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Quantico, Virginia

Matt listened to Michael relay the situation in South Fork, then said, “I’ll be in Denver tonight. I want Catherine to listen in to the interview with Mr. Gardner and Ms. Pierce. They are not suspects, but they are persons of interest. I want her in Kara’s ear.”

“Roger that.”

“Have you heard back from Fort Collins PD about the partner?” Matt asked.

“They’re en route to his house.”

“Let me know as soon as you do. Where do this Gardner and—what’s his partner’s name?”

“Donovan Smith,” Michael responded.

“Where do they fit in?”

“Gardner made the anonymous call. He already told us that he and Riley Pierce went to the house to check on Jesse, who he claims is a friend of his. They found him dead, left the scene, went to a diner and called it in. They ordered food, but according to the waitress neither ate more than a few bites. So far, the evidence at the cabin supports his statement. If one or both of them killed Jesse Morrison, it was weeks ago.”

Ryder popped his head into Matt’s office. “You need to leave for the airport in ten minutes, and Dr. Jones is here.”

“Tell Kara to hold off until Ryder can set up the feed with Catherine,” Matt said.

“Roger that,” Michael said.

Matt ended the call and grabbed his go-bag out of his office closet. He always had an overnight bag packed in case he needed to leave in a hurry.

Ryder set Catherine up in their unit’s secure communications room. A large monitor would allow her to view the video feed of the interrogation, and she would be able to talk to Kara through their comm system. Matt really hoped Kara didn’t shut her earpiece off. He knew she didn’t like people directing her questioning—and Kara was good in the box—but in a case like this where they had no idea what was going on, a psychiatrist with Catherine’s experience was invaluable.

Catherine looked up from her notes, took off her reading glasses. “What’s Jim’s ETA to the crime scene?”

“Two hours and change,” Matt said. “It’ll be dark by the time they get there, but the sheriff’s department is bringing in a forensics team to support Jim and provide equipment.” It would take two days and two drivers to transport the forensic RV to South Fork, so Matt made the call not to use the vehicle and rely on the local crime lab and facilities.

“Michael said that he didn’t see any poppies on the scene,” Catherine said, “and the victim appeared to have been dead for some time, so at this point I’m comfortable calling him the first victim.”

“Jim will confirm, but I agree.”

“Is the only connective thread tying Jesse Morrison to our victims the false identities?” Catherine asked.

“That, and the fact that Riley Pierce, Jane Merrifield’s former roommate, was one of the people who discovered the body this afternoon.” Matt filled her in on the timeline Michael had provided. “Neither Riley nor Andrew have a record, but we suspect Pierce’s identity is false.”

Ryder cleared his throat. “Andrew Gardner has a social security number issued six years ago. An educated guess is that his is also a false identity. We’re still working on confirming the other information he provided. His employer, Fort Collins Veterinary, confirmed he’s worked as a vet assistant there for just over five years. His partner, Donovan Smith, has worked for a local nursery for the same length of time. They bought their house for cash and have no mortgage. Agent Heller is looking into that purchase. So far we haven’t found anything on either of them prior to the move to Fort Collins.”

Matt asked Catherine, “What do you think is going on here?”

“I don’t feel comfortable even guessing at this point. How confident are you that Ms. Pierce and Mr. Gardner will cooperate?”

“Gardner appears to want to cooperate, but he’s agitated right now.”

“Because of his partner?”

“He hasn’t heard from Smith in hours. His panic is telling me he knows about the other murders and is worried that Smith may be in danger.”

“I think,” Catherine said, carefully, “that one of the initial questions we need to ask is if they fear they are in danger, why didn’t they go to the authorities? That tells me they know the motive of these crimes and don’t want to bring in law enforcement.”

“Are you thinking they might be guilty of a crime themselves?”

“It’s a consideration,” Catherine said. “But the victims and, I’ll say potential victims, are demographically different—age, gender, race. A religious married white man, an interracial gay couple, two white female college students, a black math teacher. What do they have in common other than the fact that they all live or lived in Colorado?”

“It’s a place to start,” Matt said. “We don’t have much else at this point.”

“Matt, you have to leave,” Ryder said. “Your driver is at the entrance.”

“I don’t need a driver.”

“If you want to make your plane, you do.” Ryder handed him his bag and herded him to the door.

“Call or text any new information,” Matt said as he walked out.

His cell phone rang as he climbed into the back of the sedan waiting for him. It was a sergeant with the Fort Collins Police Department. “Is this Agent Mathias Costa?” he said.

“Yes, this is Matt Costa.”

The driver pulled away from the curb before Matt shut his door. He juggled the phone and pulled the door closed.

“I went with two officers to Mr. Smith’s house. When no one answered the door, we inspected the property and through the rear windows spotted a body on the kitchen floor, giving us probable cause to enter for a welfare check. The individual was deceased and we identified him by DMV photo as one of the homeowners, Mr. Donovan Smith. Someone slit his throat.”

“Secure the property and don’t touch the crime scene. I’ll call in the FBI Evidence Response Team to process. My team is investigating four other murders we believe are connected to Smith.” He should have been more diplomatic, but he feared if he didn’t claim jurisdiction now he’d be battling later.

“Okay, I can do that.”

“Were there flowers on or near the body?”

“Yes, sir,” the officer said with surprise. “Hundreds of red poppies.”