Page 55 of Psychic Obsession
Medlin walked into the room before Nikolai could say anything."One of the uniforms has a woman who thinks she knows who the rug-seller is."
"Address?"Nikolai got to his feet.
"No, she doesn't know him.A group of officers interviewed the neighbors of the victims, went door-to-door, and she said she believed he was working at Bixler Auto Repairs.He helped her with an oil change a few weeks back, and she thinks his name is Sam, but doesn't know his last name."
"Let's check it out."Nikolai grabbed the folder with the composite drawings.
Medlin didn't move out of the way."What did the Maiden say?"
Nikolai stared at him."Who?"He knew who, but they couldn't keep calling Frode the Maiden.
"Frode.Why was he here?Will he touch more rugs?"
"Not at this point.We talked about the drawings.The suspect touched the rug after Montes but before the forensic team.Then we went to talk to Saylor about the most recent rug."
"And?"
Nikolai shrugged."Saylor wasn't done processing it, but it's not worn, so if we need Frode to touch another one, maybe it's the one he should go with."He didn't want Frode to have to touch another one.
"We need to wrap this one up fast.The higher-ups aren't happy with me, and I don't think we have more than a day or two before someone will snatch this away from us."
"Maybe they should."Isaac didn't so much as flinch when Nikolai glared at him."We don't have the manpower or the expertise."
"Sure we do."They were good detectives, they had a good forensic team, and they had Frode.
"We're dealing with a serial killer, Nesterova.It's not a dick-measuring competition.We need him locked up in a cell.Who puts him there doesn't matter, what matters is that he's caught before he can kill again."
All good points, but Nikolai needed a win.Over the last few months, his life had gone to shit, and he needed something good, needed to feel he'd done something meaningful.
"Let's go."
Isaac huffed, but when Medlin moved out of the way, he followed Nikolai without a word.
They drove to Bixler Auto Repairs in silence.Nikolai parked next to a rusty Ford and turned to Isaac."Let's talk to him."
All Isaac did was stare at him.
"I heard you, okay?He needs to be caught.I fully agree."
"So why not hand it over to people who have experience working with serial killers?They have profilers and shit we don't have access to.They know how their minds work.We're fumbling in the dark."
Nikolai didn't have a good answer."Let's do an as good job as we can until they take over."
Isaac rolled his eyes but opened the door and stepped outside.
Together, they walked into the auto shop.It smelled of motor oil and gas.Classic rock played in the background, and Nikolai spotted no less than four guys in coveralls.They all stopped what they were doing and looked at them.
"Hi.We're looking for Sam."Isaac held up his badge.
One of the guys motioned toward a closed door.Dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin, not a day over twenty-two.The poor guy looked terrified.
"He's not in trouble.We only want to ask him a few questions."Nikolai nodded at the guy in what he hoped was a calming manner.
The door opened and the man appearing in the doorway was the drawing come to life.Nikolai was stunned.Not only had Frode remembered him correctly, but Yeager had managed to copy the memory to paper.
"Sam?"Isaac stepped forward, and Nikolai let him do his excited puppy thing."Could we go somewhere to talk?"
Sam looked confused and more than a little suspicious as he motioned for them to follow him into the office."What's this about?"
