CHAPTER TEN
Tuesday, September 22nd
Kate studied the decoded cipher with a slight frown.The cipher found at Dr.Hammond’s office was much shorter than the one found at the Carlton’s home and appeared to be a condensed version of the second code.The same code used for one fourth of the Carlton cipher.The same hand etched it too, an emotional, shaky hand that wasn’t particularly strong but appeared to use all the force it could manage when it left the message.
Kate had decoded that cipher the evening before, but Marcus’s bomb about taking a step back from their not-quite relationship had driven the thought from her mind.It wouldn’t have made a difference to Dr.Hammond, but it bothered her that she could be so easily distracted from her case.
Just like you are now.
She read the decoded cipher and forced herself to focus on that and nothing else.The code here was a slightly more complicated substitution where the characters were replaced by their opposites then replaced again by swapping evens with the opposite evens and odds with the opposite odds.So, character one was swapped with character twenty-two, and then the new one was swapped with the new twenty-one, the new two with the new twenty-two, the new three with the new nineteen, and so on.
A fun little trick, but the words it revealed weren’t so fun.Besides the Proverbs 9 passage, only one other Bible verse was quoted: Proverbs 28: 10.“Whoever leads the upright along an evil path will fall into their own trap.”
Kate wasn’t surprised to find that the second half of that verse,“but the blameless shall inherit good”wasn’t mentioned.Cox and his disciples weren’t concerned with God’s blessings, only His wrath.
The rest of the cipher was a rant about how people who encourage other people to commit adultery were worse than adulterers.They were the messengers of Satan and deserved to be cast into Hell.The Carltons apparently liked playing games with people where they put married individuals into the arms of others.What had Dr.Hammond done to earn this killer’s wrath?
And why cutting off the genitals?Kate still didn’t understand why that was the punishment.It didn’t quite fit with the habit Cox and his disciples had of matching their victims’ executions to the commandments they violated.It came close, but not quite on target.
Still, this code so far was the strongest evidence that this was indeed one of Cox's disciples.Apparently, he could still reach the world, even from prison.
How?How could he be locked in a room away from the light of day but still command one of his disciples to kill in his name?How many more would there be before it finally ended?Would it end as long as Cox was alive, or did the FBI have to push for an expedited death penalty before they woke up from this nightmare?
Her phone buzzed.Miami Police Department.She answered and recognized the voice of the officer who had sat with Jenna Fritz the night before.
“Just talked to Miss Fritz.She’s ready to talk to you.”
“Perfect,” Kate said.“I’m on my way.”
She hung up and stood, moving gently for the door so as not to wake Marcus, who was still asleep.She had her hand on the door handle when she heard the bed creak as Marcus rolled out of it.She debated trying to rush out, but she wouldn’t make it in time, and if he caught her, he’d be hurt, and that would only make things worse between them.
“Where are you going?”he asked.
She turned to him.He looked awful.His eyes were bloodshot and his short hair somehow managed to be a messy mop.His t-shirt was matted with sweat, and his sweatpants hung too low on his hips.He looked hungover.
Boy, Cheryl really did a number on you, huh?
She scolded herself for the unkind thought and said, “I’m going to talk to Jenna Fritz.”
Marcus nodded.“Give me ten minutes.I’ll freshen up and come with you.”
Kate took a deep breath and said, “Um, I don’t think you should.She looked really nervous, and your kind of intimidating this morning.”
To her surprise, Marcus didn’t argue.He just nodded again and said, “Fair enough.I’ll follow up on the business card.”
She frowned.“What business card?”
“The one I found on Dr.Hammond’s desk.”
Kate blinked.“You didn’t tell me about a business card.”
“I didn’t?”
“No.”
He sighed and rubbed his forehead.“Shit.I’m sorry.Yeah, a guy named Maxwell.It was the only business card on her desk, so I thought that it might be something.I thought I told you.”
“Well, you didn’t.”
