In the Darkness (Zoe Bentley Mystery Book 2) by Mike Omer

Author:Mike Omer [Omer, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542040594
Published: 2019-06-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 50

Zoe paced back and forth in the station’s meeting room, her mind churning. Tatum sat by the table, chewing a pizza slice. They’d bought a whole pizza on the way, a replacement for both lunch and dinner.

“Sit down,” he said. “Eat. We don’t brainstorm on an empty stomach.”

She sat down, forgot why she was sitting, and stood up. Sat down again. Grabbed a pizza slice. It was topped with grilled ham and pineapple. The pineapple debate was a sore spot between Zoe and her sister, but she was happy to discover that Tatum was not as averse to the idea as Andrea. They’d ordered half with pineapple and ham and half with pepperoni and hot peppers. She took a bite, making sure it contained both ham and pineapple, and shut her eyes.

The ham was grilled to perfection, its edges crispy, and the contrast with the pineapple sweetness, the thick layer of mozzarella, and the garlicky pizza sauce managed, for one blessed second, to drive everything else from her mind. She was in pizza nirvana. She was one with the pizza. She chewed carefully and swallowed. When she opened her eyes, Tatum was looking at her, a small smile tugging at the side of his mouth.

“What?” she said, feeling defensive.

“It’s nice to see you enjoy something for once. It doesn’t happen much.”

She cleared her throat. “It used to be more frequent before . . .” Before Glover reentered my life. “Before things became so hectic.”

“Right.”

She sighed and checked her phone. She’d talked to Andrea half an hour ago, and her sister had sounded fine. Marvin kept her company; the police watched outside; she felt safe. Still, Zoe wanted to be there. Wanted to hug Andrea, to tell her nothing would happen to her, that her big sister was there for her.

“Let’s talk about Schrodinger’s Killer,” Tatum said.

Zoe rolled her eyes. The press had nicknamed the killer, and it threatened to stick. Zoe hated this particular nickname because the killer had chosen it for himself. He’d baptized himself Schrodinger, knowing it would end up being his nickname.

“Our initial theory seems to be wrong,” Tatum said. “We assumed he began planning these murders a few months ago, after succumbing to his fantasy for the first time. But it now looks like he’s been planning this for years, preparing the graves, planning his websites, stalking potential victims—”

“No,” Zoe interrupted. “I stand by my initial assessment. He began planning this whole thing with Schrodinger and the weird experiments a few months ago. After he killed for the first time.”

“He was seen digging the pit over a year ago.”

“This guy’s sexual fantasy revolves around burying women alive. But he didn’t, for years. Instead, he fantasized. And part of his fantasy was digging those pits. He probably dug them imagining he could use them. I’m betting that he’d sometimes masturbate near these pits. He’d leave them covered, knowing he could, potentially, one day use them. That thought must’ve excited him.”

“So you’re saying when he dug that pit a year and a half ago, he never planned to really use it.

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