Strength was often more of the spirit than the body. He’d had kills that should have succumbed immediately but had fought ferociously. She would be such a one.
All that subterfuge at the airport had been interesting, but he had been a stalker too long to be taken in by it. He had learned a long time ago that you had to keep one step ahead if you were going to reap your reward.
And that reward was almost in his grasp. Now that he knew Eve Duncan’s whereabouts, he could put the game in play.
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY "Good morning, Joe. Could I talk to you a minute?"
Joe stiffened as he recognized the tall man straightening away from a wall of the Science Building. "I’m not answering any questions, Mark."
Mark Grunard smiled engagingly. "I said talk, not question. Though if you really feel you need to open up and—
"What are you doing here?"
"It wasn’t difficult to figure out that you’d come here to pick up the skull. I’m only glad my fellow journalists are too busy trying to track down Eve Duncan. Now I have you all to myself."
Joe silently cursed the Atlanta PD for releasing the whereabouts of the skeleton. "The hell you do. No story, Mark."
"Do you mind if I walk you down the hall to Dr. Comden’s office? I’ll take off the minute we reach the lab. I have a proposition for you."
"What are you up to, Mark?"
"Something beneficial to both of us." He fell into step with Joe. "Will you listen?" Joe studied The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
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him. Mark Grunard had always impressed him as being both honest and smart. "I’ll listen."
"You came for the kid?" Dr. Phil Comden rose to his feet and shook Joe’s hand.
“Sorry I didn’t have much on my report." He moved toward the door at the end of the corridor.
"I read that Eve Duncan is doing the reconstruction."
"Yes."
"You know facial reconstruction won’t stand up in a court of law. You should wait for the DNA."
"It’s going to take too long."
"I guess so." He led Joe into the lab toward a bank of drawers similar to ones used in morgues.
"You just want the skull?"
"Yes, you can return the rest of the skeleton to the Pathology Department.”
“She thinks this is her kid?"
"She thinks there’s a possibility."
"Bummer." He reached for the drawer handle and pulled it open. "You know when you’re working on one of these kids you can’t help but think about how they— shit!"
Joe pushed him aside and looked down into the drawer.
Eve answered the phone on the first ring.
"It’s gone," Joe said harshly.
"What?"
"The skeleton’s gone."
She went rigid with shock. "How could that be?"
"How the hell do I know? Dr. Comden says the skeleton was in the drawer last night when he left the lab. It wasn’t there at noon today."
She tried to think. "Could the Pathology Department have picked it up?”
“Dr. Comden would have had to sign the release."
"Maybe there was some foul-up and they picked it up without getting—”
“I called Basil. No one was authorized to pick up the skeleton." She was dazed. "Someone has to—"
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"I’m trying to find out where the snafu is. I just didn’t want you to wait around for me to bring it to you. I’ll call you when I know something."
"She’s… lost again?"
"I’ll find her." He paused. "It could be a macabre joke. You know how college kids can be."
"You think one of the students stole the skeleton?”
“That’s what Dr. Comden’s guessing." She closed her eyes. "Oh, my God."
"We’ll get it back, Eve. I’m questioning everyone who was near the lab last night and today."
"Okay," she said numbly.
"I’ll call you when I know something," he repeated, then hung up. Eve put down the receiver.
She mustn’t get upset. Joe would find the skeleton. Dr.
Comden was probably right. It must be some kid who thought it hilarious to pull such a prank and—
The phone rang. Joe again? "Hello."
"She was a pretty little girl, wasn’t she?”
“What?"
"You must have been very proud of your Bonnie." She froze. "Who is this?"
“I had trouble remembering her. There have been so many. But I should have remembered her all along. She was special. She fought for her life. Do you know that children very seldom struggle? They just accept. That’s why I seldom choose them anymore. It’s like killing a bird."
"Who is this?"
"They flutter and then go quiet. Bonnie wasn’t like that.”
“You lying son of a bitch," she said hoarsely. "What kind of sicko are you?”
“Not the usual kind, I assure you. Not like Fraser. Though I do have an ego, I never take credit for someone else’s kills."
She felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. "Fraser did kill my daughter.”
“Did he? Then why didn’t he tell you where her body was? Where all the bodies were?"
"Because he was cruel.”
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“Because he didn’t know."
"He knew. He just wanted to make us suffer."
"That’s true. But he also wanted to increase his notoriety by confessing to kills he had no business claiming. At first I was irritated, and then amused. I even spoke to him in jail. I’d left a message saying I was a newspaper reporter and he wasn’t going to let that chance go by. When he called me back, I gave him a few more details to feed the police."
"He was caught in the act of killing Teddy Simes."
"I didn’t say he was totally blameless. Actually, he had legitimate claim to the Simes boy and four others. But the others were mine." He paused. "Including little Bonnie Duncan."
She was shaking so badly, she could scarcely hold the receiver. She had to control herself. It was a crank call. Some pervert who wanted to hurt her. She’d gotten a few similar calls during Fraser’s trial. But this man sounded so calm, so sure, almost indifferent. Make him talk. Make him prove he was lying. "You said you don’t like to kill children."
"I was experimenting at that point. I was trying to see if they were worthwhile pursuing on a regular basis. Bonnie almost convinced me of it, but the next two were a terrible disappointment."
"Why—are you—calling me?"
"Because we have a bond, don’t we? We have Bonnie.”
“You lying bastard."
"Or, rather, I have Bonnie. I’m looking at her right now. She was much prettier when I put her in the ground. It’s sad that we all end up as a collection of bones.”
“You’re… looking at her?"
"I remember her walking toward me across the park at the school picnic. She was eating a strawberry ice cream cone and her red hair was shining in the sunlight. There was so much life in her. I couldn’t resist."
Darkness. Don’t faint.
"You have that same spark. I can tell. Only you’re so much stronger.”
“I’m going to hang up now."
"Yes, you sound a bit under the weather. Shock can do that. But I’m sure you’ll recover soon. I’ll be in touch."
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"Damn you. Why?"
He was silent for a moment. "Because it’s necessary, Eve. After this little chat, I’m even more convinced than I was before. I need you. I can feel your emotion like a tidal wave. It’s…
exhilarating."
"I won’t answer the phone."
“Yes, you will. Because there’s always a chance you might get her back.”
“You’re lying. If you killed those other children, why did you bury only Bonnie with all those adults?"
"I’m sure I must have buried more than they found. I vaguely recall at least two other children.