Page 20 of Nothing Hiding

"Quick!" she called to the officer at the door. "I need all available police to do a search. Every room, every exhibit, every model in this place. We need to find out if there are any more bodies here. Because I have a hunch there might be."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The police officer looked appalled.

"More bodies, Agent?" he asked Juliette, and she nodded.

"There's a strong chance this is a serial," she said. "There's enough evidence pointing that way for us to take it seriously."

As the officer got onto his radio, Wyatt swung around to her, looking equally appalled.

"You think so?" he asked softly. "Surely not? This is a political crime, right? It's targeting the ambassador. We've known that from the get-go."

Juliette could see he was hoping that he'd be right, and that there would only be one body for them to find. But as of now, she thought differently.

"I'm not ruling out the political aspect of it," Juliette said, glancing over at the wax-encased body of Daisy McKay. "But this is too elaborate for a simple political crime. The way she was posed ... it's almost like a ritual. It's stylized. And the wax coating, it's not just for preservation. It's almost like the killer is trying to make her seem eternal. Like she's frozen in time."

"Well, maybe he had an obsession with her," Wyatt argued.

Juliette shook her head. "An obsession that strong is going to spill over. If the killer has such a fixation on Daisy that he transforms her into a wax figurine and poses her in a pop-up museum, it's never going to end at one. What he wants, what he needs, is going to end up being more than just one person."

Seeing that Wyatt was still shaking his head, she added, "I think it already has."

"What?" The word blurted out of him, incredulous and disbelieving. For a moment, she sensed that his disbelief of her theory was so strong it might cause an actual rift in their partnership. "Juliette, how? On what evidence? We came here to investigate one missing woman. One!"

She shook her head. "Remember in the car, the officer told us there was another missing woman, also young, also in London, called in the day before?"

Now, there was a pause.

Wyatt frowned, pushing his knuckles into his chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I do remember that. But it was just a mention. It might not be related. She could have been found by now. She could have run away, or been injured, or ended up in prison, or ended up in a car crash. We haven't been following that."

"Exactly," Juliette shot back. "We haven't been following it. But we need to. And fast. Because that woman could have been the first. Another missing woman, in London, in a couple of days? Maybe it's not a coincidence, and if it isn't, then there are going to be more. And soon."

Wyatt's combative expression gradually dissolved.

Juliette could see that he still wasn't convinced by her words, but he was now entertaining the theory, and as he did, a deep line appeared in his forehead.

"If that's true, then we're in a hell of a lot of trouble," he said.

"We are. I'm hoping I'm wrong, but Wyatt, I've had too much experience in serial cases. So have you, recently. Look at the cases we've handled so far. Look at the similarities with this."

"Oh, damn," he groaned out, and she knew that he was now applying his mind to the theory, having gotten over his instinctive denial.

They both fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts as the officer outside the room called in for more personnel to search the building. It was clear that if Juliette was right, they might be dealing with a dangerous and diabolical killer, one who had a sadistic streak and a deep-rooted hatred for young women.

"We can start searching ourselves, then," Wyatt said, and Juliette jumped, having been immersed in her thoughts and theories.

"Let's do that," she said.

Leaving the coroner to wrap up, they went back to the door and peeled off their coverings, already sweaty and clammy in the hot, summer air.

Then they headed into the hall, walking through the now empty exhibition hall, seeing only a couple of police along the way.

If two women were dumped here, where would the other be?

Juliette walked with purpose, her eyes scanning the area for any signs of a figurine similar to the one they'd just found. Wyatt followed close behind.

---