Page 22 of So Sinister
She took another puff, then said, “Take my advice, Dr.not-Allen.Let it go.Whatever it is, let it go.”She took a third puff, then added, “Now get out of my house.”
David bowed slightly.“Thank you for your time.”
“Yep.”
The brightness of the day surprised him when he stepped out of Daisy Fenniman’s house.He realized then just how dim she kept the place.
But that made sense.She was hiding.Darkness was better for that.
David didn’t blame her for hiding, but he couldn’t do the same.He couldn’t leave those innocent dogs to suffer while he cowered in the dark.He hadn’t learned anything useful today, but he was gaining patience.He would keep digging.He would keep looking.Slowly but surely, he would find what he needed.
Then he would put a stop once and for all to the 93rdTesting Brigade.
CHAPTER NINE
Jessica set a wrapped sandwich and a cup of coffee in front of Faith.Turk wagged his tail and looked beseechingly at her, barking gratefully when Jessica handed him a slap of beef.She took a seat next to Faith and said, "Baltimore PDs are going to offer escorts to the K9 supervisors in the area, and they've recommended that people lock their doors and windows and invest in an alarm system that will automatically dial 911 in case of a break-in.It's not really that much, but it's better than nothing."
Faith nodded and sipped her coffee.The sky outside was darkening rapidly, and with no solid leads to follow, it looked like the day was going to end unfruitfully.“I’ll take what we can get.”
“Yeah, like I said, it’s better than nothing.”
Faith sipped more of her coffee.“This killer’s sending a message.”
“Yeah, they all are.”
Faith pushed through her partner’s frustration.“The key is in the bombs.”
“Not the phone calls?”
Faith shook her head.“The phone calls are because of the added urgency of the timers.The bombs are duds, but people have to act like they’renotduds.If they show up and see a zero timer, then they’ll know the bombs are duds.”
“He’s probably also impatient for people to get whatever message he’s sending.”
“Yes, and the bombsarethe message.Both of them were staged holding the bombs.That’s the killer saying they’re responsible.This explosive thing is their fault.”
“Sure it’s not the killer just saying, ‘I want to blow them up’?”
Faith shook her head.“No, he’s putting the blame in their hands.Literally.”
“Raelynn Hayes’s legs,” Jessica said.“I know what you always say, but I have to ask: you don’t think there’s a sexual component to this?”
Again, Faith shook her head.“No, I don’t.Stabbing sometimes can mean simulated sexual penetration, but I don’t think that’s what we’re looking at here.I don’t even think the stabbing is particularly important.I think it’s just how he controls them.”
“So the bomb is the important part.”
“It has to be.It’s the part at which the killer takes the most care.”
“Does he, though?Both bombs were duds.”
“Yes, and both were duds in a different way.That’s important.That’s the message.”
Jessica bit into her sandwich and chewed thoughtfully.Turk finished his beef, sighed contentedly, and trotted in between the two beds.The television was playing an old cartoon about a Great Dane who solved mysteries with his human companions while traveling in a panel van decorated in a psychedelic lava lamp pattern.Turk watched with mild interest as the group fled from a scarecrow-like villain who would eventually be revealed to be the only other person in the episode with any noticeable screentime.
Jessica swallowed and asked, “So is he saying that the victims were duds?”
“I think so,” Faith agreed.“But a specific kind of dud.Entwhistle’s bomb was a gasoline bomb that would have worked except the detonator wasn’t attached to the explosive.Hayes’s bomb was a brick of plastic that looked like plastic explosive but had no explosive component.It wouldn’t have gone off at all.”
“Hmm.So what does that mean?”
