Paige didn’t get it. “If they were killed in such different ways, then why do the local police think that the two cases are connected?”
“They’re both references to magic tricks,” Christopher said. “The first is a reference to the bullet catch, and the second to an escapology effect.”
He obviously caught Paige’s look of surprise. “What? I know a little bit about magic.”
Paige couldn’t help herself as she heard that. She stared over at him. “You were that kid, weren’t you?”
“What kid?”
“The kid every school has who’s really into magic, and constantly trying to show people card tricks.”
“I think I’ll plead the fifth on that one,” Christopher said, and for a moment or two it would have been easy to slide back into the easy banter that Paige had with him, but she realized that she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t risk it, because of how easily that could drift into something more. She forced herself to hold back.
“So bullets stuffed down the victim’s throat and an airtight safe. Why would anyone need an airtight safe?”
“So that they can prove just how dangerous the trick they’re performing is,” Christopher said. “They show that the safe is airtight, and that means that they only have a limited time to escape.”
Again, Paige found herself faintly impressed by the fact that he knew about all of this, even though it didn’t really fit with what she already knew about him. It seemed that there were still plenty of facets to Christopher left to explore. Not that she should be the one exploring them.
“So, two young women killed in a week, using methods taken from magic tricks?” Paige said, trying to sum it up.
“The local police are sure it’s one killer,” Agent Sauer said, “and I agree. These deaths are just too weird for the two of them to be unrelated.”
“Do we have background information on the two victims?” Christopher asked. “Details on their work, family, and lives? Anything the two of them might have in common?”
“I’ve put everything the local police and our techs have managed to find in the files,” Agent Sauer said. “I’ll forward them to your devices. Now, the two of you should get moving. I’ve already booked you both on a flight out of D.C., and arranged transport on the other end. I want you both in Vegas as soon as possible. With a killer like this, there’s far too much of a risk that he might try to kill again soon.”
“I’ll grab my go-bag,” Christopher said, heading out of the conference room in a hurry without so much as a glance back at Paige.
Paige didn’t have a go-bag, hadn’t thought that she might need something like that. Maybe there would be enough time for her to run home and pack what she would need on the way to the airport. Failing that, she was just going to have to buy what she needed in Las Vegas.
For now, though, Paige had another concern. She was alone with Agent Sauer in person, and she still wanted to know everything that had happened with the new murder that had been attributed to the Exsanguination Killer, even if she wasn’t going to be assigned to that case. She still wanted to get any scrap of information she could about the case.
“Sir,” Paige said. “About the other murder, the one in Virginia…”
“We have people working on that, Agent King,” Agent Sauer said, in a firm tone.
“I know that, sir, but-”
“I need you to focus on the case you’ve been assigned,” her boss said. “If you want to discuss it after you get back, then we can, but for now, I need you to get to Las Vegas. You have a serial killer to catch.”
He had a point. The killer was turning his murders into performances, and now that he’d succeeded in grabbing the FBI’s attention, how much longer would it be before he struck again?