“Someplace where they would be easily found. Posed, like the other girls, their shoes missing.” Sheridan noted.
“That little detail is key,” Evan reminded them. “Since no one knows about the shoes…”
The statement hung there between them.
“Okay, let’s accept the fact that someone near to the investigation is involved in this.” Sheridan finally broke the silence. “From here on out, no information about these unidentified girls gets released to anyone, unless I personally approve it. Let’s keep a lid on all of it, from the fact that it’s a different killer to the very real possibility that someone in or close to law enforcement could be the killer.”
“Honest to God, Art, don’t you think that’s a stretch? I can’t believe any one of these cops-” Malone began, and the D.A. stopped him.
“I can’t believe it, either, Chris, but the fact remains that someone is leaking information, and we’re going to have to deal with that.” He turned to Evan. “Give this the best you’ve got, Detective. Find whoever killed these girls. And if it’s a cop, God help him. I personally will nail him to the wall.”
“I’ll hold him down.” Malone nodded.
“Well then, since we’re all in agreement on that point, let me just add that I’m still waiting to hear about the tattoos,” Annie told them. “I think if we can match them to other similar tattoos, we’ll be on our way to identifying the girls.”
“How much longer do you think before you have something?” Sheridan asked.
“I can’t estimate how long it will take,” Annie said. “I’ll check in later today with my office to see if anything has turned up.”
“One thing.” Evan spoke up. “About the tattoos. I’d like to keep that from the press, too. Actually, I’d like to keep that from everyone who is not in this room.”
“I agree.” Sheridan nodded without hesitation. “There are four of us here; how many people working on this at the FBI?”
“One,” Annie replied.
“And the M.E. knows about them,” Evan reminded him.
“That makes six people,” Sheridan said. “If this gets out, it will only be because one of us six let it out.”
“You think it’s that important to keep it under wraps?” Malone asked.
“I think it could prove to be. I think the less we talk publicly about this second killer, the better off we’ll all be.” The D.A. stood, signaling the meeting had come to an end. “Let him think he’s fooled us.”
“Anything else? Dr. McCall? Anything else to add?” he asked.
“I think we covered it all today.” Annie stood also and gathered her notes from the end of the desk. “You have my card if you need to get in touch with me. My cell phone number is there. You can also get to me through one of the agents assigned to the other case. Agent Cahill can always find me.”
“We’ll look forward to hearing whatever you find out about those tattoos.” Sheridan opened the door for her, and she stepped into the hall. “I assume you’ll give the information to Detective Crosby.”
“As soon as I have something to give him.”
Annie and Evan walked to the stairwell together, careful not to walk too closely to each other.
Once they were outside the building, she asked, “Where are you headed now?”
“I thought I’d take a ride out to visit the places where my three girls were left.”
“May I go with you?”
“Sure. May not be much to see, but sure.”
“I can call Will from the car. I wanted to check in with him, just in case he’s got something to tell me.”
“I want so badly to solve this one, Annie,” he told her as they walked down to Fourth Street, where he’d parked his car. “Jackie can have the big-profile case, she can have the publicity and all the glory. I’ll be more than happy if I can find out who these girls were and what happened to them.”
“What about the book deal?” she teased.
“She can even have the book deal.” He smiled. “Someone has to make it right for these kids. I’d like it to be me.”
“And the possibility that a cop is involved has nothing to do with your wanting this case all to yourself.”
“It won’t be all to myself. I’ll have help if I ask for it. But yeah, if a cop’s involved, I want to bring him in.”
They turned the corner on Fourth and crossed the street to Evan’s car, which he unlocked with the remote. He opened Annie’s door for her, pausing to nuzzle the side of her face.
“You smell good,” he whispered.
“Now, Detective,” she said sternly. “What would District Attorney Sheridan have to say about such a public display of affection?”
“He wishes he were me, don’t kid yourself.” He kissed her neck.
“Save it.” She smiled as she slid into the front passenger seat. “I’ll be here at least until tomorrow.”
“Yippee.” He slammed the car door and walked around to the driver’s side. By the time he opened the door and got behind the wheel, she was holding the phone to her ear.
“Hey, Will, it’s Annie. Got anything for me on those tattoos yet?”
Evan started up the engine, but she put a hand on his arm, silently asking him to wait. He turned off the engine.
“Can you send me all this via fax to… Evan, what’s the number of the new fax machine at your house?”
He told her and she repeated the number for Will.
She listened to Will for a few minutes longer, then said, “Would you repeat that?”
She scribbled quickly on a piece of paper she found in her purse.
“And you’re sure?” She hesitated, then said, “I wish I could remember why that sounds so familiar. I guess it’ll come to me. Give me a call if you find anything else. And thanks, Will. This is great. I owe you. Yeah, another one…”
“He’s identified the tattoos?”
“He found several other similar victims in Chicago. Three girls, all Hispanic. Cause of death was different from yours, though. These girls all died from gunshots to the head. All from the same gun.”
“More executions.”
“That’s what I thought, too, when he first said it. I’m wondering if these girls of yours would have been shot had there not been a serial killer in the same general geographic area. Making the kills look the same could have been simply a way to camouflage the hits.”
“What did he have to say about the tattoos?”
“This is really interesting. These girls in Chicago all had those little stars in the same place, top of the hip, left side. None of them had any identification, but one of them had some kind of dried bean seeds in a small vial on a cord around her neck.”
“Dried bean seeds?” Evan frowned.
“Right. The cop handling the investigation found that these beans apparently are grown in Central America.”
“Could he be more specific?”
“He mentioned a small country called Santa Estela as a possible source.”
“Never heard of it.”
“I have. And it took me a minute, but I just remembered where I heard the name.”
“You going to share that with me?”
“Connor was there, a few years ago. I remember overhearing him and Dylan talking about it.”
“Maybe he has a contact there who could help us to identify the tattoo.”
“I’ll ask him. I’ll e-mail him tonight.” She leaned back against the seat. “We can go now.”
“Thank you.” He turned the key in the ignition.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m just thinking.”
“You’re thinking that if the kids from Chicago were from Santa Estela, maybe these girls-my girls-are, too.”
She nodded. “And wondering why they’re here, how they got here.”
“Want to skip the tour of the crime scenes for today and go straight to my place so you can use your computer?”
“Do you mind?”
“Not at all. I’m itching to find something concrete on this case.”
“Will is going to fax over everything he has, including the name and phone number of the cop in Chicago who worked this case.”
“I can’t wait to talk to him.”
“I had a feeling you’d say that.”
Once they were back at the townhouse, Evan went directly to the fax machine and Annie to her laptop. She turned it on, and typed her message.
TO: CShields00721
From: AMMccall00913
Re: Santa Estela
Connor, strange development on a case here in PA. Tattoos on the vics found to be identical to those found on three vics in Chicago. Young girls, one of whom appears to have a connection traced back to Central America, possibly Santa Estela. Do I recall correctly that you had spent some time there? Any contacts remain?
A
She hit send and waited, but the immediate response she’d hoped for didn’t come. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow.
In the meantime, she wanted to see the fax Will had sent Evan. Maybe the Chicago cop had found answers to the very questions Evan was now asking. Maybe he could give them a lead. Maybe this was the thread that, once pulled, would help Evan to send the girls home.