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This song was straight out of her dad’s old vinyl collection. Now didn’t seem like the best time to admit she loved it.
“Guys, this is Judas Priest. The song is called Night Crawler.”
“Night crawler?” Ripley asked. “I don’t understand what this has to do with anything. Tobias never did anything like this. This is brand new, unique to our unsub.”
There was something else Ella needed to add. Something that could throw everything they’d learned so far to the wind. Something Ella didn’t want to admit even to herself.
“Ripley, Cromwell, I don’t know if it’s relevant, but this song has a pretty famous lyrical theme.” She turned the volume down. “It’s about a serial killer coming back from the dead.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ella played the song on her phone while Ripley did the driving. Apparently she needed something to distract herself. Their destination was the home of Clara Provost where she lived with her husband.
“What’s going on here, Dark? I just don’t get this.”
Ella was keeping unusually calm about things. She didn’t want to match her partner’s anguish because two distressed partners wouldn’t be a recipe for success. She was going to let Ripley get her anger and frustration out of her system, then dose her with a couple of caffeine bombs to get her rolling again.
“There’s no guarantee that this song means anything. He might have just played loud music to draw attention to the crime scene. He might have just picked a song with a creepy lyrical theme to add to the aura. The chief said Clara was a singer, right? Chances are she doesn’t sing heavy metal, so this might be some kind of middle finger to her.”
“I hope you’re right, because this unsub is throwing a lot of shit at the wall.”
“Maybe that’s his point? He might be just trying to mess with us, send us down the wrong paths, you know? It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Could be. You know what I’m thinking, right? You know why this bothers me?”
Ella knew exactly why. She had the same thought too but didn’t dwell on it. “Tobias is not doing this. Why would he? He only wants us, not random victims. You think he’d risk exposing himself like this right now?”
“If Tobias can prove he’s one step ahead of us, you can bet your ass he’ll take it. This could be him showing us that he knows about our jaunt down into the sewers. This could be him showing that he’s followed us here, invisible, untraceable.” Ripley swerved through the country lanes at breakneck speeds, scaring the wildlife back into their habitats. They covered the four-mile journey to Clara’s home in around five minutes. Ripley left the car at the edge of the driveway and shot out.
The home wasn’t like the others around here. It was a row house, new build, three-in-one. Probably a lot cheaper than some of the massive farmhouses in town. Ripley hammered the door hard, foregoing general courtesy.
It opened and a face appeared between the cracks. The blood-red face of a man in the throes of sorrow. Ella thought maybe she should take the lead here.
Too late.
“Jason Provost?”
The man nodded. “Did she suffer?” he asked straight away. “Clara? Did she…”
“No,” Ripley said. “I’m Agent Ripley and this is Agent Dark with the FBI. We don’t want to take up much of your time. We need to ask a few questions about Clara. Is that alright?”
Jason nodded, not inviting the agents inside. That was fine by Ella. Their killer was moving at an unprecedented rate and they needed to figure him out before he killed again. Nothing was stopping him from taking another life tonight.
“Clara, did she have any enemies? Anyone who might want to hurt her?”
Jason wiped his tears and shook his head. “Not that I know of. Everyone loved her.”
“Was she a social girl? Big circle of friends?”
Jason shrugged. “She had a few close friends. Not many. She played shows once a month or so though.”
“Where at?” Ella asked.
“All around town. Spring Ridge. Riverside. Saddlemoor. Local gigs.”
“What did she do for fun?” asked Ripley. Ella wished the woman would show a little more compassion here. It went a long way.
“She rode horses sometimes. Video games. She liked to read. Fiction mostly.”
