news tonight, I instantly recognized the picture that they put up. I’d taken it at Westlake Park only a couple of weeks ago. I remember thinking the scene was pretty amazing. That photo was black-and-white, but I have a digital color version, too.”

He leaned forward. “So first things first. You’re certain that’s your photo?”

“Absolutely. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

“And how did you take the photo?”

“With actual film. I do a combination of traditional and digital photography. But for the specific photo they showed on TV, I used film. I have a darkroom here on the first floor down the hall. I had been developing those photos the night I was attacked.”

Rex frowned as he tried to process this information.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Just trying to put together a plausible scenario for what happened here at your house. The killer cuts your lights, breaks in and attacks you. You fight him off and he retreats, taking your phone and the photo from the darkroom.”

She nodded. “Instead of being able to make me his next victim, I messed up his plan.”

“When he failed to kill you, he found another innocent victim. But he still had your photo. And he decided to use it at the scene of his fourth murder. Have you looked to see if any other photos are missing?”

“Not yet. I haven’t even gotten that far in my thought process.” She took in a deep breath. “But I had photos on my phone, too. They weren’t high quality, just images of places I wanted to go back to with my camera.”

“That’s good to know. I’d like to look in your darkroom and get the team out here to do additional evidence collection.”

“Sure. There’s another thing that I need to tell you about.”

A knot formed at the pit of his stomach. “What?”

“You’re not going to be happy about this, but a note was delivered to me at the hospital.”

“What? What did the note say?”

“It said, ‘Next time you’ll be mine.’”

“Why in the world didn’t you tell us about this immediately?” he asked in a raised voice.

“I didn’t realize how this was all going to unfold. I’m sorry.”

“Do you still have the note? We need to run prints on it and do an analysis.”

“Yes, I’ve got it. It’s in the kitchen.”

“You should’ve told the police about this. From here on out, you have to be straight with me, Lily. Lives are literally on the line and we’re up against the clock to find the killer before he strikes a fifth time.”

“I understand. It won’t happen again. I realize this is a serious situation. The last thing I want is to hamper your investigation. I don’t want another woman killed by this guy.”

Now he had to lay something else on her, but he thought she could handle it. He was getting the very distinct impression that it would take a lot to rattle Lily Parker. “I’m not trying to alarm you, but when I examine all the facts, I think that you could still be in danger.”

“Why is that?”

“You were on the killer’s list of victims, but you managed to stop him. I can imagine a scenario in which he becomes obsessed with finishing the job because—let’s face it—you’re the one that got away. He took your photograph and placed it at the next murder scene. He also communicated with you directly via that note. I suspect he’ll come after you again.”

“Your theory makes sense.”

He wanted to know more from her, but he needed to be careful. If he pushed too much, she might clam up. He needed as much information from her as she was willing to share. But he’d been an FBI agent long enough to know that this woman was hiding something. How many free-spirited photographers carried Glocks and seemed more annoyed than terrified at a home invasion?

“Let me show you the darkroom,” she said.

He followed her down the hallway. Once they entered the room, he surveyed the area, but nothing seemed out of place. There was a big table with large plastic containers on top of it. A sink, surrounded by shelves housing numerous bottles of liquids, sat in a corner. Then there were clips and other supplies scattered throughout. “And what about your digital photography?”

“I do that in my office across the hall. That’s where my computer and printer are.”

“I’ll need you to go through the darkroom and your computer and see if it looks as if anything else has been tampered with.”

“I understand. I’ll definitely do that.”

“And I’m going to call the crime lab and have them do another sweep for prints just in case they missed anything, as well as run a forensic analysis on your computer. They can also collect the note for examination. Excuse me for a second.” He pulled out his phone and made a quick call to his team. “They’ll be here within the hour. How many pictures do you estimate were on your phone?”

She blew out a breath. “Maybe a hundred, two hundred. But like I said, they aren’t top quality like the ones on my computer and in the darkroom.”

He didn’t like this at all. The serial killer had access to more of Lily’s photographs. And if he was going to start using photos as part of his deadly game, then the implications were staggering. Rex didn’t even want one more death on his watch, but the killer obviously had other, bigger plans.