Page 7 of Closer Than You Know

Bent walked the few steps to the window. “Baker’s car was parked in the lot in clear view of this window. The perp probably watched them enter the building, then closed the blinds to block any moonlight.”

The blinds were open fully now. Bent or one of his deputies likely opened them once the initial crime scene photos and video had been taken. Vera peered out the window. She thought of the tracks she’d found behind her house this morning. “No tracks in the snow down there?”

A multitude of vehicle and person tracks littered the melting slush now. Reporters had started to line up outside the perimeter the deputies had put in place.

Bent shook his head. “Keeton said it had just started to snow when they came in last night, so I’m assuming our perp got Baker out before the snow piled up.”

“No other vehicle in the lot when the two arrived?”

“No. If there was a vehicle on the property, it was well hidden. And,” he went on, “we’ve canvassed the area, and no one who lives nearby saw or heard anything.”

Well, that answered her next question.

“With the other victims, he waited for them where they lived or worked or some other place they frequented,” she mentioned, her brain running through scenarios.

“The first was taken from home around ten p.m.,” Bent explained. “Number two was taken from the gym after closing time. The parking lot was empty. There was no one else inside except the employee closing up, who didn’t see or hear anything.” He surveyed the room. “The last victim was putting flowers on her mother’s grave in the middle of the afternoon.”

At Blanche Cemetery over near Taft. Not at Rose Hill, where Vera’s parents were buried. The ache of having buried their father just two months ago was still fresh.

“This one is a sizable step out of his usual MO,” Vera said, pointing out the obvious and moving on from thoughts of her father.

“That’s what worries me,” Bent agreed.

“Maybe he’s ready to tell his story,” Vera suggested. “Nolan Baker is a reporter. He has extensive local connections, which makes him high profile. Maybe Nolan is the big finale—the point he hopes to make in all this.”

Bent shot her a look that said he hoped to hell not. Okay, that wasn’t what she’d been going for.

“I mean,” she clarified, “to achieve whatever glory he’s hoping for. Perps like this one aren’t in it for the violence; this is all about proving something. Showing off. That sort of thing.” At least, that appeared to be the case so far. There certainly was nothing in his MO that suggested otherwise—at least until now.

“We can hope it doesn’t involve murder.”

Murder.Vera had helped bring many murderers to justice, and she’d kept at least two murders hidden. Basically, she’d been a part of the deed from both sides—going way back. Better to keep that to herself too.

Funny, she’d never seen her sister Eve or their daddy as killers. But they were ... weren’t they? No matter that the act in both instances had been self-defense. Still, people were dead.

There were times when she wondered if she was one of the good guys or not.Not tap-dancing around in that minefield.

She squared her shoulders and suggested, “We should walk through the other rooms on this floor. Look for any sort of staging area.”

“We walked through earlier.” Bent waited for her to take the lead now. “Didn’t find anything, but a fresh set of eyes is always a good idea.”

As soon as they were out of the room where the attack had occurred, they removed their shoe covers. Vera left her gloves on just in case. The other rooms were not unlike the one where Joel Keeton had foundhimself unconscious on the floor. By the time they reached the fourth room, Vera had noted the one undeniable consistency that did not extend to the scene of the attack.

“All the windows”—she gestured to the one in the room where they currently stood—“are basically bare. The curtains and blinds are either gone completely or hanging by a thread. But the window in the room where the abduction took place has a workable set of blinds.”

Bent’s gaze narrowed as he considered her point. “Let’s take another look.”

They walked back to the room and, not bothering with the shoe covers this time, took a closer look at the intact blinds on the window.

“Looks the same as the damaged ones on the windows in the other rooms,” Bent noted, “but this one is in working order.”

“Maybe the perp picked this room because it was the only one with an intact set.” Made sense, Vera supposed.

“Otherwise,” Bent said, “he picked the best of the window coverings, since the windows are all about the same size, and moved it here. This is the room where sightings of that mysterious light and the little girl most often occur. If cashing in on the notoriety was his point, this room was the one to choose.”

“He would unquestionably do that. He’s careful, organized,” Vera said. “We know this from the other abductions. His victims have all been locals, all around the same age. And all taken with no witnesses and no evidence left behind. Sticking to a precise routine has prevented any missteps so far.”

“If we find the window where this blind came from,” Bent considered out loud, “assuming that’s what happened, we might find prints. Removing a set of blinds is a pain in the ass if you’re wearing gloves.”

---