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As Alicia finished processing the phone, she ran a finger over the side buttons. The display sprung to life.
Jo’s eyes snapped up. “The phone’s on?”
Alicia peered closely at it. “It’s down to five percent battery, but yeah, it’s on. Guess our killer forgot to deactivate it.”
Jo’s hand flew to her necklace. Given all the other precision here, that was a strange detail to overlook.
Alicia moved on to the other items. A red maternity tunic. Black leggings with an expansive maternity waist. White underwear and bra. Socks that, when she pulled them out of the shoes, had little red strawberries on the ankles. For some reason, that detail cut through Jo, and she had to look away.
Arnett tilted his head at the display. “You think he forced her to undress, or undressed her once she was out?”
Jo cleared her throat. “Hard to say.”
“My guess is she did it herself,” Alicia said. “Because why bother to fold it all and assemble it so neatly so far away from the body?”
“Might have been part of his constructed ritual sacrifice,” Arnett answered.
“Either way, let’s hope he undressed her, because he might have left us some evidence that way.” A text buzzed Jo’s phone; she looked down at it. “Lopez is on her way. Doesn’t want to wait until the phone is back at HQ to get a start looking at it.”
“I’ll make sure it’s ready for her,” Alicia said.
“Thank you,” Jo said. “Because I agree with her that time is of the essence. It’s one thing if this is someone who knew Madison, and this was personal to her. But if this was a random abduction and murder, people who do things like this”—Jo swept an arm around to indicate the items in front of them and the direction of the makeshift altar—“don’t just do them once. We need to figure out who’s behind this before they kill again.”
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
“So, our next steps,” Jo said as they made their way back to the cars. “Since Madison’s friends began and ended with her prenatal-class group, we need to check out her job. She must have at least talked with someone there, and I’d like to verify the exact hours she worked. Her friends claimed she’s been showing up late to the class, but we now know she’s not enrolled in any classes.”
“We also need to follow up on this Lucifer Lost cabal.” Arnett gestured broadly back toward the scene. “Even if it doesn’t have anything to do with this, whoever did this wants us to think it does.”
“And I’ve learned not to underestimate how obsessed humans can get about any range of things,” Jo added.
“Especially teenaged ones with overactive hormones and underdeveloped frontal lobes,” Arnett agreed. “Madison’s job’ll be closed today, so I say we chat with Lucifer Lost.”
“You drive,” Jo said. “I should be able to track down the doctors Madison worked for even though it’s Sunday.”
As Arnett pulled out of the parking lot Jo put through a call to the chiropractor’s office. As she waited on hold for the after-hours message line, she stared up at the sun setting behind the tree line, setting off a blaze of red, orange, and yellow in the dying light. A reminder they were racing time, and needed to move as fast as possible. Jo caught her nails drumming impatiently on her phone as she waited, and Matt’s earlier words flooded her mind—he was right, even the beginnings of a stunning sunset was sinister if she allowed it to be.
A bored young woman’s voice droned over the line. “Blue Bay Chiropractic you’ve reached the after-hour answering service my name is Tayla name and date of birth please.”
Jo blinked at the flood of words, then introduced herself. “I need you to put through an emergency message to whatever doctor is on call.”
“Patient name and date of birth?”
“This isn’t regarding a patient, it’s regarding one of their employees,” Jo answered.
“Is the employee in their patient system?”
Jo shot Arnett a questioning look. “Possibly, but it’s not relevant. I just need you to get an emergency message to whichever doctor is on call.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t help you if this isn’t about a patient. I’ve been instructed not to bother the doctor on call unless there’s a legitimate emergency. Any other messages will be received Monday morning when they reopen.”
Something slammed shut in Jo’s brain. “Tayla, let me explain the situation to you in a different way. One of Blue Bay’s employees was abducted and brutally stabbed to death. As part of our investigation, we need to talk to her employer. That means if you don’t put this message through to the on-call doctor, you’re officially obstructing a murder investigation. Andthatmeans we can arrest you and put you in jail.”
There was a brief moment of silence before a burst of typing erupted. “I’ll page Doctor Huang with your message. You should receive a call back within half an hour.”
“Thank you, Tayla. Your help has been invaluable.” Jo dictated her number, then hung up the phone.
Arnett’s face was screwed into an amused smirk.
