Page 54 of Whispers at Dusk
“It’s less than two hours in a private jet across the southern tip of Norway and the North Sea,” Mason interrupted.
“You believe he has a private jet?”
“Possibly. He has funds from somewhere. It costs to hop around Europe. Just because you’re rich, doesn’t mean you’re not a psychopath.”
“True. Well, a profiler told me once that many a CEO was a sociopath or a psychopath. It makes a person capable of making ruthless business decisions. And just because you may be one or the other, that doesn’t necessarily make you a crazy killer,” Della said thoughtfully.
He nodded.
“That’s right. You worked with profilers,” she said.
“Six months. Six months well spent. Though profiling is a tool, and it’s a tool that isn’t perfect. Still, helps a lot.”
“Did they profile you?” Della asked.
“I’m sure they did.”
“And?”
He laughed. “Whatever they decided about me, they didn’t share.” He glanced at his watch. “We’re almost there. I guess we hit the road running.”
Della nodded gravely to him. The Orkney police and medical examiner had been at the scene of the murder. The body had already been taken for autopsy. They hadn’t set out last night because it had been late and because the Scottish authorities were already taking all the appropriate steps.
“I’ll wake our team members,” she said.
“They are pretty great,” Mason murmured.
“They are. Is that because they defer to you?” she teased.
“Maybe, hmm. Is it because Edmund Taylor is...tall, perfect and...”
“Hot!” she whispered, laughing. But then her laughter faded. “No, they’re just a good group, right? They are different, but they seem to know what’s needed most. They don’t mind being the supporting figures—none of us does. It makes...”
He nodded, glancing at his tablet. “A good team. And we need to get to it. Our victims deserve justice and we need to get it for them. Elizabeth MacDougall, twenty-three. Scottish-American, traveling back to the land of her grandparents.” He looked at Della. “This doesn’t sound right, and someone will be devastated—but her parents are deceased and she’s an only child. I guess the hardest part of this job anytime is telling a parent that their child has gone before them.”
“Agreed. Scottish descent, but our victim was American. Traveling alone. And I imagine she was happy to meet people and that...”
“The Master easily charmed her?”
“Maybe,” Della agreed. “I’ll wake the others. The pilot is going to call for seat belts any minute.”
Mason watched as Della gently woke the sleeping men. They sat up and came forward to take their seats for the landing.
“I’m sorry,” Bisset told them. “A great liaison—”
“Sleeps when he can,” Mason assured him.
Bisset nodded, then looked out the window. “Well, we’ll go by the great circle of stones at Stenness,” he said wryly. “To reach the crime scene. The medical examiner wanted the body brought to the new state-of-the-art hospital. The Orkneys had a hike in crime in recent years, coming back down now. The world is fighting to get back to normalcy still after the pandemic.”
“Another beautiful place,” Della murmured.
“We’ll be meeting with Ian Robertson,” Edmund Taylor told them. “Northern detective. Scotland is part of the United Kingdom but it has its own parliament, and its laws can be different in various ways. But he’s an old friend—we’ve had to work across the border a few times.” He shrugged. “For you, states may have slightly different ways of dealing with things. I wish I could say the United Kingdom has as low of a crime rate as Norway—”
“Well, England had Jack the Ripper, the US had H.H. Holmes, and Scotland had Burke and Hare. People with demented minds exist across the globe. Sadly, that doesn’t make them stupid, and they can cause anguish before they’re caught,” Mason said. “Human beings are capable of the greatest kindness—and the greatest evil.”
“Right, well, maybe... Do you think this might be the so-called Master at work?” Edmund asked.
“We will find him,” Mason said with assurance. “All of our countries have our best techs and forensic crews looking for anything. But in my mind, our greatest possibility in finding him will be through Angela Hawkins Crow. She was one of the first members of our unit and she’s married to our field director. She works in the field, but she’s also amazing at maneuvering the computer and research world. She’ll go through record after record until she finds out who has been where and when. I believe the fact thefangsthese killers are using have DNA from dead men who died in prison is going to give us our endgame.”
