Killer Genius - A Sam Prichard Mystery by David Archer

Author:David Archer [Archer, David]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2019-03-18T00:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

The driver had been following the news, and had been spooked that afternoon when a police spokesman told reporters that a special investigative team had come to town and identified some potential suspects. When a coworker said that police officers were asking about the people who drove the shuttles, he panicked and went into hiding.

He had been successful at avoiding detection for more than three years, mostly because he never took one of his passengers as a victim if he thought anyone had seen them get into the van. He would simply take them to an old building that his father owned, a former butcher shop with a large drain in the floor. When they started doing background checks on the shuttle drivers, Jade had been the one to find the property listed as still owned by the old man, so they had gone to check it out.

Mark Timmons, the driver, had been hiding there, trying to figure out how to get out of the city without being spotted. When police arrived with a warrant to break in the door, he had armed himself with a meat cleaver and hidden in a closet. When an unsuspecting officer opened the door, he had come running out, screaming like a madman and was shot down by the officer’s partner.

A search of the premises told them quickly that they had gotten their man, and Sam had brought Eric down to see just how valuable his assistance had been. Jade had taken his hand to show him the old butcher shop, where Timmons had murdered and dismembered his victims before dropping their remains into the sewer.

Except for his souvenirs. Lined up on shelves along the walls were more than forty human skulls.

"There's so many."

Jade looked over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't needed elsewhere, and then she lowered herself to the cement floor next to Eric. She crossed her legs and stared at the skulls with him, a heavy weight settling in her stomach.

"Yeah, " she began. "Forty-three of them."

"Forty-three." Eric wrapped his arms a little tighter around himself and drew his knees toward his chest. "Forty-three people who died for no reason at all."

Jade nodded her head slowly and put her hands in her lap, not entirely sure what to do next. She interacted with Eric the least of everyone on the team, and despite their shared understanding of the benefit to that, the result was that she wasn’t sure how to comfort him.

"I read about serial killers a lot." Eric continued to stare at the shelves. "Some studies say there could be as many as two thousand victims every year. This isn’t much if you compare it to that, but…" His voice dropped to a whisper. "These aren't numbers, Ms. Miller. These are what’s left of real people."

"That’s true. But, thanks to you, Eric, this guy won’t be collecting any more of them.” She turned to look at him, then put a hand on his arm. “Come on," she coaxed, getting to her feet.

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