Page 29 of The Grave Artist (Sanchez & Heron #2)

“He’s moving on someone again.”

Carmen was looking at the digital murder board on the wall of the Garage, though her focus was elsewhere.

“A hunch. But . . .”

She rocked back and forth in the springy office chair.

“And?” Heron asked, attentive.

In the time they’d spent working together, he’d clearly realized her intuition paid off most of the time.

“Total organized offender. HK. Unusually high impulse control, but with a ritualistic MO. Some behaviors he can’t ignore. Even if they mean creating detectable patterns for us to find.”

Heron said, “Assault with a blunt object, drowning. Not the most efficient way to kill but he’s sticking to it.”

“What if he’s controlled by the schedule? Two murders in Italy that weren’t far apart in time. Then none, and then he starts up again here.”

“So you think he won’t go to ground.”

“No, not yet.”

“He almost killed Frank. And he used a totally different MO.”

“That’s the key. He needed to throw up a hurdle. Slow us down.”

Heron too studied the board. “While he attacks somebody else.”

“Declan?”

On the screen: Yes, Carmen?

When the words appeared, the murder board automatically minimized. It was irritating. “Declan, can you turn on voice function?”

Somewhat startlingly, they heard: “Voice function is now activated. I was going to suggest doing so myself. It is a more logical way of communicating with you. Is this voice acceptable?”

It was a man’s low tenor with the neutral pronunciation referred to as the General American Accent.

She glanced at Heron, who shrugged.

“Yes, it’s fine.”

“Jake and Carmen. I can tell you’re both present. I would like to ask a question.”

“Go ahead,” Heron said.

“I have recently become aware of a study in which humans who interact with computers prefer the responses to be more vernacular and less computerese. I have been tailoring my responses to include contractions. Do you prefer that, or should I avoid them?”

Heron and Carmen shared yet another glance. She thought it was good Declan could not see them, as an eye roll was involved. She said, “Contractions are fine.”

“All right. I’ll log that and modify my default template accordingly. What about slang?”

Carmen said, “No slang” as Heron began to say the same.

“All right. Now. You have a request, I believe?”

“We’re considering the possibility that HK will strike again. We’re looking for patterns. What days of the week did the cases in Italy occur?”

“The two were four days apart, the first on Saturday and the next on the following Wednesday. The killing here was on Saturday of this week, so if you are looking for patterns, it is logical to posit that he will attack again today, four days later.”

Carmen wondered how many weddings there were on a Wednesday. She recalled her own ceremony many years earlier, in which she’d been forced to reserve a church and reception hall months in advance to be assured of a coveted slot.

“Worldwide, most Christian marriages occur on Saturday, and Muslim on Friday,” Declan said. “But other days are gaining in popularity due to availability issues and cost savings. Social media suggests that elopers and impulsive individuals get married on weekdays.”

Carmen said, “Let’s take people who elope out of the mix.

If we can’t find them to protect them, then HK can’t find them to attack.

No, we need traditional, scheduled—announced weddings.

Something that HK could find online, wedding announcements, social media, like that.

” She was curious. “How many weddings are in LA annually, Declan?”

“Last year, 54,744.”

“How many of those were in June?”

“On a national level 10.8 percent of weddings occur in June, which means in LA that number would be about fifty-nine hundred.”

“How many on Wednesday?”

This took some calculation. “I can only answer from a statistical perspective. Given that weekday weddings are less popular, it’s reasonable to estimate 190 weddings on any given Wednesday in June in Los Angeles.

Factoring in the freeway system and extreme mobility of residents, it would be logical to consider other cities in Los Angeles County.

There are eighty-eight of them. I estimate the total number of weddings in the county at 265. ”

She considered the possibility of HK striking today. How could she narrow down the list of potential targets? “Declan, of the weddings today in LA County, are any taking place at venues with water features where a victim could be intentionally drowned, with the death appearing to be an accident?”

“But not swimming pools,” Heron added.

He was right, Carmen thought. For one thing, nearly all venues would have pools, and at the height of the summer season, the deck around it would be too populated to be an efficient murder site.

They waited a few seconds for Declan to scan through social media, and whatever other sources of information he could access.

“Seven. One at the Grand Palace in Venice. Two at the Sunset Gardens. One at the Malibu Hills Inn. One at the Beverly Glen Resort and Spa. One at the Hollywood Crest Inn. One at the Chinampas Grand Resort in Bel Air. I’ve selected them, as they all have secluded grounds with lagoons or ponds on the property, according to their sales material.

Note that there will be others, but I am limited by the amount of public information I could access. ”

“Understood,” Carmen said, then added: “He’s already hit the Hollywood Crest, so we can eliminate that. Gives us six possibilities.”

Heron said, “That’s doable. Declan, can you give us an overview of each ceremony?”

“All are occurring in the next one to three hours. Couples are scheduled to renew their vows for their wedding anniversaries at the Grand Palace, the Sunset Garden and the Malibu Hills. The others appear to be traditional weddings.”

“I’d put the vow renewing lower on the list,” Carmen said.

“Agreed,” Heron said. “Doesn’t fit the pattern of him targeting classic newlyweds. But which of the others?”

Carmen’s eyes were on the murder board. “I want profiles of the brides and grooms.”

“What exactly would you like?” Declan asked. “There’s a great deal of information on social media, and in their résumés. Hundreds of pages.”

Frowning, Carmen asked, “You have their résumés?”

“LinkedIn, Carmen.”

“Oh.”

She’d been thinking that Declan had done some unauthorized hacking à la Jake Heron.

She asked, “Were any of the brides and grooms married before?”

“I don’t have that information, Carmen.”

Heron then asked what she’d been about to: “Ages?”

“At the Beverly Glen, the second Sunset Garden and the Bel Air events, the bride and groom are, respectively, fifty-four and fifty-six, forty-nine and sixty-three, and twenty-four and twenty-two.”

Carmen said, “So possibly—likely—the first two are second marriages.”

“That’s logical,” Declan said. “Or they might be third. Statistically, the number of third marriages in America—”

Heron interrupted. “Declan, stop generating.”

Half smiling, Carmen said, “Declan, were any of the Honeymoon Killer’s prior victims over forty?”

“No.”

She and Heron shared a glance. “Probably the Bel Air event,” she suggested.

“It’s a good bet,” Heron offered.

Declan, unasked, chimed in with, “I assess it is the most logical.”

“What are the details, Declan?”

“It was described as a ceremony at sunset, which today would be at 1934 hours and twenty-eight seconds, although it would be logical to assume the actual commencement time would be different, given the human factor.”

An hour and a half ago. The reception would probably still be going on.

“So, we send in Grange with a team,” Heron said.

She hesitated, eyeing the board.

“What is it, Sanchez? We need to move.”

“We have to handle it right. Our tactical people storm a wedding venue based on what amounts to pure speculation, and we’re wrong? That’s a media circus, and senior brass get involved. I-squared’s still on probation.”

But she didn’t share the second reason she wanted to tread carefully.

She remembered that she’d once been a young bride, filled with hope and excitement over her special day.

People had flown in from around the country, and untold money had been spent by her parents and guests to bear witness to a union that should have brought love and joy.

A few years later the marriage had ended in divorce when her husband left her. He’d demanded that she give up her career after a bullet pierced her abdomen during a shoot-out with a bank robber.

Carmen Sanchez did not respond favorably to ultimatums.

Heron looked at her as if he understood there was something more involved here. Well, let him think what he wanted, but she was sticking by it. If she could protect the couple from the destruction of the most important day of their lives, she would.

“We’ll have Grange and tactical stage nearby, and survey the streets leading to the resort. As for an inside operation, we need more facts before we can put one together.” She tilted her head back, addressing the intercom. “Declan, call the Chinampas in Bel Air.”

“Yes, Carmen.”