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He blinked. Then his eyes widened again, this time in understanding. “Oh God,” he said, “the Donkey Killer? You mean that big, hillbilly guy? Tramwell?”
“Trammell,” she said. “Yes, there’s someone out there copying his MO. I liked you for the copycat, but … I’m guessing that isn’t you.”
“Hell no,” he said. “No, I sell drugs, but I never killed no one. Wait.” His brow furrowed again, then once more his eyes widened in understanding. “It’s because of my father, isn’t it? Because he was the Weed Killer, you thought I was the copycat killer.”
Hearing how thin and foolish her case against him was thrown back in her face sent a pang of embarrassment through Faith. “Yes,” she admitted reluctantly.
Jared scowled in rage. “Hell no!” he said again. “Fuck him! I don’t want anything to do with him! He left me and my mom when I was six years old! I never thought he’d turn out to be a killer, but when I saw that story in the papers, I promised myself I’d never associate myself with him again. I don’t even carry his name anymore.”
“Pardon?” she asked.
“See for yourself,” he said.
He pulled his ID out of his wallet, proudly displaying the name, Jared Steel.
Faith sighed. “I’m sorry for wasting your time.”
She turned to leave, Turk following. On her way out, Jared called after her, “Hey, when you see my asshole father, tell your dog to bite his nuts off for me!”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Steel,” she said.
She and Turk got back into her car. She sighed and slapped the steering wheel, not especially hard, but enough to send vibrations through the dashboard.
“Well, so much for that,” she said.
***
She reached the coroner’s office just before it closed. She caught Doctor Griswold just before he locked up.
“Hey there, Faith!” he said, smiling agreeably at her. “You caught me just in time.”
“Wonderful,” she said with a smile. “Glad to hear it. I have a quick question to run by you.”
“Oh yeah?” he said. “Do you want to go inside? I’m in no hurry.”
“Thank you, but I’m all right,” she said. “I just wanted to know if you found anything on the copycat killer. Anything from the newest victim, the one from the school gymnasium.”
“Oh,” he said, “Boss finally let you take a crack at the case, huh?”
Before Faith could answer, an angry voice behind her said, “No, he didn’t.”
Jeff jumped, and Faith turned to see a face as angry as the voice glaring at her. “Take a walk, Doctor,” Clark said.
Jeff glanced at Faith, who nodded and offered a smile before turning to Clark. “Hey, Clark,” she said, “just shooting the breeze.”
“Don’t start,” Clark said.
Jeff walked away, and when he was out of earshot, Clark said, “Seriously, Bold? Are you crazy, stupid, or both?”
She met his eyes. “I guess I just have a hard time watching people die who shouldn’t have to die.”
His eyes narrowed. “Yeah, guess what? So do I. Contrary to popular belief, Desrouleaux and I aren’t sitting on our asses all day twiddling our thumbs.” His eyes softened. “Look, Faith, I …” he sighed, “… I get it, okay? I really do. I’m even sorry that you’re not on the case. I told the Boss it should go to you.”
“Really?”
“Really. He told me to fuck off.”
She chuckled bitterly. “Yeah. Sounds about right.”
