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Dan hadn’t unfolded his arms. “No—I read it in the paper this morning, like everyone else in Boston.”
Yeah, he was pissed too.
Gary decided to take control of the situation. “Okay, it’s a little bigger than a closet, but not by much. We’ve got a board set up with photos from the crime scenes.” He peered at Dan. “Will you want a place to work?”
Dan nodded. “I’ll need an office with really good light and no ugly furniture. And a computer. My friend Ed will be my assistant. He’ll want to paint the office walls,” he added, deadpan.
Lewis gaped. “What the fuck?”
Gary laughed out loud. “Ilovethat movie.” Warmth spread through his chest, and the tightness across his shoulders eased. He couldn’t hold back his smile.
“What movie?” Lewis appeared bewildered.
“The January Man. Kevin Kline, Alan Rickman.”
Dan gazed at him in obvious approval, his own smile reaching his eyes. Then he cleared his throat. “We can talk about movies later. Let’s get started. Take me to your closet.”
Gary led the way. What impressed him most about Dan was the fact that he was nothing like the psychics his parents had contacted. They’d seemed theatrical in comparison with Dan’s forthright manner.
I like him so far.Their shared common interest had seen to that. It didn’t mean Gary was going to believe everything Dan came out with.I’m as skeptical as Lewis.
The only difference was, Lewis didn’t have Gary’s incentive. Lewis made no attempt to hide his disbelief—Gary wanted to believe with all his heart, especially if it brought them closer to finding Cory’s killer.
Chapter 11
DAN STOODin front of the board, his head moving slowly as he took it all in. Gary watched him, aware of a tingling at the base of his neck.
What do I expect to happen? He goes into a trance and yells out the name of our killer?
So far, Dan appeared to be an ordinary guy—with great taste in movies. As soon as they’d entered the small room, Dan had come to a halt at the sight of the photos. Each victim was displayed with a central head shot, surrounded by crime scene photos showing the position of the body, marks, and of course, the letter carved into the skin above the buttocks. Gary left him to his own devices, not wanting to distract him. Riley was keeping quiet too. He sat in a chair, leaning forward as if he were mesmerized by the proceedings. Lewis stood apart from them, his back to the wall, silent, watchful, his expression neutral.
Gary was thankful for that. So far it looked as if Lewis had taken every opportunity to irritate Dan.
At last Dan took a step back, went over to the table, and picked up his cup of coffee. “I see the marks on their wrists and ankles. Anything I’mnotseeing that’s important?”
Gary joined him. “The killer had penetrative sex with each victim, and we don’t know if it was consensual or not.” Dan half-turned his head toward him, sniffing. He blinked, then went back to studying the photos.
Gary resisted the urge to sniff as well.What’s wrong with the way I smell?
“Maybeyoucan tell us if it was consensual,” Lewis muttered. “Thatisthe idea, isn’t it?”
If Dan heard him, he gave no sign. “Is this the order they died in?”
Gary nodded. He pointed to the first photo. “Trey Hopkins. March eighteenth, 2016. He was thirty-two.” He moved his finger. “Denver Wedel. December second, 2016. Forty-seven.”
“They both appear well-built. Did they work out?”
Another nod. “We’d hoped they were members of the same gym, but no such luck. Didn’t stop us from checking out all the members and interviewing them. No leads. They were both popular guys.” He indicated the third photo. “Geoff Berg. June sixteenth, 2017.”
“And the waiting period between murders shortened,” Dan mused.
“Yeah. Geoff was the youngest victim—so far. Twenty-nine. By all accounts, he was a fireball. He was also the victim with the most contacts to sift through.” Gary pointed to the fourth image. “Vic Zerbe. December twenty-third, same year. Thirty-five.”
Dan moved closer to the board and stared at the photo of Marius Eisler. “I saw this one when it happened. A little under two weeks ago, right? Another mature guy.” Then he shifted to the farthest edge of the board. Gary’s chest tightened as Dan peered at Cory’s face, breathing a little easier when no comments were forthcoming.
Dan turned to face him. “How does he kill them?”
“We found ketamine and Rohypnol. The former appears to have been a fatal dose. Our medical examiner thinks the ketamine was used to sedate them. They’d have been awake but controllable before the ketamine killed them.”
