Page 38 of All He Takes
Nicky turned around. A tall man with a goatee and graying hair stood behind them, dressed in a cop uniform. His badge identified him as a chief of police.
"Yeah," Nicky said, holding up her badge. "Agent Lyons, FBI. This is my partner, Agent Walker."
"Chief Schmitt," the man said. "This is my jurisdiction. I'm glad you two could make it out so late."
"Of course," Nicky said. "Who found the body?"
"The witness is over there," he said, nodding to beside the building, where a car was parked. A man sat on the hood, talking to two officers. "The guy claims he was driving into town when he saw a woman lying on the steps. At first, he thought she was drunk and wanted to help her, but the moment he saw blood, he called us."
Nicky swallowed hard, looking over at the store. "Mind taking us to the body?"
"Of course."
Chief Schmitt led the way, and Nicky and Ken followed. The chief stepped through the caution tape and over to the body. As they got closer, Nicky made out the details and felt a pang of despair in her chest. The woman's throat was slit messily, and she was wearing a vintage-style red dress, her body draped over the steps like she'd been dumped there. But it bore an eerie resemblance to the Polaroid photos of the other victims.
This was definitely done by the same guy.
Nicky closed her eyes for a moment, trying to find her control. She could tell this murder was fresh, based on the color of the victim's skin and the blood. Which meant they were just a little too late.
"I'm sorry," Chief Schmitt said. "I can imagine that this is hard for you. You see this stuff all the time, right?"
Nicky opened her eyes. "I've seen worse," she said, but her voice was hoarse. She cleared her throat. "Have you identified the victim yet?"
"One of our officers ID'd her as Marie Cooper," he said. "She's one of his friends' daughters. A local. Nobody knew she was missing."
Nicky frowned. "Wait, nobody knew?"
"No--the father claimed he saw her earlier today, and figured she was just out with friends. But the friends said they never saw her."
Nicky's heart raced--because for the first time, they had a concrete idea as to how long he might keep victims. They never found Paris, Francine, or the third victim--the Jane Doe's--body. All they had were the photos, but those could have been taken at any time.
But this girl, Marie, went missing today. The man took her today, and all within the span of twenty-four hours had killed her.
That was an extremely rapid timeline.
Nicky looked at the scene again. Something was taped to the glass doors. Stepping over the scene, Nicky walked up to it.
It was a Polaroid photo of Marie's body, taped right there.
The killer's M.O.
But this was the first time he had ever left a body.
He was accelerating.
"I guess he's getting more confident," Ken said, coming to stand behind Nicky.
"Or he's just getting sloppy," Nicky said.
"Maybe," Ken replied. "But what would make him feel confident enough to leave this body instead of moving it?"
"That's exactly the question we need to answer," Nicky said. She looked at the chief. "We need footage from every traffic camera in town. We're looking specifically for a 1998 Hana Kuma without a license plate." Now that Mr. Dumond could be ruled out as a suspect, Nicky was sure the car detail was what they had to focus on.
"I'll get on it," Chief Schmitt said. "And I'll have some officers canvass the area for anyone who might have seen something. There are some tracks in the mud, but it's hard to tell."
"Thank you," Nicky said.
The chief nodded and walked over to the officers at the car. He talked to them for a bit, then one of them went back to his car.
