The City PI and the Country Cop (9 page)

The boy’s neck was badly abraded, to the
point that some of the flesh was hanging loose. Keir repressed a
gulp, focusing his attention on the boy’s face.

“He’s the kid I saw at the park,” Keir said
after studying the features. “Do you know who he is?”

“The body’s been fingerprinted,” Hoyt
replied, “but it could take a day to get the results back from the
IAFIS data base. He also has a tattoo.” Hoyt glanced at the
coroner, who then lifted the sheet to show a tattoo of a wasp, the
stinger strategically placed at the vein in the bend of the boy’s
elbow. “Does that mean anything to you?” Hoyt asked Keir.

“Hard to tell. I knew a kid way back when who
did that to show he was off drugs but I don’t know if that’s its
literal meaning or just his idea.”

“There are no tracks on his arms,” the
coroner pointed out, “but we’ll run a tox screen, of course.”

“All right,” Hoyt said, “we’ll leave you to
it, Doc. I’ll be back in ten, so don’t start without me.”

As soon as they left the morgue, Keir let out
a shuddering sigh of relief. “I know it makes me sound like a wimp,
but I’m glad all I had to look at was his face. Are you really
going to attend the autopsy?”

“Yep. It’s procedure.” They were at the exit
from the morgue by then. “Tell Teague I’ll be in touch as soon I
know anything.”

“I will.” Keir started to open the door then
paused. “I know it’s none of my business to say this, but Teague’s
a good man.”

Hoyt cocked an eyebrow. “Have I said
differently?”

“I mean…Oh, hell. Never mind.”

Chuckling dryly, Hoyt replied, “Are you
trying, in your own way, to tell me I should look at him as more
than just a man I have to deal with because we’re both involved in
trying to find the killer?”

“Maybe?”

“Keir, you’re something else. Still,” Hoyt
barely grinned, “you might have a point. For now though, get out of
here so I can get back before the good doctor wonders if I’ve
chickened out.”

“I’m going.” And this time Keir did. When he
was outside, he smiled happily.
Mission accomplished. I think
he’s as interested in Teague as Teague is in him. Now to do
something about that.
He shook his head.
Or not. They’re
adults. They can figure it out on their own. I hope. Teague needs a
real life that doesn’t revolve around the agency and the people
working for him. But short of locking him in a room with
Hoyt…
Chortling at the image that brought to mind, Keir headed
back to the motel, taking a circuitous route to be certain no one
was interested in him and where he was going.

* * * *

Hoyt left the morgue no wiser about the
killer than he had been when the autopsy started. There was no
semen in his mouth, throat, stomach, or anal cavity. According to
the coroner that indicated the victim hadn’t had sex in any form
within at least a day before his death. When Hoyt asked about
condoms he was told there was no trace evidence that one had been
used just before the murder. “And no condom wrapper was found at
the crime scene to indicate the victim had planned on committing
fellatio on the killer before he was assaulted,” the coroner
added.

The boy’s fingers, as with Grimes, were
broken intentionally rather than being the result of his fighting
his attacker. “No flesh or other trace evidence under the nails,”
the coroner stated. “No bruising on the knuckles. Some bruises on
his wrists, besides the abrasions caused by the ropes. They were
probably the result of his killer grabbing his arms to twist them
behind his back.”

“Tie them, then when the boy tried to scream,
if he did, stuff the gag in his mouth.” Again, as with Grimes, it
had been a rag not from something the victim was wearing. The CSI
people were going over it in the lab, Hoyt knew, to see if there
was anything about it that could connect it to its place of
origin.

Hoyt related all of this, as well as the
other details of the killing, to Chief Davis when he went upstairs
to the police department.

“I just got off the phone with the mayor,”
the chief said when Hoyt was finished. “He is on a tear, to put it
mildly.”

“Let me guess. This doesn’t make the city
look good so he wants the killer caught yesterday,” Hoyt replied
acerbically.

“More or less. He’s also ordered us to pick
up any transient kids and escort them out of town, with the threat
that they’ll be jailed if they return. No potential victims, no
more killings, to his way of thinking.”

“If we do that, the killer will just move on
to a new town and start again, making it even harder to catch
him.”

The chief nodded. “I pointed that out to His
Honor. His reply was that that is not our problem. With ski season
coming up, he doesn’t want any bad publicity attached to
Faircrest.”

“Bad publicity?” Hoyt spat out. “Two kids are
dead, horribly so, and he’s worried about bad publicity?
Fucker.”

“Calm down. I don’t want any more killings
here, any more than he does, but you’re right. If we follow the
mayor’s orders we’ll lose any chance of catching the murderer.”

Hoyt began pacing the chief’s office. Finally
he said, “Pick up a couple of them, to placate the mayor. Chances
are a few of the others will leave of their own accord once they
hear about the second murder. All I need is one or two still
hanging around so that Keir Upton isn’t the only homeless kid in
town. If he was, it would point to a blatant setup.”

“What makes you think our killer will focus
on him with other choices available.”

“I told you that I picked him up, ostensibly
for hitchhiking, so he could take a look at the newest victim.
We’re hoping that the killer was around at some point to see that
happen.”

The chief rapped a finger on his lips
pensively. “Here’s an idea. We could let out the story that we have
a witness who recognized the victim and saw him with someone just
before he was killed.”

Hoyt smiled slowly. “I like that idea. It
will need some refining to point the finger directly at Keir, but
it could work. Let me get with him and Donovan and see what we come
up with.”

The chief cocked his head, saying, “You don’t
think the two of us can do that?”

“We can, but since they’re directly involved
and, I hate to say it, probably have dealt with something like this
more often than we have…”

“I would hope so. It’s not as if we have
murders happening here on a daily basis, thank God. All right. Go
talk to them and let me know what you come up with.”

* * * *

As soon as he got back to the motel room,
Keir filled Teague in on what little he’d learned. After that,
there nothing to do but wait to hear from Hoyt with an update. Or
barring that, wait until late afternoon when they could both go
back to the park to continue Keir’s impersonation of a homeless kid
with Teague as backup. Thus the two men crawled into their beds to
get some sleep.

Teague felt as if he’d barely dozed off when
there was a light rapping on the motel room door, accompanied by
his phone chiming. Blearily, he answered the call.

“I’m here. Let me in,” Hoyt said.

Teague did, after putting on a pair of jeans.
He heard a rustling behind him and knew Keir was awake and probably
doing the same thing.

Hoyt eyed the two men but said nothing other
than to suggest they put on shirts as well. “As nice as it is to
see bare, rather decent, chests,” he commented, “I’d prefer to
concentrate on why I’m here.”

“Rather decent?” Keir muttered, grabbing his
T-shirt from where he’d tossed it on the desk chair. “I’d say
pretty spectacular.”

“Enough,” Teague growled, although he did
smile. After also putting on a shirt, he turned his attention to
Hoyt, asking, “What do you have for us?”

“An idea that my chief came up with. But
first…” He filled them in on what he’d learned from the
autopsy.

“Not much to go on,” Teague said when Hoyt
was finished.

“I’m afraid you’re right,” Hoyt agreed. “But
maybe, if we can fine-tune the chief’s idea, we’ll come out of this
with a killer caught.”

“You might want to tell us this great plan,”
Teague replied with a trace of a tired smile.

“We, the police, announce that we have an
eyewitness who saw the victim with a man around the time he was
killed.”

“Do you know when that was?”

Hoyt nodded. “The coroner estimates it
happened somewhere between two and three A.M. Not a lock, but close
enough to make our story work.”

“Where was I when I saw them?” Keir asked.
“And more to the point, why was I there rather than in the park?
The killing took place three miles to the north.”

“One of the things we have to figure out,”
Hoyt replied. “If this was real and you were homeless, why would
you have gone up there?”

“Good question. Maybe hoping I’d have better
luck somewhere else. Maybe because I was hassled by a cop who told
me to move on.”

“That might work,” Hoyt agreed. “We could say
I was the cop, and it’s why I picked you up this morning since you
were still in town.”

“We could have a problem if the killer didn’t
see that happen,” Teague pointed out. “There’s no way the police
would reveal
who
the witness is.”

“And why would I be running free if I’m the
witness?” Keir asked. “Wouldn’t you have me under lock-and-key for
my own safety?”

“We’d have no grounds to hold you and you’re
a smartass who thinks he can take care of himself.”

“I guess that works, but Teague had a point.
How will the killer know I’m the witness?”

“He won’t. But…” Hoyt turned the desk chair
around, sitting with his arms across the back. “The mayor has put
out an order that we’re to get every homeless kid to leave town
under threat of arresting them if they don’t.”

Keir snorted. “Like that’s going to work.
Half of them are probably gone by now, because of the murders. The
rest will figure, with that happening, they’ll stand a better
chance with their spanging or hustling since there will be less
competition.”

With a nod, Hoyt called the chief, telling
him what Keir said and suggesting that he let the officers know
they were to transport any kids they found to the highway. “Put the
fear of God into the boys. Or more the fear of the killer. Give
them graphic details of what he does. The news outlets have been
downplaying them. Remember, we want a couple still hanging around.”
He listened to the chief’s response. “Yeah, good idea.”

“What’s a good idea?” Teague asked when Hoyt
ended the call.

“It’s not as if we have that many homeless
here. We’re not exactly a big city and it’s between tourist and ski
seasons right now. He’s going to have the officers do a sweep of
downtown first and then the parks. That way the word will get out
to the kids what’s happening. Some of them will go to ground until
the officers have come and gone.” Hoyt looked at Keir. “Right?”

“Definitely. The ones who’ve been in the area
for a while and know good hiding places.” Keir smiled dryly.
“They’ll think they’re smarter than the cops, and the killer. Lay
low for a few days then start up again.”

“Hopefully not too low,” Teague pointed out.
“We don’t want you to be the only visible one. That would smack
of—”

“A setup. Yeah, yeah.” Keir turned to Hoyt.
“Is the sweep happening now?”

“As soon as the chief gets the word out.”

“Okay. Tonight I’ll search for guys that
stuck around and try to convince them it’s probably safe to look
for johns as long as they keep an eye out for the cops.” Keir
smirked. “After all, this is just a small town. The cops are more
interested in picking up drunks than protecting stray kids.” That
earned him a glare from Hoyt but no contradicting reply.

Teague nodded. “I’ll go to The Red Calf again
and sort of let it drop that I ran into one of them in the park on
my way there. Especially if Will is there.”

“Who?” Hoyt asked, frowning.

“A guy named Will. He rather subtly came on
to me last night then suggested we hook up there tonight. From what
he said he’s the nosy type, so telling him might get the word out
that the park is still open for business, so to speak.”

“Good idea. This won’t work if the killer’s
the only man who’s apparently looking for a hook up. He’d stand out
as much as you would if you were the only kid there, Keir. But it’s
still a crapshoot,” Hoyt grumbled. “You two can only cover so much
territory, even with my help.”

“You can’t be visible,” Teague pointed
out.

“I’ll be as invisible as you,” Hoyt replied
with a trace of exasperation. “Nice thing about there being so many
trees in the area.”

Teague thought about that, then said, “We can
cut down how much space we have to worry about. Can you have a
heavy police presence where the last killing happened? Enough to
deter anyone from hanging out there?”

“Define heavy,” Hoyt said dryly. “We can put
on a couple of extra men to patrol the site. Of course there are
other places where our man could find a victim. It doesn’t have to
be in a park. It could be anywhere along the river, or the road
leading up to the ski resort, or—”

“We know that, Hoyt,” Teague put in. “But we
have to start somewhere. The main problem as I see it is, how do we
point the finger at Keir as the witness without seeming to?”

“Easy peasy,” Keir replied. “I brag a
bit.”

“To who?” Hoyt asked.

“Guys I run into. Maybe…Yeah. I’ve got a
little cash so I stop at one of the fast food places to pick up a
burger. Carp about you busting me for hitchhiking and how I got out
of it by telling you something. Something I can’t talk about
but…”

Hoyt nodded. “The implication’s there, since
by then we’ll have announced that we’ve got a witness. Well, we
will have if—” He called the chief again to tell him to make that
announcement, and fast. Of course he had to explain why.