Gallery of the Dead

Forty-One

A black SUV picked Hunter up from his home address exactly forty-five minutes after he’d left The Thirsty Crow Lounge, enough time for him to have a shower and grab a change of clothes. Sixty-five minutes after that, he met Garcia and both FBI agents at Van Nuys airport, in San Fernando Valley. The look on everyone’s faces was a testimony to how little sleep they’d all had.

‘Coffee?’ Garcia asked as Hunter walked through the doors, offering him one of the cups he had in his hands.

Hunter gladly accepted it. ‘You read my mind.’

‘Perfect timing,’ Agent Williams said, joining the two of them. ‘The plane will be ready in under five minutes.’

‘Do we have any more information other than what you told me over the phone?’ Hunter asked.

All he was told was that The Surgeon had claimed a new victim and that he had about an hour to get ready before a car picked him up to take him to the airport.

‘I also know very little,’ Agent Williams replied.

‘But surely more than we do,’ Garcia said. ‘Do we at least know where we’re flying to?’

‘Tucson, Arizona,’ came the reply from Agent Fisher, who had just come off her cellphone. ‘Yesterday morning, after we learned about The Surgeon’s third victim here in Los Angeles, it became crystal clear that he isn’t sticking to a specific city, or even a specific state.’

Took you guys long enough, Garcia thought, but the thought didn’t make it to his lips.

‘So,’ Agent Fisher continued, ‘before flying over here, we made sure that every police department and every coroner and sheriff’s office in the country received a top-priority bulletin, informing everyone that if a body is found with missing parts, and/or bearing certain marks to its flesh, the FBI is to be notified immediately and no investigation is to be initiated by local detectives. About two hours ago, our headquarters in Quantico received a call from the Tucson Police Department in Arizona. A male body was found early yesterday evening, bearing some strange carvings to its back.’ She paused just to heighten the suspense. ‘The information we were given was that the markings to the victim’s back look like an odd combination of letters and symbols. Sounds familiar?’

‘Is that all we have on the victim?’ Garcia asked.

Agent Fisher shrugged. ‘At this point, yes... Oh, one more thing,’ she added before making her way toward the boarding gate. ‘Tucson Police also have a man in custody.’

‘A man in custody?’ Hunter asked, surprised.

Agent Fisher nodded. ‘I was just told. He was arrested at the crime scene. Police officers found him standing over the body.’