Page 62

“The interlocking ‘C’ and ‘N,’” Ethan saidcertainly.
“It’s the closest,” Peters agreed. “The item on the film was too small and too far away to enhance without losing detail in the picture. But here,” he reached an index finger to trace the photo he’d made, “you’ve got a half-arc, straight lines on either side of the bottom letter with a diagonal. That looks like the insignia you have. Here’s another with a ‘C’ and ‘H’ for some fashion designer and her products.” He brought the appropriate image up on the screen. “But going with the law of probability, a rental car agency is far more likely to put their logo on a keychain tag than some fancy designer who sells purses for what I spend on groceries every month.” He handed the image to Ethan. “Does that help atall?
“Helps a lot. Thank you.” Ethan and Alexa turned to make their way back upstairs. “With this and what you came up with last night, we’ve got enough to get a production order,” Ethan told her. “That will require the agencies to produce data and records about their clients for the last fewdays.”
Her eyes lit up. “This could be the lead we’ve been waitingfor.”
Ethan didn’t answer. He’d seen too many similar leads fizzle at the end to allow himself to hope. But if they were going to catch a break in this case, this would be the time forit.
* * *
There weresix CarsNow rental agencies in Nova Scotia, mostly congregated around Halifax and its suburbs. The one outlier was in New Glasgow, over an hour and a half away. The team would spread out, armed with copies of the production warrant and pictures of the offender. For once Alexa didn’t protest sticking with Ethan. He wasn’t sure if that was progress or if she was as wiped out by last night as he was. They would visit the agency in Dartmouth, go back to the RCMP headquarters to check the license numbers against the photo IDs in the DMV database, and if they were unsuccessful, they’d drive to NewGlasgow.
While Ethan drove, Alexa brought up the company’s site on her phone. A map appeared, with the colored markers where their rental agencies were. “We know Fornier said Simard thought he’d seen Anis Tera in a white van the day before he died. Maybe that spooked the UNSUB. It might have been the moment he decided to get arental.”
“Which then gave himtwovehicles he had to deal with.” Ethan braked suddenly to avoid a running into a driver turning against a red light. “Our patrols have discovered nothing with the stop-and-checks they’ve been running. So he’s keeping the van out of sightsomewhere.”
“Except when he uses it for thehomicides.”
“Except then,” Ethan agreedgrimly.
“Which brings up a point.” She half-turned in the seat to look at him. “According to Owens, the offender used a car to pick up Lawler. But his van was spotted by Grayson Quinton at the lake that night. Which means he transported her to wherever he was keeping the van, then drove that to thedumpsite.”
Ethan slowed to pay at the toll station before crossing the McKay bridge that would take them to Dartmouth. “If the offender thought Simard would recognize the Econoline, he probably used the rental to snatch him, too. I can’t see him just leaving the van out in the open in a motel parking lot. He seems too cautious forthat.”
“These days, he could get a residential rental through Airbnb or a similar site. He might have a local home with a garage he’s stayingin.”
It was feasible, Ethan supposed, keeping a close eye on the bridge traffic. There were too damn many possibilities, which was the problem. It seemed reasonable to assume that the UNSUB would stay in the vicinity since both victims were snatched from there. But it was impossible to know how far outside the metro area he might havestrayed.
One would think that the offender would want to avoid people as much as possible. Which would make a remote two- or three-star motel attractive to him. One where there weren’t a lot of questions asked, and no one cared much about the occupants’ comings and goings. Which, Ethan supposed, could also be said for an isolated rentalproperty.
“Are you thinking what I’mthinking?”
“What?”
“Why…” she pounded lightly on her knee with a closed fist for emphasis. “…does he need the van at all? Yes, he likely drove it into Nova Scotia from New Brunswick. But once he had the rental, it seems like a car would be lessnoticeable.”
“Spaciousness,” he suggested, but now that she had him thinking about it, he was wondering the same thing. “We know he often uses a dolly to get the bodies from the vehicle to thedumpsite.”
“Okay, so he puts the body in the trunk and the dolly in the back seat,” she said logically. She bent over her phone. A quick glance told him she was looking up the measurements of dollies. His mouth quirked. Scientific to theend.
“Privacy. No windows for anyone to lookinside.”
“Or maybe,” Alexa said slowly, “it is space heneeds.”
Ethan slowed to a stop for a red light. “I think I said that. There are supplies he’d carry with him. The insects. Tape. Plastic bags. We know he had a power drill and scalpels or knives for the last twovictims.”
She was still staring at her phone. This time she was searching the dimensions of the Econoline cargo vans. After a few minutes, Alexa murmured, “He could haul a lot in that big avehicle.”
“Again, that’s whatI—”
She raised her head to look at him. “But maybe he’s using it for more than that. Maybe it’s his killsite.”
A knot of tension formed at the top of his spine. “No way to prove that.” At least, he thought grimly, accelerating when the light turned green, not until they found the vehicle and had the forensic ident guys go throughit.
“Obviously. But it would explain why you’ve never found the kill site for any of the homicides.” She was getting excited about her idea now. It sounded in her voice. “He’s killed in all seasons. In most of the provinces and territories. Many times, it had to have been in places with which he’s unfamiliar. No primary crime scene lessens the chances of leaving evidence behind. And it’d be one less thing to have to scout ahead oftime.”
“He’d still have to keep the van somewhere isolated when he killed them.” But her idea wasn’t totally without merit. The problem was, it was all speculation, which this case had plenty of. It was facts and evidence that were in shortsupply.