Cause to Kill

“What’s up, Black? Thought you were dead.”

“Why would I be dead?” she asked.

“Don’t you ever read the papers? East Coast is in a panic over this killer. Three girls in a week? You’re front page news again. Says you’re off the case. On official leave.”

“I’m not on official leave.”

Children could be heard around Talbot. They squealed. He said, “Hold on a sec,” and then his voice muffled and she heard, “Quiet, rascals. Can’t you see papa’s on the phone. Go bother your mother. Get out of here! Go I’ll be there in a second.”

‘Sorry,” Avery said, “I’m disturbing you.”

“Nah,” he came back, “just another Saturday in the park. What’s up, Black?”

“I called to find out about the third victim.”

“Yeah, I got a call from Lieutenant Connelly at your office. He said he’s heading up the investigation now. Wanted to know what we found. He sounds like a real dick. Ran her prints through the system and got a match. Was involved in some stupid college prank last year. Her name is Molly Green. Media hasn’t been informed yet, so keep this to yourself. She was a Brandeis senior. Finance major. Not a very good student. Not a sorority girl either, so no more ‘Sorority Killer.’”

“Did you talk to anyone at Brandeis?”

“Spoke to the dean. Again, very hush, hush for now. He doesn’t want anything revealed until he can make his own statement on Monday. He referred me to a guidance counselor named Jessica Givens. Apparently, Molly was having panic attacks about the job market.”

“Job market? Did the victim have a job?”

“Counselor didn’t say. But she did tell me that it all worked out in the end.”

“Can I have the number for that counselor?”

“Yeah,” he said. The phone moved away from his face as he searched for the number and yelled it out so that Avery could hear. “Got that?” Avery typed it into her phone and wrote down the name Jessica Givens. “I got it,” she said.

“You talk to her friends?” Avery asked.

“My team reached out to friends and family yesterday. Some are still on it today. She worked as a part-time nanny for a family near the school. Last time anyone saw her alive. Killer snatched her around the house on her way home Thursday night.”

“How do you know that?”

“My squad took some testimony from a young kid, fifteen years old, that lives across the street from the house where Molly worked. Kid said he couldn’t sleep. At about the time Molly got off from work, he saw a girl that matches her description exit the house and start talking to some guy near a blue minivan.”

Avery sucked in a breath.

“That’s what he drives,” she said, “a blue Chrysler minivan.”

“Yeah,” Talbot agreed, “that’s what your supervisor told me. Said they still had no leads on who owns that car, but they’re narrowing down the search. Kid said the perpetrator was wearing a hat and glasses. White guy, about five-six or five-five, lean but strong, between the ages of twenty-five and forty-five. That’s your guy, right?”

“That’s our guy.”

“Kid didn’t know what he was seeing. Says it looked like the girl passed out. The guy called for help and then put the girl in the car and drove away.”

“Did the kid call anyone?”

“No, he said it looked like the guy was taking care of her. Kid’s only fifteen.”

“Anything else?”

“That’s not enough?”

“Just trying to put all the pieces together.”

“You’re lucky I’m even talking to you, Black. Shit, that Connelly hates your ass.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“I guess I just have a thing for desperate, reckless white chicks that I read about in the papers,” he joked, and then his voice muffled again and he said, “Aw, come on, baby. I’m just playing. She’s a detective. No, I’m not interested in her. Hold on one sec.” Back in the phone he said, “All right, Black, I’ve got to go. Nice chat.”

The line went dead.

Brandeis, Avery thought. The third girl went to Brandeis University in Waltham – the furthest county west so far. The first victim went to Harvard, which is in Cambridge, right next to Boston. The second one went to MIT in Cambridge and was dropped off much further west at the cemetery in Watertown. Brandeis University is even further west, but the victim was taken east, into Belmont.

He lives in either Belmont or Watertown, she realized.

The logic seemed to make sense. He wouldn’t have wanted to travel further to find and place each girl he killed. Based on where he dropped off the bodies and took them, his travel time would have been shorter and shorter each time. Lederman is a long drive from out here in Belmont, she thought. All the way to Boston. Still, it was the first body and he wanted to make a statement —and create some distance from his home. Then he got bolder. The second body was further west, in Watertown. The third was even further, in Waltham. He can’t live in Waltham, she thought. Why would he want to drive all the way to Boston from there?

She called Finley.

Extremely loud and obnoxious heavy metal music could be heard in the background when Finley picked up.

“Yo, yo,” he cried.

“Finley, it’s Black.”

In nearly a whisper, she heard, “Oh shit,” and then the music went down and Finley was all business. “Look, Black,” he said, “I’m not supposed to talk to you about the case.”

“Are you still on car dealership duty?”

“Yeah?”

“The killer lives in either Belmont or Watertown. Narrow your search to those two counties and it will save a lot of time.”

“How do you know that?”

She hung up.

Accounting. Economics. Finance. All business majors.

Talbot said the third victim was stressed out about job interviews. Cindy had a job lined up at an accounting firm. What was the name? Devante, she remembered. Biggest firm in Boston. Did Molly have a job? Tabitha was a junior. Would she have a job?

She headed to her car.

On the way to Brandeis, she dialed Finley again.