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“Let him stew for a little while.We’ll follow up with animal control and the officers searching his apartment.That way when we start talking to him, we have hard evidence to back up our questions.Maybe when he’s faced with everything, he’ll be more likely to talk to us.”

Faith didn’t like the way that was going.“Sure, if he expects a plea deal.”

Marcus met her eyes.“The D.A.’s office might offer him one.”

“That’s bullshit!”Faith exploded.“What, because he admits to killing people, that makes it better somehow?”

Faith had never been a fan of plea deals.In her mind, if you committed a crime, you did the time.There was no offering lesser punishments just because someone admitted to being a piece of shit.True, offering plea deals sometimes got confessions out of criminals, but Faith would rather use police work to find proof than offer someone a lighter sentence.

“There’s only one killer,” she protested.“I could see offering a plea deal if we needed to find an accomplice, but it’s just him.”

“Actually, it’s not just him.I talked with the coroner last night.The specific compound used to sedate the victims can only be purchased by veterinarians.”

Faith blinked.“Then why aren’t we looking into local vets?”

“We are.You and I are following the stronger leads, but I have officers following up with vets in the area.This is a team effort, Special Agent.Back to my point, if a local vetisinvolved, it’s likely that he or she supplied the shooter with the drug.If Daniel can help us find out who that is, then we can bring them to justice as well.”

Faith pressed her lips together and nodded curtly.She still didn’t like it.She would much rather both of them suffered the maximum punishment allowable by law, but she understood the importance of getting everyone involved with these crimes off the street as fast as possible.

The longer they waited, the more likely it was that they’d end up with another victim.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Faith sipped her coffee and looked at Turk.Turk was looking out of the window of the breakroom at the lake in the distance, visible from the glow of the streetlamps on the ice.Turk had never been an enthusiastic swimmer the way many dogs were, but he enjoyed the occasional walk along the shores of the Delaware and the summer beach trips to the Atlantic Ocean an hour east of the city.

It wouldn’t be a good idea to take him to the water in Duluth in late January, though.Even with his thick fur, she doubted he would enjoy a dunk in the frigid lake.Not that she could take him swimming anyway with the lake frozen over.

She sighed and sipped more of her coffee.“Well, that was good for thirty seconds of distraction,” she grumbled.

Marcus was in his office completing the paperwork for the arrest and waiting to hear back from animal control and the officers searching Daniel’s apartment.Faith and Turk were just waiting.If there was anything Faith hated, it was waiting.Her only consolation was that Daniel was also waiting, and he was doing it shackled to a chair with no one to keep him company.

Maybe this would work out.Maybe they’d get lucky and get a confession without having to offer him a less painful punishment.She could always hope.

Her phone buzzed.Turk pricked up his ears, and Faith said, “It’s Michael.Want to say hi?”

Turk got to his feet and trotted over.Faith put the phone on speaker and said, “Hey, Michael.Turk wants to say hi.”

Turk barked, and Michael chuckled.“Hey, buddy.How are you handling the cold?”

Turk barked again, and Faith translated.“He says, ‘I’m handling it better than Mommy.’Seriously, though, this place is colder than Alaska.”

“Really?Damn.”

“The ninth circle of damn.”

“What?”

“It’s anInfernoreference.”

“Do I look like I play video games?”

Faith gave up on the reference.“Never mind.Why did you call me?”

“Am I on speaker?”

“Yeah.”

“Take me off.”