Page 84 of Secrets in the Dark
“There are businesses that can’t afford security systems and guards. But I don’t think that he’s slipping into a business. He thinks himself too clever, too above the mundane.”
“Exactly. That’s why I believe that he knows something about the area—close to here—that we don’t, that not even Sean or Edmund might know about.”
“Tube lines, sewer lines...” Della studied the different maps that lay on the table. “It’s somewhere near here,” she said. “Does that help narrow things down?”
He started to answer her but his phone was ringing.
“Edmund,” he said, glancing at the phone as he answered it. “Della and I are both here,” he said. “I’ve got you on speaker.”
“Good. The phone, as we all expected, was a burner. It was tossed, but they traced it to towers that indicate he had it until he was out of the area—he tossed it somewhere near the house,” Edmund said.
“That’s not a surprise,” Della said. “We’ve had...” She paused, and Mason knew that since she wasn’t sure if Edmund was alone or not, she wasn’t going to say that a ghost had told them that she’d seen Jesse Miller in their area. “We found a few witnesses who have seen him in this area,” she continued. “I think he has a hideout that isn’t far from us. He probably even knows exactly where we’re staying—but breaking into a house with six armed law enforcement officials might be a bit much for even him.”
“We both think that he’s got a hideout near here,” Mason said. “Maybe somewhere underground.”
“And thus, the maps. Have you found anything?” Edmund asked.
“A zillion miles of underground, so it seems,” Mason said. “But I do think we need to start on the possibilities. And it’s not going to be anything that’s public knowledge or used frequently.”
“A basement or cellar?” Edmund asked.
“He has to be able to blend into a crowd to get in and out,” Mason said. “And maybe it’s not something we’ll find on a map.”
“Or ever,” Edmund said wearily. “One bloke is doing this! One man.”
“Edmund, we will find him. We just keep looking.”
“At least his messages are scaring people—except that doesn’t sit well with the pubs and shops,” Edmund said. “It’s going to cut down on revenue. And even when there is a killer loose in a city, people start getting crazy when they can’t make money.”
“On the one hand, that’s understandable,” Mason said. “People need to pay rent and they need to eat. But, until we do get him, it’s good that people are careful. And we’re not telling them not to go out—we’re telling them not to go out alone.”
“And that women shouldn’t fall prey to charming men,” Della added dryly. “Have you heard from the others?”
“We’ve changed things around a bit. Sean is with Stacey. I think he’s having a bad time thinking that anyone else will be as capable. He really respects her, and...maybe more. I warned him not to get too involved, but he has a good head on his shoulders. We have patrolmen on Rick Fields, and I’m planning on seeing if he’s approached myself. Not to worry—I’ll keep a distant tail. Jesse Miller may try to contact him—and, of course, wants to kill him, but he can’t do that in a public place. He knows that. But he may have otherfriendswilling to get a note to him or something. François is going to call you himself—they found a theater where he was working for the makeup department during their last show. You’ll appreciate this—he was Reggie Chapman when he worked there and he was let go. The show was a children’s play with trolls and monsters, and they were going through too many supplies and it seemed that they disappeared when he was working. They couldn’t charge him with anything because they had no proof, but the director wanted him fired.”
“That’s how he managed his prosthetics,” Della said. “We knew he had to be getting them somewhere. Do they have an address for him? If he was on payroll—”
“Oh, yes. They had an address. I guess no one realized that the address that he gave them was an apartment that would be in the middle of the Thames,” Edmund said.
“Of course,” Mason said.
“We’re still at it, but... We can find out where he’s been. We just can’t find where he is now.”
“It’s still good to know we’re on the right track and so far, our instincts have been right. He is going to want to get his hands on Stacey—that last letter he sent over the air seems to target who he wants for his Mary Kelly.”
“And he has decided that he doesn’t have to follow the original schedule he set for himself—he may have determined that he’s going to go in whatever order he chooses,” Mason said. “I’m going to leave the maps and plans. Maybe you’ll see something that we don’t. We’re going to walk around the blocks closest to us and see what we can see.”
“Find Abigail. He can’t be on the lookout for her,” Edmund said.
Apparently, he was alone as they spoke.
Mason had already planned on looking for Abigail.
“We’ll meet up here as usual. We’ll let you know of...anything,” he told Edmund.
“All right. Stacey isn’t going out—she’s going to work with Sean dogging her every step and another patrol officer on it as well. I have a good crew following Rick and as I said, I’ll be following up on that bloke, too. He’s ready to jump at the drop of a hat. I explained just how long he might enjoy our penal system but that he wouldn’t do time at all if he helped. But Della, whatever you said to him worked. He’s ready to help.”
“I just mentioned that he’d fallen prey to the whims of a homicidal maniac and that he needed protection, even if he chose the penal system,” Della said.
