Page 85 of Line of Sight

Riley folded his arms and leaned against his desk. “Two guys meet on a train. One’s a little drunk. The other is married but trying to divorce his cheating wife, especially because he’s in love with another woman. Anyway, the drunk guy, Bruno, comes up with an idea for the perfect murder. They swap murders. Airtight alibis. Nothing to connect either of them to the crimes. Guy—he’s the other one—thinks it’s just talk. Until his wife is murdered while Guy is away. Then Bruno keeps hounding him to kill Bruno’s father, which he does eventually.” He stared at Dan. “You think they agreed to commit murder for the killer?”

Dan shook his head. “It reallywasthe perfect murder. Someone else committed it, with no motive, and the person who stood to gain from it was nowhere near and with a rock-solid alibi. We already know what their part of the bargain was—to keep the killer in the background, out of sight.”

Riley frowned. “So why did he murder Amy? Because you’re not buying the suicide angle, are you?”

“No, I’m not.” Gary shrugged. “Maybe she was going to tell tales too.”

Dan shook his head once more. “I don’t think that’s it.” He walked over to the board and grabbed a pen. “What do we have here?” He drew four circles. “Four people who each hadsomeone they wanted to get rid of. The killer obliges. What does that leave?” He drew a cross through one of the circles. “Four people who know way too much. Maybe it was always his plan to get rid of them too. Maybe Amy is just the first.”

Riley widened his eyes. “And maybe Greg Collins is next.” He paused. “But why kill Sean?”

“He was talking to us,” Gary suggested. “Someone else telling tales.”

“But he didn’t know who the killer was,” Dan remonstrated.

Gary stared at him. “The killer didn’t know that. Maybe he couldn’t take the risk.”

“I’m not so sure,” Riley mused.

“What do you mean?”

Riley picked up the copy ofAmerican Psycho. “Either of you read this?” Both Gary and Dan shook their heads. “Then maybe you should. Because the guy we’re dealing with is a genuine psychopath, and they don’t think like the rest of us. I don’t think this guy is at all scared of getting caught. He probably doesn’t give a shit.”

Dan took the book from him. “Then I’m going to read this. After all, the first murder was from this book, wasn’t it? What if it was the first for a reason?” He smacked the paperback against his upturned palm. “What if this is important?” He pointed to the phone. “Gary, can you call Kathy Wainwright? Ask if she has time to do a consult for us?”

Gary nodded. “Yeah. We need a class. Psychopathy 101. And in the meantime, we wait for Greg Collins to call.”

“Something else I can be doing that I should have done a while ago. The warrant finally came through today.” Riley tapped his keyboard. “I’ll go visit Baystone Development and get the list of tenants for Cronin’s Landing. Maybe there’ll be a match with someone who was at the ball.”

Gary snorted. “You think the killer would be dumb enough to kill someone in his own building?”

“It’s not a case of being dumb. He just doesn’t care if he’s caught.” Dan met his gaze. “Or maybe a more accurate assessment is he doesn’t believe he can be caught.”

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

GARY GLANCEDat his phone, and Dan chuckled.

“Watching it will not make Greg’s call come any faster. He said he was away for a couple of days.”

“I don’t see why he wouldn’t let us take a statement wherever he is. Because he was right. He could be next.”

“Has he answered any of your calls? Replied to any of your texts?”

“No, he hasn’t,” Gary admitted.

“Then you’re just going to have to be patient.”

The door opened and Riley came in, smiling.

“Tell me you’ve got good news,” Gary demanded.

Riley waved his notebook in the air. “Cronin’s Landing has five apartment blocks. I checked the list of tenants against the list of attendees from the ball you gave me. Five names matched. I’ve already discounted two of them. Two women. And yes, I know there have been female psychopaths, but Collins specifically said he, didn’t he?”

Dan shrugged. “Unless he was trying to throw us off the scent.”

Riley narrowed his gaze. “Don’t even think it, Sherlock.”