The Crucifix Killer

Twenty-Four

Lucas stared at the race result on his computer screen. Garcia was trying his best to look over everyone’s shoulders and get a glimpse of it. Hunter kept his eyes shut, too nervous to look.

‘We lost,’ Lucas’s voice croaked. ‘Trap two won it, trap five got second.’ He had to force himself to look at Hunter.

‘No,’ Garcia said, his voice barely audible. He made an effort not to be sick and tasted his breakfast rise in his throat.

Captain Bolter pushed Lucas aside so he could get a better look at the screen.

‘Shit! I should’ve picked trap two, I was between two and five – I should’ve gone for two,’ Lucas said, collapsing onto his chair.

Captain Bolter’s eyes were still on the screen. The result read: 1st trap two, 2nd trap five, 3rd trap eight. ‘It’s not your fault,’ he finally said, placing a friendly hand on Lucas’s shoulder.

Hunter was still silent. His eyes closed, his hands tucked inside his pockets. After a few more seconds he looked at Garcia and mouthed the words ‘I can’t believe this.’

Everyone stood motionless. No one knew what to say. Hunter wanted to scream and punch Lucas’s computer screen, but he kept his anger locked inside.

Hunter’s cell phone rang once again startling everyone. He snapped it out of his pocket and checked the display. A gentle nod towards Captain Bolter indicated that the caller was who they expected it to be.

‘Yes,’ Hunter said in a defeated tone of voice.

‘Unlucky.’

‘Wait…’ Hunter pleaded but it was too late, the line went dead.

‘Turn it off,’ Captain Bolter pointed to Lucas’s computer screen. ‘There’s no need for any more dog racing today.’

Lucas closed his browser and glanced at Hunter. ‘I’m sorry, man, if I’d had some more time…’

Hunter knew Lucas had done his best. As he’d said, if it were that easy, everyone would be making money out of gambling.

‘Hunter, Garcia, we need to talk,’ Captain Bolter’s voice was firm. This was not going to plan, at least not to the plan he had in mind. He walked back to his office, his heavy footsteps echoing throughout the silent room. Hunter and Garcia followed him in silence.

‘What the hell’s going on?’ Captain Bolter said, even before Garcia had closed the door behind him.

‘What do you think, Captain? The killer’s at it again, only this time he made me choose. If I picked the correct dog the victim would live.’

‘That last phone call, did he tell you where the new victim is?’

‘No, not yet.’

‘He’s playing games now?’

‘It sure as hell seems like it.’

Captain Bolter turned and faced the window. Fifteen long silent seconds followed before he spoke again. ‘Why? He’s never done it before. He’s never given you a chance to save a victim. Why now? Why dog racing?’

‘I couldn’t tell you why now or why he’s chosen dog racing, but the logical conclusion for why he’s playing games is that he wants to share the guilt.’

‘What? Are you for real?’ the captain asked incredulously.

‘It’s a psychological game, Captain. He wants to share the guilt with someone, in this case, me. He wants me to feel like I played a hand on the victim’s death by not picking the winner – I’m just as guilty as he is.’

Captain Bolter turned to face both detectives. ‘Are you telling me that all of a sudden this guy’s feeling too guilty? He’s feeling remorseful?’ His irritation was carrying through to his voice.

‘I’m not sure.’

‘Well, you’re the one with the big brain.’

‘It’s a possibility, who knows?’ Hunter said after a small pause. ‘In all the previous killings it was only the two of them, the killer against the victim. There was nothing anybody could do. It was the killer’s decision to kill. By making me pick a dog the killer has brought me into the equation. In the killer’s mind the decision to kill doesn’t belong to him anymore. It belongs to me.’

‘As if you had told him to do it?’ Garcia asked.

‘Yes,’ Hunter said with a nod. ‘And because he feels the decision to kill isn’t his anymore…’

‘He feels he’s not as guilty,’ Captain Bolter concluded.

‘He might also be hoping to increase the frustration and consequently slow the investigation down,’ Hunter confirmed.

‘Well, it’s definitely adding to my frustration,’ Captain Bolter shot back.

‘Or he may just be playing games for the hell of it.’

Captain Bolter shook his head. ‘He’s fucking with us, that’s what he’s doing.’

‘It looks like he’s been doing that for a while, Captain,’ Garcia said, immediately regretting his words.

The captain looked at him like a hungry Rottweiler ready to attack. ‘Have you identified the first victim yet?’

‘Not yet, Captain, but we’re meeting someone on Friday that might give us a lead.’

‘We’re not moving very fast on this, are we?’

‘We’re moving as fast as we can.’ Hunter’s turn to sound irritated.

‘Let’s hope that this lead of yours turns out to be something real. This is starting to turn into a goddamn circus, and I hate circuses.’

Hunter understood the anger in the captain’s voice – it was the same anger he had bottled up inside. They knew the killer was about to claim a new victim, but they didn’t know when, they didn’t know where and they didn’t know who. They were playing a losing game. There was nothing they could do but wait for the next phone call.