Page 6 of So Sinister
They approached a SWAT van parked on the curb in front of the house.A cluster of a half-dozen officers gathered behind the van, counting on the armored vehicle to provide some protection in case the bomb detonated.The ranking officer was a clean-shaven man in his early forties with the silver bar of a lieutenant on his formal dress uniform, an outfit he was almost certainly wearing for the benefit of the cameras.Everyone was showing out today.
He nodded at Faith as they approached.“Lieutenant Suresh, Baltimore Police.You’re the FBI agent helping us, right?”
“We’re the FBI agents who will take over should the Bureau choose to pursue this case,” Faith corrected.
“And should the Baltimore Police Department choose to cede jurisdiction,” Suresh replied.
My fault for starting the dick-waving,Faith thought.“Let’s table that until we figure out exactly what’s going on here.”
“Fair enough.”Suresh gestured through the vehicle at the house behind it.“Jackson Entwhistle is the victim’s name.He manages the TSA’s Explosives Detection Unit at Thurgood Marshall Airport.Or he did, anyway.He was found dead on his couch with an explosive device in his hands.”
“Cause of death?”Faith asked.
“We don’t know.There’s a considerable amount of blood, so we assume a cut or stab wound, but we can’t look until the bomb’s defused.”
“I don’t get why they would kill him and then place a bomb in his hands that isn’t likely to harm anyone else,” Jessica said.“I mean… Not that I’m suggesting we do this, but we could just blow the bomb from a distance, right?No one else would get hurt.”
“We could, and if EOD makes the call, we will rather than risk anyone else’s life,” Suresh replied.“But yeah, we want to not do that.As for why, your guess is as good as mine.This is definitely the most unusual call I’ve ever responded to.”
“Who called it in?”Faith asked.
“Anonymous tip.And before you ask, yes, we think it’s the killer.The caller’s voice was disguised, their attitude was calm, and they provided a very detailed location.Also before you ask, we traced the call to a payphone in Annapolis.”
“You guys still have payphones here?”Jessica asked.
“Apparently a few.”
“Where is this payphone?”
“On US 50.No, there’s no security camera nearby.”
Faith sighed.“Worth asking.”
“So this guy called you guys and said, ‘Hey, there’s a dead guy holding a bomb in his house’?”Jessica asked.
“No,” Suresh replied.“He didn’t mention the body.Just the bomb.”
Faith cocked her head.“Interesting.Maybe he had a message he wanted you guys to see on the body.”
“Well, we’ll find out soon enough.”
They stood there for a few minutes, listening to the hubbub of the crowd around them.Uniformed officers formed a wide cordon around the property, and emergency services waited just outside with a secondary cordon holding back the news channels, neighbors, and other civilians gathered at the scene.
Whoever this killer was, they knew their actions were going to gather an audience.They had a message to deliver, and they wanted a lot of people to hear it.Faith found a part of herself actually excited to look at the puzzle.She was never excited for the deaths of innocents, but she enjoyed putting bad guys away, and whoever this guy was, he was definitely very bad.
“How long have they been in there?”Jessica asked, breaking the silence.
“We got the call three hours ago,” Suresh replied.“Bomb squad arrived on scene three minutes later.”
“Wow.Good response time.”
Suresh smiled grimly.“Explosions happen in an instant.We don’t mosey in these circumstances.”
Turk barked urgently, and a moment later, the hubbub behind them increased in volume.Faith, Jessica, and Suresh stepped out from behind the SWAT vehicle to see the bomb disposal team leaving the house.Two agents carried a heavy steel case in between them while a third gave the crowd a thumbs up and said something into his radio.Faith overheard it from Suresh’s radio.“We’re clear.”
“Outstanding work, sergeant,” Suresh said.“I’m gonna have to go deal with the vultures for a little bit, but I’ll have Prescott make sure you and your team can get out of here without being harassed.”
“Before he leaves,” Faith interjected, “I’d like to talk to him.”
