Intrigued, Jenna stared at him, her mind rushing to work out all the implications. “When we talked to the Black Rock Falls series author on the day we arrived, she mentioned Dakota Storm was a great agent, but that she was blunt, let’s say, to authors she rejected, and from what she said, that could be hundreds a week.”
“That’s true.” Julie’s eyes widened. “From what I hear, she’s the agent all the authors want to represent them. She makes incredible deals and her clients are bestsellers but she only considers the very best. So, I would say, she very rarely takes on new clients.”
As the possible motive of the murders slotted into place, Jenna nodded. “Okay, so we need theories. Why is the suspect killing authors, and if they wanted to be represented by Dakota Storm, why kill her?”
“That would depend on how deep she wounded the killer when she rejected them.” Kane rested one boot on his knee and leaned back in his chair. “Say, the killer and the other two victims all submitted pitches at the same time. They’re all friends and Dakota took two of them and rejected the killer. That alone would be enough to trigger resentment in a psychopath, especially a sleeping one, like Jo suggested, and might be enough to trigger a revenge episode.”
“So where does the frozen-lake scenario fit in?” Emily stood and went to make coffee. “Dakota Storm only represented that book. She didn’t write it.”
“And that author isn’t at the conference.” Julie pushed her hands through her long hair. “Although, the book is all over Dakota’s promotion. Her biggest deal yet. She would have made a ton of money out of her commission; she sold the film rights as well.”
Mind working overtime, Jenna stared at her. “So, she was killed before she could enjoy the benefits of her deal?” She looked at Kane. “Now all we need to do is connect the three victims to someone at the conference.”
“Not everyone.” Kane raised both eyebrows. “We’ve narrowed the possible suspects down to four: August Bradford, Murphy Finnian, Bexley Grayson, and Parker Rain. The first thing I’d suggest is hunting down what connects our suspects to the victims. Perhaps Dakota rejected one of them and triggered the killing spree. Remember, it only takes someone to trigger a psychopathic killer and it has a domino effect. It lights up their memories as if they happened yesterday and feeds their urge to kill. At this time, an organized psychopath can become a frenzied killer.” He sighed. “Look at Bundy. He killed women, but one at a time, and then something triggered him to go on a killing spree at the sorority house. To anyone looking at him, he seemed like a nice guy and hid the truth in a mask of clever deceptions.” He shrugged. “If you want my take on this, I figure we
have a similar profile and the fact he went to Julie’s room and did nothing suggests he is planning his next move. He’s trying to prove a point… something that only he understands—one thing’s for sure, we’ll never be able to see the logic in what he’s doing.”
Jenna nodded. “Agents must keep records. We should start there.”
“That theory only takes into account the motive for Dakota Storm’s murder.” Rio stood and went to help Emily carry cups of coffee to the table. “We have two constants in our puzzle. One is Dakota Storm. The second is the conference. We just have to discover who pitched to Dakota Storm and was rejected at the same time as the other two gained representation—and then match the list to our suspects.”
“If it is one of our suspects.” Rubbing her temples, Jenna looked at him. “If they come up clean, it will be like finding a needle in a haystack. We’ll need a search warrant from a different county to start with, and then a ton of people to check.”
“If that happens, we can start by asking the agency.” Kane took a cup of coffee from Emily with a smile. “They might cooperate as it’s a murder investigation. I’m more inclined to speak to the suspects again and ask them if they’ve ever pitched to Dakota Storm.”
Jenna shrugged. “Okay. Get at it.” She reached for her cup. “Although, you’re assuming they’ll tell you the truth.”
“I know how to interview a psychopath.” Kane sipped his beverage. “I’ll play to their ego and just slip the question in under the radar.”
After mulling over the next step to take, Jenna looked at Rio. “Okay, Rio. I’ll put you in charge of rounding up our suspects. Do it surreptitiously so it isn’t noticed.” She swung her attention to Kane. “Dave, you can do your thing and I’ll go with Julie to search her room again. So far, the killer has left two earrings at crime scenes and taken a trophy from Julie and Kitty Pandora. I’m wondering if the intruder left anything in Julie’s room. We haven’t done a forensic sweep and maybe we need to look a little closer.”
“As the person was covered from head to foot and no doubt wearing gloves, it would’ve been a waste of time.” Kane leaned back in his chair. “There’s unknown trace DNA and fingerprints in hotel rooms and anything we found would be inadmissible in court. Unless it was tissue or blood, or bloody finger- or footprints.”
“It would be impossible to know if the killer left anything at Kitty Pandora’s crime scene too.” Rio stirred cream into his cup. “There’s no way of telling what things belong to her. As she travels all the time and no doubt buys things along the way, I doubt her husband would know either.”
Jenna finished her coffee and pushed to her feet. “Agreed.” She turned to go and then looked back at Kane. “We’ll take a break for lunch at noon. Do you want me to walk Duke while you’re busy?”
“Nope.” Kane didn’t lift his gaze from his screen. “I’ll make time to take him out before lunch. I need to stretch my legs too.”
“Okay.” Jenna smiled at Julie. “Ready to search your room?”
“Um…” Julie looked at Emily. “Can you do it? You’re the expert and I’d like to get back to the conference. They’re having a contest today. We team up in groups and try to solve a murder, so I’ll be all over the place.”
“Yeah, sure.” Emily stood. “I’ll grab my kit, just in case we find anything.”
Jenna held up a hand to stop Julie leaving. “Wait here and go down with Rio I don’t want you wandering around the conference alone. Promise me you’ll stay with your group.” She walked to the door and waited for Emily.
“Okay.” Julie sat back down. “It will be perfectly safe. There’ll be people all over. I’ll be fine.”
“And if I find you’ve been wandering around alone…” Emily narrowed her gaze at her sister. “I’ll call Dad and he’ll be taking you straight home. It’s not worth the risk. If you can’t find anyone to go places with you, call me and I’ll come down.” She followed Jenna to the door and lowered her voice to a whisper. “She doesn’t seem to understand the danger.”
Jenna pressed the elevator button. “After that creep got into her room. I think she does.”
Thirty-Seven
An icy blast, seared through Quentin Riggs’s clothes and he buttoned up his coat as he stepped outside and surveyed the snowscape. Even the great pine forest hadn’t shielded the ground from the blizzard. The branches of each tree bowed under the weight of the snow, and long icicles hung down like a million daggers as far as the eye could see. The scent of the forest in winter was unique—a blend of many flavors—but today the smell of freshly cut wood and gas engines lingered in the air. The sound of chainsaws disturbed the silence as the maintenance crew dashed out to do their daily clearing of the fallen branches. They returned dragging sleighs piled high with logs for the fires. He pulled out his pack of cigarettes, glad the manager at the lodge had conceded his guests needed the alarm on one of the emergency exit doors disabled to allow the smokers to escape outside to enjoy their addiction in peace. He lit up and inhaled, sighing as the smoke mixed with the steam from his breath and dissipated into the air. The door opened and another guest stepped out to indulge. He offered them a nod. “We must be crazy to be out here. My feet haven’t thawed since I came out before. I must try and cut down. The cold will kill me before the cancer.”
“I doubt the cold will kill you.” A smile creased the guest’s face.