Page 14 of Go First
“I believe that’s possible, ma’am.”
“And you’ve still got no idea why Cox has this preoccupation with you.”
“None at all, ma’am.Except…”
“Go on.”
“Well, I was just going to say that perhaps there’s a psychological angle.There may be something, or someone, he’s seeking to engage and compete with.A sibling, perhaps.A mother.We know so little about his background, and attempts by psychological professionals have thus far…”
“Let’s leave that for the history books,” Winters said, dryly.The FBI had sent its most garlanded profiler, Dr Lorcan MacGuire, to the prison to conduct a series of interviews with Cox.Cox had responded by publishing a profile of MacGuire in a leading academic journal.“I’m not sure we need to know that he wet the bed or had a crush on his football coach in order to stop him.”
“Agreed, ma’am.The take-away here is that all of Cox’s other attempts to play footsie with me have accompanied serial murders.”
“So we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“It’s highly likely there will be more victims, unless we have a major breakthrough.But given what we know, or strongly suspect about Cox’s involvement, a bug in his cell and in the prison visitation room might prove fruitful.”
“Send me the authorisation forms and I’ll sign.”Winters took a sip of something green from her flask.“Does it bother you, this relationship that Cox has foisted on you?”
Kate was surprised by the question.“It makes me angry.But I think that’s a good thing.It motivates me to get one step ahead and stop him from causing any more murders.”
“Itisa good thing,” Winters said.“As long as you don’t lose focus.”She rubbed her eyes, suddenly looking very weary.“Is there anything else?”
"There's one more thing, ma'am," Kate said, steeling herself."I understand that my actions during the last case caused you some concern.I want to apologise for that, and to assure you that it won’t happen again.I know I should have told you about Cox’s involvement."
Winters' gaze sharpened."You should.And now you did.Kate, my concern, when you or any other member of my team fails to keep me in the loop is:what else aren’t they telling me.Do you understand?I need to know that you can handle the pressure, the dead bodies, the mind-games, the politics… And I need to know that you’ll tell me if and when youcan’thandle them.Does that make sense?”
Kate met her gaze without flinching."Yes, ma'am.It does."
Winters nodded, a hint of a smile playing on her lips."Then get to it, Agent Valentine.There's a killer to catch, and a lot of dirty money to unravel."
The ride back down in the elevator was considerably less tense than the ride up.Kate felt a sense of relief, not just because she had survived the encounter with Winters, but because she had been honest, had laid everything on the table.Whether it would make a difference in the long run, she couldn't say.But for now, it was enough.
Back in the office, Marcus was waiting for her, his face etched with concern."Everything alright?"he asked, his voice low.
"As it can be," Kate said, sinking into her chair."Winters knows about the message, about Cox, about everything.She's authorized bugs in the visit room and his cell.Now we just have to wait and see what he says."
Marcus nodded, his gaze shifting to the autopsy reports that lay scattered across Kate's desk."Speaking of which," he said, a grim note creeping into his voice."The autopsy came back.It's not pretty."
Kate braced herself."What did they find?"
"A couple of small puncture marks, behind the right ear… almost invisible to the naked eye.And the presence of baclofen and a strong sedative in his system."
Kate frowned."Baclofen?That's a muscle relaxant."
"Exactly," Marcus said."The M.E.thinks it was used to weaken him, to make him easier to overpower, not mention get his mouth open to remove the tongue.The sedative would have finished the job.They posit that there must have been a struggle first, until they got the drugs into the victim's system.Hence the black fibres found under the vic’s fingernails."
Kate shivered, a coldness settling in her bones.The mention of the black fibres made her recall her conversation with Whitfield’s widow, the day before.She swiftly filled Marcus in.
“So what are we thinking?”Marcus mused.“The killer’s plan is to wander in, dressed as one of the serving staff.”
“Which he does.But he almost gets rumbled when Mrs W asks him for a glass of water.”
“He’s lucky she can’t recall much about him.”
“Stocky build, cropped brown hair… It’s not a lot, but she might have recalled some further details by now.”
“Worth looking into.Also doing a more focussed search on the grounds of the estate.The killer could have dropped something.And if he got mud on his shoe…”