Page 21 of The Girl from Devil's Lake
“Wait a minute,” Jackson objected. “Where are you going? I want to know what’s happening with you. Did you graduate from high school? Do you have a girlfriend? Are you planning on going to college?”
“None of your damned business,” Steve muttered as he pounded on the door, letting the guard outside know he was ready to leave.
“Will you be back?” Jackson asked.
“No,” Steve said.
Steve was still fuming as a second guard escorted him back to the visitors’ exit. Physically, he and his father may have looked like they’d been cut from the same cloth, but obviously that wasn’t true. Jackson Roper didn’t have any stray voices wandering around in his head, and he had a low opinion of people who did. And although they were both stone-cold killers, there was one major difference. Jackson Roper had been caught and thrown in prison while his son was still home free.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, you son of a bitch, Steve thought as he ripped off his sticky visitor badge and tossed it in the trash.
“Will we be seeing you again?” the smiling clerk at the check-in counter asked as he signed out on her clipboard.
“I don’t think so,” Steve replied. “This visit was pretty much a one and done.”
Chapter 9
Bisbee, Arizona
Monday, November 27, 2023
Back at the office, Joanna stopped by the bullpento tell Deb Howell and Garth Raymond that their homicide victim most likely had a name, but still no date of birth. Then she called the ME to give her the same news and pass along the information she’d picked up from Arturo.
“Missing for a week,” Kendra mused. “That would jibe with my estimated time of death. That suggests that Xavier was murdered close to the time he was taken.”
“Any sign of sexual assault?” Joanna asked, dreading the answer.
“Due to the state of decomposition, I couldn’t find any indication of that on the body itself, and none on the clothing, either.”
“At least the poor kid was spared that,” Joanna murmured.
“Indeed,” Kendra agreed.
“What about that missing shoelace?” Joanna asked. “Since he was strangled, is it possible that’s the murder weapon?”
“I doubt it,” Kendra replied. “The hyoid bone was broken in more than one place. That would indicate brute force rather than a garrote.”
“But removing a shoelace from a high-topped sneaker isn’t an instant process. Why go to the trouble?”
“Trophy, maybe?” Kendra suggested.
“You’re suggesting the possibility of a serial killer?” Joanna asked.
“I am,” Kendra replied. “A perpetrator smart enough to dip his victim in bleach doesn’t sound like an amateur. Since the victim is from Naco, Sonora, you might ask Captain Peña if he can find any similar cases elsewhere in Sonora or even in Mexico at large.”
“I will,” Joanna answered. “I’ll also have Deb and Garth go looking for similar unsolved cases on this side of the border.”
“But about those shoes,” Kendra began.
“What about them?” Joanna asked.
“They look brand-new as opposed to used. There’s almost no wear on the soles, so why would a struggling single mom buy her kid a pair of shoes that are two sizes too big?”
“Maybe someone else bought them,” Joanna suggested.
“Maybe so,” Kendra agreed. “When I was growing up, each year for my birthday, my dad’s mother, who lived out of state, always sent me three pairs of panties that were two sizes too small. Maybe what we have here is someone who erred in the other direction.”
That was a nice enough thought, but as Joanna hung up the phone, she doubted that Xavier’s new sneakers had come from a distant but loving relative. It was more likely that a vicious killer had used those shoes as opposed to candy or food to lure an unsuspecting child into a vehicle.
