Fear the Dark Read Free Page B

Nothing can replace working an actual case. Or field experience.’
    Is this a lecture or a sales pitch ? Darby wondered. Maybe it was a little bit of both.
    ‘This is my rather long-winded way of explaining that I’m hoping to get ISU to change its ways before I retire – to get more seasoned investigators like yourself into the fold, and to have them actively involved in working serial and mass murder investigations on the ground.’
    ‘So the Red Hill Ripper is, what, some sort of test case?’ Darby asked.
    ‘More like a trial run for what I hope will be a newapproach to multiple homicide investigations. By giving law enforcement agencies direct lab access and the country’s best and brightest people, I believe we can shorten the duration of a serial investigation and, hopefully, save lives.’ Then, with a frown, he glanced at his watch and added, ‘Speaking of which, the MoFo should’ve arrived by now.’
    ‘MoFo? Who’s that?’
    ‘What they called the MFU, the Mobile Forensics Unit,’ Hoder said. ‘Denver office is loaning us theirs, along with two forensics agents. It’s a complete working lab, everything we can possibly need. We’ll have satellite access to all our databases as well as anything we need at our main lab. I should go back to the hotel and call, see what the holdup is. Coop tell you about the problem with cell signals out here?’
    Darby nodded. ‘FBI’s really pulling out all the stops with this one.’
    Hoder picked up on the slight edge in her voice. ‘I understand your past experiences with the Bureau have been, shall we say, less than ideal.’
    Don’t say it , Darby thought. Then she did.
    ‘I was thinking more along the lines of gross negligence.’
    Hoder chuckled, his smile wide and bright. It erased a good decade from his face. ‘Please don’t hold back on my account,’ he said.
    ‘Have you been inside?’
    ‘No. Detective Williams wanted the scene secured. He’s the only one who’s been in there.’
    ‘Good.’
    ‘I know you’re anxious to get to it, but before you go …’ Hoder shifted his weight on his cane and looked over his car roof at the murder house. The front porch lights were on, and the Christmas decorations were still up – a big wreath on the door and tiny white lights wrapped around the stair railing and porch columns.
    The afternoon sun warm against her face, Darby took in the windows facing the street. All the shades were drawn. She wondered if the killer had done that.
    Hoder said, ‘You caught two serials on your own, with no help from ISU – one of which, I’m embarrassed to say, was right under my nose.’
    His gaze settled on the faint hairline scar on her left cheek. It was two inches long and it never tanned.
    An axe had done that. It had smashed through a door while she’d been protecting a young woman inside a dungeon of horrors. The surgeons had replaced her shattered cheekbone with an implant. She was damn lucky she hadn’t lost an eye.
    Hoder cleared his throat. When he spoke, he sounded contrite. ‘I’m the one who was responsible for coming up with the profile on that particular … person.’ His tone and voice remained soft, but his eyes had hardened. ‘Clearly, I was wrong. In fact, everything I pontificated about in that profile turned out to be, well, complete bullshit.’
    Darby found herself being seduced by the man’s easy Southern charm. He had used it when interviewing serial killers, getting them to open up and discuss the darkimpulses that drove them. In some cases he got the killers to disclose where they had buried certain bodies.
    ‘What I’m saying is, don’t be afraid to challenge me.’
    Darby smiled. ‘Believe me, you got nothing to worry about on that front.’

4
    Darby joined Coop at the back of the Jeep as Hoder drove off. He had been unloading their forensics gear while she’d been talking.
    ‘Why didn’t you join us?’
    Coop pulled out the bulky Alternative Light Source unit. ‘I wanted