Last Words

24

Beck pushed open the door of the old building and stepped inside onto ancient chipped linoleum that at one time might have been red. Beneath his feet the floor sagged noticeably, and the stale humid air smelled of wood that had long since gone to rot. A wasp flew repeatedly at a dross-covered window and somewhere down the dark corridor in front of Beck, something scurried along the ground.

Mia finished her call and went into the building a minute or two later. She raised her sunglasses to the top of her head so that her eyes could adjust to the light. From up ahead, she could hear footsteps-Beck’s and Hal’s-and when she came to a large square room, she stood still to place the others. Off to the right, her senses told her, and she followed, treading carefully on the weak floor.

“Jesus God in Heaven!” Hal seemed to choke with pain.

“Oh, God no.”

“Beck!” Mia called to him as she ran, following their voices.

“Sweet Holy Mother of God.” Hal was transfixed before the figure that lay sheathed in shiny transparency on the bed.

“Is it…” Mia stepped closer. “Oh…oh, no…”

A stone-faced Beck turned his back on the abomination on the bed and opened his phone. “Garland, find out where Todd Singer is. It looks like we found Lisa. And get Dr. Reilly on the line…”

Mia stood with her hands in the pockets of her cutoff jeans, watching the scene unfold. News had spread quickly through the community-complements perhaps of an overly excitable EMT-and before anyone realized what was happening, the anguished husband had arrived and attempted to rush inside the building.

“Where’s Lisa? Where is my wife?” Todd had cried, and it had taken both Hal and two newly arrived officers from Cameron to subdue him.

Mia remained apart, studying the scene, taking it in, mulling it over, even as Hal accompanied a distraught Todd Singer to the ambulance where he was given oxygen. When Beck finally emerged, after having secured the crime scene, Mia walked over to him.

“Beck, I’m so sorry. I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through right now.” She put a hand on his arm, and he pressed his own hand over hers.

“Thanks.” His eyes were murderously dark and haunted. “When I find this bastard…when I get my hands on him…”

“Look, I understand how upset you are, I know you were friends. I want to get this guy, too. But I need to talk to you.” Her hand still on his arm, she led him close to her car. When they were out of hearing range, she said, “Beck, this doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean, doesn’t feel right?”

“He just took her yesterday, and she’s dead already? That’s not his thing. For him, this is all about the power, all about humiliation. Why would he kill her right away, before he’d made her suffer?”

Beck met her eyes momentarily, then looked away when the ME’s van pulled up.

“Maybe she fought him off, he got pissed…”

“He likes it when they fight back. He wants that. Because he knows that it doesn’t matter, in the end, he’s going to win.” She lowered her voice. “There’s something really wrong with this scene.”

“Who else would it be?”

“Oh, I think it was him, all right. But why bring her here? It obviously isn’t the place where he brought the others. We know he must have a place where he takes them…keeps them. Tortures them. We’ve been all through this building. There’s nothing here. So why did he bring her here?”

“What are you thinking?”

“I think he killed Lisa to get her out of the way. I’m pretty sure we’re going to find she wasn’t suffocated the way the others were. I think she was probably dead when he wrapped her up.”

“We won’t know for certain until Viv is done with the body.” Beck’s eyes clouded as he watched the ME’s assistant bring out the gurney holding the body, encased in a dark blue bag.

A hush fell over the small crowd that had gathered. The only human sound was Todd Singer’s sobbing.

“Beck, maybe something someone told Lisa yesterday tipped her off to something the killer didn’t want anyone to know about. Somehow he figured out that she knew and needed to keep her from telling anyone else.”

“That would make sense. It’s the only thing that does.” He stood with his arms folded, looking beyond her to where Lisa Singer’s plastic-encased body was being gently loaded into Vivien Reilly’s van. He turned and waved Hal over.

“I want Mickey Forbes picked up now and brought in for questioning. Now. Keep him there until I get there.”

He turned to Mia. “I’m going with Viv. I’ll meet you back at the station.”

Mia nodded, understanding that his accompanying the medical examiner was as much to make sure his friend’s journey wasn’t made alone as to be there when cause of death was determined.

“Sue, make sure Todd gets home all right. Give Jay a call and have him meet you over there so the guy’s not alone.”

Beck started toward the van, then looked over his shoulder at the three of them: Hal, Sue, and Mia.

To no one in particular, he said, “Has anyone heard from Duncan?”