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“As sure as I can be.”
Amber was already checking on thename. She searched for it in the normal ways first, trying to find any sign ofhis work. It didn’t take long to find pictures of the jewelry he made, and themoment she saw it, Amber knew that it was what she’d been looking for since shestarted looking into the pendants.
She kept looking and saw that hehad a small workshop in town where he worked on his creations. It seemed thathe had a few other sidelines as well, selling other trinkets, offeringtattooing, trying to sell small art pieces. There were a few examples of thosepieces up on the site, too, and Amber couldn't help noticing the prevalence ofastrological symbolism within them.
So, the man who had crafted thevictims’ pendants, the only link between them that Amber had found so far. Aman who clearly liked astrology. Maybe there was even a link to Rosalind Elm’stattoo, although that was a stretch. Certainly, this was a man Amber needed toknow more about.
“Thank you, Mavis,” Amber said, asshe headed back out to the car. “You’ve been very helpful.”
Once she was safely ensconced inthe car, Amber started to look Mich Howarth up on the FBI’s systems. Shequickly found that he had a record, mostly for minor things, a couple of barfights, a few DUIs. Amber was more interested in the note that there was arestraining order against him, taken out by an ex-girlfriend who alleged thathe’d been violent.
The more Amber saw of Mich, themore he looked like the perfect suspect.
Amber called Simon, and he pickedup after only a couple of rings.
“Hi Amber. I’ve managed to findLoretta’s statues. She has a couple of big public installations aroundKeystone, and you were right about her having warehouse space. The Keystone PDare watching them now. The killer shouldn’t be able to get to one of themwithout being spotted. How are things going at your end?”
“I managed to track down thependants,” Amber said. “And the guy who makes them… Simon, I think there’s achance that he might be our killer. I’ll come get you, but I think we need tofind him, now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
“This could be dangerous. Are yousure you want to do this with just the two of us?”
Amber nodded to Simon as the two ofthem pulled up a little way from Mich's workshop. "We don't have enoughdirect evidence yet, and with just the two of us, we can approach quietly. IfMich sees a bunch of cops coming for him, he might kill Loretta."
“Assuming she’s in there,” Simonsaid. “He might have her stashed somewhere else.”
That was true, although Mich’sworkshop looked like the perfect place to hold a prisoner until it was time tokill her. The workshop was in the middle of an industrial area of the town,tucked away behind a factory, the noise of heavy machinery assaulting Amber’sears as she and Simon approached it. It was loud enough that no one would hearany screams for help, and the kind of area where no one would care about whenMich came and went.
The building was the smallest placein the industrial area, but even so, Amber found herself wondering why someonewho made jewelry would need anywhere that big. There was a storefront to it,but again, it seemed a little out of place in the area. Who would comesomewhere like this to buy jewelry? Something seemed off about the wholeplace.
“How do you want to do this?” Simonasked.
Amber looked at the workshop. “Ithink we go in to ask questions first. Maybe there’s a reason all four womenhad pendants he designed. But if he doesn’t give us answers, we bring him in.If Loretta is here, we’ll get her back. If not… then we need a way to putpressure on him that’s going to make him give her up.”
They moved up to the door together.It was locked, but Amber thought that she could see movement inside. She lookedover to Simon to check that he’d seen the same thing. He nodded, then hammeredon the door.
“We’re closed!” a voice called frominside. Simon hammered on the door again.
Amber saw someone coming towardsthe door. It opened, revealing a man of around thirty, good looking in a badboy kind of way, dark haired and wearing a leather jacket, looking out at Amberand Simon with obvious suspicion and hostility.
“What do you want?” he demanded.
Amber showed her badge. “We want totalk, Mich.”
“What is there that I’d want totalk to you about, Fed?” Mich demanded.
“Why don’t we step inside anddiscuss it?” Simon suggested.
“I’m fine here,” Mich said. “Andunless you have a warrant, that isn’t changing.”
Amber should have guessed that thiswould be anything but easy. She took out her phone. “We just want to talk toyou about some of your work, Mich.”
“Which work?”
“Saying that kind of thing couldmake me suspicious,” Simon said.
“Like I care,” Mich snapped back.
