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That meant he was there today. Possibly with a scared thirty-five-year-old woman he was planning to kill.
If he hadn’t already done so.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Faith wasn’t at all surprised to arrive at the coordinates listed and discover the building was a storm shelter. It appeared to be in somewhat better shape than the one where Patrick Jeter met his fate. Perhaps Klaus had learned his lesson after struggling with the rusted vault door the first time.
A sobering thought occurred to Faith that if Klaus was their killer, this probably wasn’t his first time or his first region doing it. How many bodies were they going to find when they brought him to justice?
Well, that question was for later. They needed to find him first and find out for sure if he was their killer in the first place.
Turk started growling, and Faith pressed her finger to his lips to quiet him. He silenced immediately, and the three agents started for the shelter. Faith and Michael quietly drew their weapons.
Klaus’s car was parked a hundred feet or so off of the road before thick mud led him to disembark and complete the rest of the journey to the shelter on foot. They followed his bootprints, and Faith noted that there was only his set. That didn't necessarily mean anything. He could have carried Shirley.
They reached the shelter, and Faith could hear Klaus humming to himself from inside. The other files were primarily of the exterior of the buildings, but a few contained an album with interior photos as well. Klaus evidently thought this shelter structurally sound enough to risk taking interior photos here as well.
She crept to the open door and peered into the shelter. She saw a small portable generator on the floor just inside the door. Two cords were attached to it, both leading to bright daylights attached to tripods that illuminated the interior of the shelter.
Klaus Polczieski was carefully lining up a shot of the rusted metal desk and chair that occupied the length of one wall. He was humming contentedly and adjusting the focus on his lens. Faith looked around, but from her vantage point, she could see no sign of Shirley.
She nodded at Michael, then held up three fingers. At his answering nod, she counted down: three, two, one.
When she closed her finger into a fist, the three agents burst through the door and leveled their weapons at Klaus. He leapt back with a cry of shock and Faith said, “Freeze! Hands in the air!”
“Who are you?” Klaus shrieked. “What’s going on? What is this? Please don’t steal my camera!”
You have two handguns pointed at you, and you’re first thought is for your camera?“We’re not here for your camera,” Faith said. “Where is Shirley Brooks?”
“Shirley Brooks? I don’t know who that is, I swear! Wait, are you FBI?”
“Special Agent Michael Prince,” Michale answered. “This is my partner Faith Bold, and the German Shepherd who really hopes you’ll try to do something stupid is our K9 unit, Turk.
Klaus looked down and seemed to notice Turk for the first time. His eyes widened to the size of saucers, and he swallowed nervously.
Turk growled, standing a few feet away, coiled like a spring, the look on his face suggesting he did indeed hope Klaus did something stupid.
Fortunately for Klaus, his brain was working well enough to tell him that attempting to flee wasn't in his best interests. Instead, he said, "Listen, I don't know who Shirley Brooks is. I'm a professional photographer doing a series on abandoned structures in the Midwest. My name is Klaus Polczieski. I have a website. It will explain everything.”
“We’ve seen it,” Faith said. “It was very illuminating. Care to tell me why you happened to be at the buildings where the murders of Dr. Gemma Montgomery, Patrick Jeter and Kevin Malloy occurred on the exact days of those murders?”
“What?” Klaus said. “The same day? All three murders?” He clammed up suddenly and said, “I won’t answer any more questions without a lawyer. I don’t know what’s going on right now. I didn’t kill anyone, but I know how this works. You guys will manipulate me into incriminating myself if I talk to you. I want a lawyer.”
“Works for us,” Michael said.
He stepped toward Klaus and said, “Klaus Polczieski, you are being detained for suspicion of multiple counts of trespassing, kidnapping and capital murder.”
“I’m under arrest?”
“You’re being detained,” Michael explained. “You can answer our questions here or at the station.”
“I’ll answer them when my lawyer is present,” he insisted.
“Would you like that to be here or at the station?” Michael asked patiently.
Klaus hesitated a moment, then looked at Turk. Turk bared his teeth and growled menacingly. Klaus gulped and said, “I’ll go to the station. But give me the address now so I can call my lawyer on the way.”
***
