“Welcome to the six o’clock news,” she said. “I’m Carrie Colson. Greg Nielan is on vacation. Our headline story tonight is focusing on the rash of murders taking place across King George in the last two days.”
“Rash of murders?” Cole asked, shaking his head.
“We’ve received confirmed reports from the sheriff’s office that the same killer is responsible for each of the murders.”
“Well, she certainly gets to the point,” I said.
“When asked about the murders, Sheriff Jack Lawson urges people to use caution and stay aware of their surroundings. This is not the first serial killer King George County has seen, but we’re told an arrest is imminent.”
There was a slight delay and then Jack’s picture came up on a split screen with Carrie and his voice came across the air, playing the clip he’d recorded earlier.
“Unfortunately, we can report the deaths of four individuals since early Monday morning,” Jack said. “All loss of life is tragic, and the sheriff’s office is working around the clock to hunt the man responsible. In the meantime, we urge the public to use precautions. Our profile of the killer says he’s a white male, somewhere between thirty to sixty years of age. He’s attempted to use stage makeup and wigs to alter his appearance, but his substandard attempts have given our IT people enough to put together a composite sketch.
“We also believe the killer has low self-esteem and is someone who’s spent his life going unnoticed, and now he’s trying to become the center of attention by committing these heinous acts. But he’s still just second best. He’s copycatting serial killers who were much better at the job than he is. There’s a reason he was never a star before. But the one thing all of the serial killers he’s copycatting have in common is that they all got caught. We plan to make an arrest very soon. Who knows, maybe there’s a substandard theater for bad actors in prison. Maybe he can finally play the lead role.”
Jack’s picture was removed and Carrie dominated the screen once more. “Again, that was Sheriff Jack Lawson making the statement that an arrest is forthcoming.”
She wrapped up the rest of the segment with the hotline phone number for anyone who might have information to give the police.
Cole whistled long and low. “I guess if you get onstage with the big boys you’ve got to learn how to take criticism. I sure hope this works. Because he’s going to be mad as hell.”
“I hope so too,” Jack said. “He’s got a script. It’s time to get him to deviate from it. That’s when he’ll make a mistake.”
There was a buzz signaling someone was at the gate, and Doug said, “It’s Martinez and Chen.”
Jack pressed the remote from his phone and I went to unlock the front door. They came back inside with a fine mist covering their jackets and hair, and two boxes of programs and Playbills.
“It’s raining again,” Martinez said, wiping his feet on the mat. “Man, you guys should’ve seen it. Chen is emotional today. Must be hormones. She almost started crying when she saw it was raining again.”
“No I didn’t, you idiot,” Chen said, rolling her eyes. “I was just happy to get out of that creepy room. It’s got clown faces on the walls. Why would anyone put that kind of terror in their house?” The she zeroed in on Martinez and he took a step back. “You owe me for that. And if you ever jump out at me again I’m going to give you more than a knee to the balls.”
Martinez winced and the rest of us laughed. Chen was no one to mess with. She’d come from the police department in Atlanta, and she could more than handle herself.
“There’s got to be thousands of school programs in these boxes,” Martinez said. “We got everything we could find.”
“She was a teacher for forty years,” I said. “I imagine you accumulate a lot over time, especially with that many students.”
I followed Martinez and Chen back into the office and they set the boxes down on the table.
“Pizzas are on the way,” Cole said, and then he looked at the boxes of programs. “Looks like we’ve got some work to do.”
Three hours later, all of the pizza boxes were empty and my eyes were crossing after we’d started on the second box of programs.
Cole kept looking at his watch and he finally said, “How long should it take Lily to do the autopsy?”
“It normally takes me a couple of hours,” I said. “But this is her first solo outing, so I expect it’ll take her a little longer.” But then I looked at the time and saw it was after nine o’clock, and I realized it was long past when she should’ve been done. I’d lost track of the time somewhere along the way. “Maybe give her a call.”
“I’ve texted her three times,” Cole said. “She hasn’t replied.” He already had the phone to his ear, listening to it ring.
While Cole tried calling Lily, I called Sheldon, knowing he’d more than likely have stayed with her until they left the funeral home. Sheldon tended to need a prompt to go home.
“Hello?” Sheldon said.
“Sheldon, it’s Dr. Graves,” I said.
“I know. Your name came up on my caller ID.”
I closed my eyes, feeling my patience waning. “I’m calling to see if you’re still with Lily at the funeral home.”
“Oh,” he said, clearing his throat. “Umm, no.” And then I heard what sounded like a whisper and a very distinct female giggle. “She told me to leave.”
“Why?” I asked. “What time was that?”
“Right around seven o’clock,” Sheldon said. “She said she was almost finished, and I got a call from Annie. Umm, she’s the girl I met at the shipping store today. Anyway, Annie invited me to dinner…and stuff…so Lily told me to go ahead and leave and she’d lock up.”
There was another fit of giggles and a loud thump. “Sorry,” he said, breathless. “I fell off my chair. What’s wrong? Is Lily okay?”
“We’re just trying to get ahold of her,” I said. “Did she say anything else?”
“Only that she was going to your house as soon as she was finished,” he said.
“What about Emmy Lu?”
“She was supposed to leave at six like usual, but she stayed until about six thirty because Tom was running late and he was picking her up,” he said. “Tom pulled up right after she signed for the FedEx package.”
“What FedEx package?” I asked, and I saw Cole and Jack both zero in on our conversation.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It was addressed to you, so Emmy Lu put it on your desk, and then she told us goodbye and left. And then Annie called and I left. I was going to hang out with Lily, but she insisted I go.”
“It’s okay, Sheldon,” I said. “I’m sure she just lost track of the time.”
But in my heart I knew that wasn’t the case, and everyone else must have known it too, because they were already putting on their coats and grabbing car keys.
“I’ll stay here with Doug,” Chen said. “You guys go.”
“Go where?” Doug asked. “What’s happening?”