AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So, Mowlam was in the Doc’s house that night.”
“Or his killer was—”
“Well, at least we know where Marcus got his tattoo.”
Barbara remembered Mowlam talking about the book club. A way to befriend the kids and influence young minds. Did Marcus stay behind some nights, talking a little longer? Was that how Mowlam had twisted his mind, maybe the other boys’ too?
“I think Stephen knew about this,” she said.
“And Jacob?”
“Possibly. Probably.”
Tucker sighed. “Okay.”
Barbara looked around the room again. The vampyr artifacts. The body left out on display. The Doc’s phone in plain sight.
“Anything about this strike you as a bit too…convenient?”
“How d’you mean?”
“It’s like someone wanted us to find all this,” she said. “We got our accomplice and mystery tattooist. I’m willing to bet somewhere around here there’s a key to the Grill.”
Tucker turned and picked up a key from the table. “Like this one?”
She sighed heavily. “We got the person who locked me in the freezer. It’s all been laid out for us. Everything neatly tied up.”
“Yeah.” Tucker looked around. “We’ve still got one big loose end, though.”
“What?”
He nodded to the body splayed on the tattooist’s chair, brain matter and blood pooled thickly on the floor beneath.
“We haven’t got a damn clue who killed Mowlam.”
51
They processed the scene as best they could. Numbering and photographing everything, bagging up evidence, dusting for possible prints and collating DNA. Not that Barbara had anywhere to send it while the weather kept transport grounded.
That just left Mowlam’s body.
“He can’t stay here,” Barbara said.
“So, where do we put him?”
They stared at the corpse. Barbara wished she could find some sympathy, some sorrow. But looking around this studio, at all the artifacts of hate, it was difficult. Sometimes, you really did reap what you sowed.
She sighed. “He’ll have to come back to the Grill.”
They used garbage bags to wrap Mowlam up. There wasn’t much they could do about the stake sticking out of his chest, like he was some kind of human popsicle.
Tucker pulled the truck around the back of the house. They loaded the body into it and drove to the Grill. Darkness had descended and the street was deserted, but Barbara didn’t want to take any chances. They drove down the side of the Grill and manhandled the corpse in through the fire escape. Once inside, Barbara opened the walk-in freezer, and they laid Mowlam on the floor beside the table where Marcus lay.
Barbara shook her head. “Rate we’re going, this place will have more bodies than Anchorage morgue.” She slammed the freezer door shut again and they walked into the bar.
“I’m going to make a coffee.” She glanced at Tucker. “Want one?”
“No, thanks.”
