Cavanaugh on Duty by Marie Ferrarella

Author:Marie Ferrarella [Ferrarella, Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Romance, Contemporary Romance, fullybook
ISBN: 9780373278213
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

The more she and Esteban delved into Ron Hays’s life, the less he appeared to have in common with the first two victims. He was younger than they were, still employed and obviously had little interest in volunteering any of his free time to help those less fortunate than himself.

Kari paced back and forth in front of the bulletin board. Hays’s photograph had been added to the board, taking its position next to William Reynolds and Mae Daniels.

Even the photograph looked out of place, Kari thought, slanting a glance toward it as she paced. Hays looked young enough to be their son.

Why was he victim number three?

Was he victim number three? she suddenly wondered, stopping dead in front of the board and staring at the man’s photograph.

Leaning back in his chair, Esteban noted the way she was looking at the board—as if her eyes could shoot laser beams out. “Got something?” he asked.

Maybe yes, maybe no, she thought.

“Maybe someone killed Hays after reading about the other two murders,” she theorized. She turned to look at her partner, her eyes bright.

Damn, but they were hypnotic, he thought. Like the rest of her. He forced himself to focus on her train of thought. “You mean, using the so-called serial killer—”

“Almost serial killer,” Kari interjected. “Technically, it takes three like murders before we can call the perp a serial killer, and we haven’t quite put Hays in the same category as Reynolds and Daniels,” she reminded Esteban.

“Okay.” He had no problem with adjusting his statement to suit her. He was accustomed to rolling with the punches—most of the time. “Using the so-called ‘almost serial killer’ for cover, whoever killed Ron Hays might have just been focused on getting rid of him and was hoping the murder wouldn’t wind up on his doorstep.” As he spoke, another idea occurred to him. “Or the other two murders he committed could have been done to provide his cover and his real intended victim was Ron Hays all along,” he suggested.

He watched her face to see her reaction, not quite sure just what to expect. What he saw was an amused, nonjudgmental smile. A smile that caught him a little off guard. “What?” he demanded.

She would have never believed it. “You were a fan of Agatha Christie mysteries when you were a kid, weren’t you?”

Defensiveness had always been second nature to him. Now was no different. “What makes you say that?” he wanted to know.

“Because you just described the setup behind one of her classic stories. I think it was called The ABC Murders. A killer murders three people in order to ‘hide in plain sight’ his intended victim.”

Esteban frowned. “I take it you don’t agree with the last theory.”

“I didn’t say that,” she pointed out. “I don’t have enough information on the third victim to rule that ‘hide in plain sight’ theory in or out right now.” She took a breath. “What I am saying is that the only thing that we know for certain that victim number three has in common with numbers one and two is that slashed throat.

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