The Crucifix Killer - Chris Carter [67]
‘How can someone come across this bacterium? Where could the killer have gotten it from?’
Doctor Winston and Hunter both understood where Garcia was coming from. The killer had to have had access to the bacteria from somewhere, a hospital, a laboratory perhaps. They could check visiting and employees’ records and maybe come out with a lead.
‘Our problem is that every hospital and lab in California will probably have a sample of the bacterium,’ the doctor explained. ‘As I’ve said, it reproduces itself extremely fast and the killer would’ve only needed a few drops of infected blood. No one would’ve missed it. No one would’ve reported it. Cultivating it and transforming the few drops of infected blood into the deadly amount that was injected into our victim is also very easily done. This was a very clever death. Not very difficult to achieve if you know what you’re doing, but very, very hard to trace the source.’
‘So it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack?’
Doctor Winston nodded.
‘We’ll look into it anyway,’ Hunter said. ‘At this point I’m not discarding anything.’
‘Why didn’t the killer wait for the victim to die like all the previous ones before calling in?’ Garcia asked.
‘The shocking effect,’ Hunter shot back in a calm voice. ‘A person dying of flesh-eating disease is a very disturbing and powerful image. Blisters bursting open to release pus and mucus, the victim hemorrhaging from the eyes, nose, ears, gums . . . the putrid smell, the certain and imminent death. This is his show. He’s showing off. And it all adds to my guilty feeling. He wanted me to see what I’d done when I picked the wrong dog.’
‘What’s this dog thing you keep on talking about?’ the doctor asked looking puzzled.
Hunter gave him a quick explanation of what had happened, how they’d come so close to saving the victim.
‘Do you think the killer would’ve really let him go if you had picked the winner?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Hunter said shaking his head. An uneasy silence followed.
‘What did he take?’ Garcia asked rubbing his chin.
‘What do you mean?’ Doctor Winston looked hesitant.
‘You said the killer always removes a body part from the victim, like a trophy.’
‘Ah yes.’ He lifted the small white sheet, revealing the victim’s groin region.
‘Oh God!’ Garcia brought both hands to his mouth. He knew that had been done while the victim was still alive.
Half a minute went by before Hunter spoke. ‘Let me guess, the forensic team found nothing inside the car, right?’
‘Ah-ha!’ the doctor replied, lifting his right index finger with an enthusiastic smile. ‘They found a hair. And it isn’t the victim’s.’
Thirty
As they approached the Vanguard Club entrance on Friday night, Garcia was surprised to see such a big crowd waiting in line to get in.
‘I can’t believe this club is full, this is supposed to be a massive club.’
‘The club ain’t full,’ Hunter replied confidently.
‘How do you know?’
‘It’s a psychology trick,’ Hunter continued. ‘If they make you wait in line it increases your expectations of the club. You’ll be more eager to get in. A busy club usually means a good club.’
‘That’s true.’
‘But the trick is to make you wait in line just long enough. Get the timing wrong and it’ll put punters in a bad mood. No one likes standing in line for too long.’
‘That’s also true.’
They ignored the line of people and walked straight up to the two muscle-bound bouncers at the club’s entrance.
‘Sorry, gentlemen, you gonna have to join the line like everyone else,’ one of the bouncers said, placing a hand on Garcia’s shoulder.
‘Oh no, you see we’ve got special VIP passes,’ Hunter said in a funny voice and producing his detective badge.
The bouncer checked Hunter’s police credentials and removed his hand from Garcia. ‘Is there some sort of a problem, Detective Hunter?’
‘No, we’re just looking for someone.’
The two bouncers exchanged a worried look. ‘We don’t want no trouble here.’
‘Neither do we, so if you get out of our way, we’ll be off to a good start,’ Hunter