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CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
“I’ve seen clams that couldn’t slam shut that tight,” Arnett said once they’d returned to Jo’s car. “If she was really concerned about keeping her clients safe, she’d do whatever she had to in order to find the killer.”
“She’s hiding something. The question is what, and does it relate to our investigation?” Jo stared out the window. “How likely do you think it is Lieutenant Hayes would okay surveillance on her?”
“About the same as me giving up meatball grinders,” Arnett said.
Jo pursed her lips and nodded. Lieutenant Lindsay Hayes, a new hire who’d been brought in from upstate New York, had taken an instant dislike to Jo. Surveillance teams were expensive, and while protecting a potential victim might be a priority, watching over one in the hope of finding out something that might not be related to the case would be an impossible sell. “Especially since smart money would be on our perpetrator going after Chelsea, since she’s pregnant. What about a warrant to see Julia’s phone records?”
Arnett grimaced skeptically. “Based on your instinct? Not likely. But we can always try.”
Jo’s phone rang. “Lacey Bernard,” she said as she tapped to answer the call. “Lacey, how are you?”
“Not too bad. I’m calling about the murdered pregnant women.”
Jo groaned inwardly at the use of the plural, but wasn’t surprised that Lacey’d heard of the development—a group of press had started to form at the trail entrance when they left the park. “Right. We’re still trying to get a handle on what exactly’s happening.”
“Can you confirm a second pregnant woman was found murdered?”
“Here’s what I can tell you off the record.” Jo caught her up on the situation. “So we have to proceed with caution. We need to make the public aware that there may be a killer targeting pregnant women, but while causing as little panic as possible.”
“The horse is out of the barn on that one. I heard the pieces some of the local TV reporters are putting together. There’s going to be a public outcry as soon as this hits the airwaves. You missed the evening news, but everyone will wake up to notifications on their phone and pieces on the morning news.”
“Then we need to use it to our advantage. Be sure to make it clear all women should take precautions, but if possible, I’d like you to stress that the two victims were friends. That way, if the killer is picking his victims at random, he’ll get a false sense of security, and if it is someone known to Madison and Naomie, it’ll put him off his game.”
“I can do that. Do we want to mention Beautiful Bouncing Babies specifically?” Lacey asked.
Jo shook her head slightly at Arnett with a question on her face, and he shook his back in response. “No,” she said. “We’ll hold that back, that may be our way to catch him. And, no point in giving them negative press if we can avoid it. We’ll get a warning out to all Triple-B’s clients directly.”
“Anything else?”
Jo looked over at Arnett.
“What do you think about the Lucifer Lost angle?” he asked.
Jo considered. “If we’re trying to smoke out the members, that’ll make them dive deeper into the shadows. But since they’ve already dug in, I can’t see hownotmentioning them will help. So, yes, let’s also put that anyone who has information about Lucifer Lost should contact us.”
“I’ll make it happen. And of course you’ll make sure I know what’s what before anybody else?” Lacey asked.
“Of course.” Jo smiled and shook her head. “Thank you.”
“Not a problem. Good luck with your lieutenant.” Lacey hung up.
Jo winced. “She’s not wrong. Hayes is going to call us pretty much any minute.”
Arnett glanced at the time on the dash. “Most likely she’s in bed by now, but who knows what emergency alerts she has set when it comes to you.”
Jo gave a shudder that was only half fake. “The good news is we’ve got all our irons in the fire. Marzillo’s team is all over the crime scene, the search team is looking for additional evidence, we’ve got canvassers leaving no stone unturned, and now we have Lacey laying some psychological mines for our killer. Going back to Julia, I’ll have Lopez do a deep dive on whatever we can legally find.” Jo tapped at her phone, then fired up the car. “So, given it’s three in the morning, I think the smartest thing you and I can do is go grab a few hours of sleep so we can jump into this sharp and focused first thing.”
* * *
Given the adrenaline and cortisol coursing through her veins, Jo slept better than she expected to, and actually woke refreshed after a mere three hours of sleep. The payment would come later—sometime around midday she’d crash, at least if she didn’t keep the caffeine flowing. She showered quickly, threw on clothes, and gave Matt a quick kiss before running out the door with a pain au chocolat tucked in a paper towel.
The steady rain prolonged the fading darkness, making the morning feel like time had stood still since they’d left the crime scene the night before. She tried to shake off the illusion as she downed large gulps of mocha in between bites of the pastry, and by the time she pulled into the parking lot, a powerful blend of caffeine, sugar and fat elicited the punch of dopamine and serotonin she needed to refresh her optimism about solving the case.
She started with the security footage from Chris and Naomie’s camera. As Chris predicted, it showed Naomie arriving shortly after four, but then showed nothing—not even a neighborhood cat walking across the porch—until Chris arrived home at six-fifteen. Naomie must have left the house across the back of the property.
Protective gloves in place, Jo removed the satchel’s contents. A laptop—that would make Lopez’s day—and a small stack of files and papers. By the time Arnett made it in half an hour later, she’d sorted through the stack carefully, preserving any potential fingerprints or touch DNA that might be present.
