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“Would I do that? There’s another. But I wouldn’t advise you leaving it unattended muchlonger.”
Taking him at his word, she snagged the bag and rescued the treat. Bit into it. A moment later, her enjoyment was ruined by a sudden thought. “Do you think Ethan has eaten?” Maybe they should run a meal out to him and thecrew.
“I’ve never known him to go without food for too long. Don’t worry. He’s probably sent someone to townfor—”
The door to the postage-stamp room they’d given opened. RCMP Lieutenant John Brookings stepped inside holding a takeoutcontainer.
“Is that for us?” Nyle joked. “Because it has been a couple of hours since we ate, if you don’t count the bakedgoods.”
“One of the officers reporting for shift a few minutes ago saw a youngster on a bike set it on the hood of your car and pedal away.” It wasn’t until he stepped farther into the room that Alexa noted that he wore a grim expression on his face and nitrile gloves on his hands. He nodded in her direction. “This has your name onit.”
Her stomach clenched in trepidation. The man put it on the table in front of them. “You don’t have to look inside if you’d prefer notto.”
ALEXA. Her name was written across the top in block letters with a black marker. “I’ll chanceit.”
He reached out and opened the tab on the container. Raised the lid. Alexa stared in shock, a wave of revulsion nearly chokingher.
It was impossible to tell the origin of the bloody organ inside. But Alexa didn’t need tests to guess that it was human. And it didn’t take much imagination to predict from whom it had come. Nyle uttered a vile oath, which sounded foreign coming from him. “Maybe they’ll be able to lift a print from the container,” she said in as steady a tone as she couldmanage.
“That’s a question for the lab guys. If he ate a meal earlier from this container or left DNA anywhere in it, that would help nail him.” Brookingssaid.
If the offender’s DNA were in the country’s CODIS system it would, Alexa thought. But if not, it would be yet another piece of evidence that would cement the case against the UNSUB only once he wasarrested.
“We’ll know for sure what that is after the autopsy.” Nyle’s jaw was tight. “But it looks an awful lot like atongue.”
Brookings nodded. “That’s my guess,too.”
Alexa risked another look. It would make an awful sort of sense. Jeanette Lawler had made her career exposing people to the public eye. If Fornier was to be believed, it would have been a secret of Lawler’s that had brought her to the attention of theUNSUB.
“I had one of my men download the feed from the security camera in the area where you were parked. I’ll have a picture of the kid inminutes.”
“It’s not that big a town.” Nyle stood. “Someone is going to knowhim.”
“I can lend you a couple of officers if you want to show the pictures door-to-door. I’ll take that.” Brookings picked up the Styrofoam box again. “Probably should keep this refrigerated until Sergeant Manning decides what he wants to be done withit.”
* * *
The grainy imagefrom the film showed a young boy of nine or ten. Alexa thought of a quicker way to search for him than going door to door. Instead, she and Nyle would try the elementary schools in town. It was the third week in June, so chances were the principals would still bethere.
They struck out at the first school. Hit gold with the second. “It looks like one of the Udall boys,” Michael Whisp, the short, stout principal told them, peering at the photo through his reading glasses. “Ernest, Douglas, Patrick…can never keep them straight. But I can give you hisaddress.”
“That would be extremelyhelpful.”
The man disappeared into the outer office and came back a few minutes later with a card, which he handed to them. “There you go. I appreciate the gravity of the situation surrounding this inquiry, but go easy on the boy, please. All three of them are good kids. High-spirited, but they tend to run free athome.”
“He’s not in trouble,” Alexa hastened to assure the man. “We just want to ask him somequestions.”
“He might be in trouble,” Nyle muttered, as they walked back to the car and gotin.
“The child was just a tool.” Alexa fastened her seatbelt. “The UNSUB used him to get to us. Now we might be able to use the child to get tohim.”
Finding the lad was easier said than done. They went to the address listed on the card the principal had given them. There was no answer when they rang the bell. The next-door neighbor was walking toward her car in the drive. Seeing them, she gave a friendly wave. “Mark and Janet are both at work,” shecalled.
Alexa descended the steps again. “We’re looking for one of their sons.” She held out the picture for the woman to view while Nyle flashed hiscredentials.
“Patrick? What’d hedo?”
One had to wonder the about the boys’ pastimes when that was the first thing that came from the woman’s mouth. “Nothing, really. He just might have seen something that could helpus.”