Page 8 of Once Silenced

“Chief Smith’s office,” came Hoke’s deep, familiar voice.

“Hoke, it’s Riley Paige.I’m calling about Mrs.Whitfield.I heard what happened and I wanted to—” she began, but the words were cut short by his response.An unexpected surge of relief colored his tone, catching her off guard.

“Thank God, Riley!I was hoping they’d put you on the case!”Hoke’s voice crackled through the line.

Riley struggled to make sense of his words.

Put me on the case?She wondered.

What case?What could he possibly mean?

CHAPTER FOUR

Riley was truly puzzled.Why would her high school friend think she could be assigned to investigate a death in her old hometown?

“Hoke, what do you mean?”Riley asked in surprise.With a touch of embarrassment, she added, “This isn’t an FBI case, is it?”

There was a pause on the other end, and then Hoke asked, “You mean you don’t know?I called for federal assistance yesterday.”

“I had no idea,” Riley admitted.

Of course, she knew she shouldn’t be surprised not to be in the loop about a case like this.As a lecturer at the Academy, she was usually the last to find out about active field cases unless they were particularly heinous or complex.

“Look, I just called you to find out more about Mrs.Whitfield’s death,” Riley explained.“I didn’t know anything about an ongoing FBI investigation.Can you tell me why you involved the FBI?”

“One of my officers recognized the killer’s M.O.,” Hoke replied.“Another person, Garrett Fenn, a math professor at Blenheim College in Roanoke, was killed in the same manner.I had to call in the feds when we saw the similarities.”

“Two math professors?Tell me about the M.O.,” Riley urged.

Hoke exhaled deeply, and when he spoke again, his voice had lost its usual steadiness.

“It’s brutal, Riley.And there’s an unsettling precision to it all—”

“Details, Hoke.I need specifics.”

He hesitated again, and she knew he was wondering about releasing details to someone not assigned to the case.Then he relented.

“Both victims were widowed and lived alone, and they were apparently taken by surprise in their homes late at night.They were both found sitting at their desks.”

“How were they killed?”Riley asked.

“They were both strangled.And...and here’s where it gets weird,” Hoke continued, his voice crackling with static through the phone line.“Their bodies were found with sheets of paper pinned to their backs.”

“Sheets of paper?”Riley’s voice echoed back her confusion.The detail seemed bizarre.She waited for Hoke to explain.

“They appeared to be student quizzes for algebra classes,” he said.“Just a numbered list of equations to solve for x.The sort of generic handout any teacher might give students.It was like the killer was mocking the victims, putting signs on their backs labeling them as algebra teachers.Maybe the killer just hates algebra.”

Hoke’s guess made sense.In fact, it was probably the conclusion any FBI field agent might reach—that the sheets were gestures of mockery and nothing more.And yet …

Quizzes?Algebra?The juxtaposition of mundane academic exercises and two murders sent Riley’s mind reeling.It also brought another memory to mind.

“You remember how she used to hand out those quizzes like candy at Halloween?”Riley’s voice softened.

“Sure do,” Hoke replied.“I swear, I learned more about life in her algebra class than anywhere else.She had a way of making x and y matter beyond the paper.”

“Exactly,” Riley agreed, leaning back against her chair.

A silence fell as both of their minds drifted back to happier days.

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