Page 85 of Our Daughter's Bones
“How did the napkin end up in Erica’s room?” Daniel asked.
“We haven’t been able to find out where it came from; without knowing that we can’t know whether she brought it home from somewhere or someone else left it there. But we’re pretty sure she left her house willingly that night. We know she texted Abby right before she left,” Mackenzie said.
“There are two possibilities. Either the culprit had access to Erica’s place or Erica got mixed up with whatever this 916 business is,” Daniel said.
“Erica’s messages don’t show anything 916-related,” Nick said. “Neither does any of the evidence.”
“Could she have had another phone?” Daniel asked.
“Doubt it. We went through her bank statements. She was only paying for her one phone.”
“So, if someone went to her room and left or dropped the napkin, why were they there?” Daniel pondered. “If she left willingly, then there would be no reason to go there. Unless we’ve been wrong about that, and someone took her from her room. But there was no sign of a struggle, and she took her scarf with her…”
Mackenzie’s skin prickled. “Or 916 had access to Erica. Either they were in her social circle and dropped the napkin, or gave her it, or they got into her room because they’d been watching her and picked her as the next target. Whoever they are, Abby got close enough to exposing them that they took her too.”
Forty-Five
Mackenzie watched the sand trickle through the narrow space of the hourglass. The bulk of the sand barely moved in the top section, but closer to the tight space, it showered down furiously. She felt like she was finally approaching that tapered neck.
She and Nick were sitting in front of Sully’s desk while he paced behind his chair. Daniel had explained his connection to Sully in private, and the sergeant had dismissed him from the room before speaking to his own detectives.
Sully’s sigh pierced the tingling silence. He turned around, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. “I mean, there’s obviously a pattern. The killer is targeting women from the ages of sixteen to eighteen in the month of September.” He looked at Nick. “What do you think? We have a serial killer in Lakemore?”
Headshots of Daphne, Chloe, Erica, and Abby were spread on the desk.
Nick stared at the pictures, deep in thought. “There are four victims. Understandably, Daniel hasn’t given up all hope, but I think we have to assume that Chloe is dead. Thereisa regular pattern. But age being the only thing connecting the victims doesn’t seem strong enough. They’re all very different looking. Daphne is Asian. Erica is Hispanic. The other two are Caucasian. Their birthdays have no pattern. Daphne and Chloe were troubled. One was a foster kid with a history, and the other was a drifter. But then you have Erica—the Princess of Lakemore. Abby, too, had a relatively stable home life, if not as privileged as Erica’s. We don’t know if the sexual assault was consistent in all the victims. We can only confirm with Daphne because she was the only fresh body. That’s the problem. Daphne’s body was found floating in a river. Erica was buried in the forest. Chloe and Abby are still missing persons. I don’t think this is a serial killer.”
“Because there’s not enough consistency?” Mackenzie asked.
“Serial killers are either organized, disorganized, or mixed. This person is taking them in September. He branded Daphne with 916, which screams a ritual, aprocess. So let’s assume that he is organized. And organized serial killers will be more consistent with their techniques—for example, the type of victims or cause of death. One was strangled, and one was buried alive. It doesn’t add up. What about the cocktail napkin? 916 with a logo printed above it. That isn’t a serial killer.”
One of Nick’s first major cases had led to him putting a notorious serial killer behind bars. There was no one in Lakemore PD who understood serial killers better.
“Then what do you think this is?” Sully asked.
“A cult. The logo. The printed napkin. The ritualistic branding of skin. Someone sick blowing off steam in September. I think 916 stands for September 16. But I have no idea what it means.”
Mackenzie turned to Sully. “Sully, were these cases buried?” she blurted.
Sully’s head whipped to pin her with a glare. It was hard to offend Sully. Beneath the man who snored away at meetings and spent his afternoons scrapbooking was a police officer who didn’t tolerate dishonesty. “Are you accusing me of something?”
“No, but you know how these things work, Sully. Unofficially, cases are prioritized. Cases with victims like Daphne and Chloe aren’t given enough attention or seriousness.”
He crossed his arms. “Mack, nothing happened intentionally. Aaron headed Daphne’s case before he transferred to Tennessee. When her body was found in Tacoma, the guys over there took over the case. Troy took the lead on Chloe’s case. He did everything right, but she was a drifter, and then he found a bus ticket receipt. Peck made a call.”
“Tacoma PD wasn’t provided with full information. Witness statements from the party where Daphne was last spotted were missing.”
“The first burglary struck around that time. Robberies fall under Special Investigations, and they were swamped. Peck made a careless mistake. You remember how it was!”
She snorted. “I can’t believe we missed this. Erica could still be alive. Abby could still be here.”
“There’s nothing we could have done, Mack. We followed the rules. Unfortunately, sometimes, things slip. This is Lakemore. Detectives are usually dealing with five cases at a time. When Troy was investigating Chloe,youwere handling more than six cases, remember? Nick was in Seattle consulting on those copycat murders, so you took over his workload.”
It had been a very busy time in her life. She was rarely home, sleeping for three hours a night on average and not eating well. She emerged as crabby, forgetful, and at least twenty pounds lighter. Sterling had exhibited abundant patience. Not once did he demand her time or attention. He would bring her food and make sure she came home to a clean house every night. But she still wasn’t convinced that workload was the only reason the cases had got away.
“There are way too many coincidences here. So convenient that things justslipped. It’s ridiculous that Erica Perez was targeted, and we got lucky. Otherwise, how long would it have taken for us to notice this?”
Sully grimaced. “To establish a pattern, such as that of a serial killer, we need three bodies, or in this case three disappearances. Look, what’s done is done. We can’t turn back the clock, but we can make damn sure that Abby is the last girl he takes.”
