"Kava, Alex - Maggie 03 - The Soul Catcher" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kava Alex)

Maggie noticed that Racine was leaning close enough into Tully to brush her breasts against his back. She looked away and caught Gwen watching. Gwen's eyes told her she knew exactly what she was thinking, and Gwen's sudden frown warned Maggie to be careful and keep any sarcasm to herself.
"Maybe he used his hands when he was finished with whatever little game of pass out and wake up he was playing with her. He may have felt like he had more control with his hands to complete the job," Maggie said, then turned away
from them and stared out the window. She remembered the girl's neck without looking at any photos, and she could easily conjure up an image of how it came to its mangled black-and-blue state. Black and blue, almost the color the sky had now turned, swollen with dark clouds. A light rain began tapping against the glass. "Maybe the cord simply wasn't personal enough," she added without looking back at any of them.
"She may have gotten personal enough to get a piece of him under her fingernails," Ganza said, and immediately had Maggie's attention. "Most of the skin was her own, but she managed to get in a scratch or two. Enough for DNA. We're checking to see if it matches the semen."
"Also, what about the cyanide capsule?" Racine asked. "And that pinkish tint. Stan made it sound like it could have been the poison."
Now Maggie turned and glanced at Tully. The two of them looked to Cunningham. Yes, what about the cyanide capsule? They had avoided discussing the possible connection between the senator's daughter and those five suicidal boys from the cabin in the Massachusetts woods. No way was it a coincidence-not that Maggie even believed in coincidences. Someone had gone to an awful lot of trouble to make sure they made a connection. Someone, perhaps, wanting to point out his deed, or rather, his revenge.
"Poison does leave a pinkish tint. Some of the cyanide had been absorbed into her system, but very little," Keith answered, though no one except Racine seemed interested.
"So," Racine said, rubbing her temple as if genuinely trying to figure it out. "Why strangle her if you've put cyanide in her mouth and taped it shut? Am I the only who thinks that doesn't make sense?"
"The capsule was strictly for show," Cunningham finally offered without looking at the detective, making the explanation sound commonplace. He wiped the chalk from his
hands, taking a break and picking up his ham on rye. He took a bite without looking at the sandwich, concentrating instead on the diagrams and police reports spread out on the table.
Racine, now back in her chair, shifted impatiently, waiting.
"You must have heard about the standoff last week in Massachusetts." Cunningham, still wouldn't meet her gaze and flipped through the reports. "Five young men used the same kind of capsule filled with cyanide to commit suicide before they opened fire on ATF and FBI agents. For some reason, someone wants us to know there's a connection with Senator Brier's daughter."
Racine looked around the table, only now realizing this was news only to her. "You all fucking knew about this?"
"The information about the cyanide is classified and so far has been successfully held back from the media." Cunningham's tone made Racine sit back. "We need to keep it that way, Detective Racine. Is that understood?"
"Of course. But if I'm to be a part of this task force, I don't expect information to be held back from me."
"Fair enough."
"So was this some sort of revenge killing?" Racine caught on quickly. Maggie couldn't help but be impressed, and she turned back to the window when Racine looked her way.
"Or is that too obvious?" Racine asked. "The life of a senator's daughter in exchange for five?"
"Revenge certainly can't be discounted," Cunningham answered between bites of his sandwich.
"Maybe now you can also tell me how you knew about it before we discovered it was the senator's daughter?"
"Excuse me?"
Maggie looked back at Cunningham. Racine dared to ask the question all of them had been thinking. The woman certainly had more guts than brains.
"Why was BSU called in on this?" Racine asked, apparently unaffected by Cunningham's position of power or his scowl. Maggie couldn't help thinking that if Racine did have aspirations of getting into the FBI, she may be squashing an important reference.
"A homicide on federal property is a federal matter," he told Racine in his best cool, authoritarian tone, "and therefore, the FBI is in charge of the investigation."
"Yeah, I know that. But why BSU?" Racine didn't flinch. Maggie watched to see if Cunningham would. By now, everyone was watching to see if Cunningham would.
He pushed up the bridge of his glasses and looked around at each of them. "There was an anonymous phone call early yesterday morning," he finally confessed, digging his hands into his pockets and leaning against a seldom-used podium next to the chalkboard. "It was traced to a pay phone at the monument. The caller simply said we'd find something interesting at the FDR Memorial. The call came in on my direct line."
No one said anything.
"I'm not certain why the caller chose to tell me," Cunningham added when no one, not even Racine, dared to ask. "Perhaps they knew I was at the crime scene at the cabin. Perhaps they knew we had been asked to profile that case." He looked over at Maggie. "You were quoted in the Times. Anyone could have made the assumption we were on the case."
Maggie felt a sudden flush, regretting that she had said anything. That morning a reporter had caught her off guard, coming down the steps of the J. Edgar Hoover Building. He had asked about Agent Delaney. She hadn't been able to mask her anger and simply told him that they would catch the responsible party. That was all she had said, but in that evening's edition of the Washington Times, the reporter had identified her as a criminal profiler, insinuating that BSU was somehow involved.
"It doesn't matter." Cunningham tried to relieve her discomfort with a wave of his hand. "The important thing is for us to find this bastard. Agent Tully, how did it go with Emma and Agent LaPlatz?"
"I think it went well." Maggie noticed Tully seemed back to his normal self. He pulled out a copy of the line drawing from a folder and added it to the mess in the middle of the table. "Whether this Brandon is involved or not, Emma knows she saw him with Ginny Brier that evening. Agent LaPlatz is in the process of faxing the sketch to all law enforcement within a hundred-mile radius with a note that he's wanted for questioning."
"Questioning and perhaps a voluntary DNA sample. We need to find him. Detective Racine," Cunningham said, picking up the sketch, "perhaps you could have some officers take a copy of this and check if anyone saw this Brandon around the monuments Sunday morning. Maybe he's also our mystery caller."
Racine nodded.
"And we need to know what group those boys in that cabin belonged to. We keep coming up empty-handed." He looked to Gwen. "There's one survivor. He's refused to talk to anyone. He may have important information. Would you give it a shot?"
"Of course," Gwen said without hesitation.
Just then, Tully pulled out the pamphlet Maggie had seen him folding earlier. It still had the accordion folds, and he tried smoothing out the creases on the side with the man's picture. "I forgot about this. I found it at the monument Sunday morning. It's from the group that held the prayer rally Saturday night. Emma thinks Brandon might be a member. And in fact, if Wenhoff's time of death is accurate, the murderer was killing the Brier girl while the rally was still taking place down below."
Cunningham leaned over the table to take a look. Maggie left her perch at the window.
"That's it," Maggie said as she read the block type: Church of Spiritual Freedom. "That's the nonprofit organization that owns the cabin."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded, looking to Ganza for confirmation as they all stood, leaning over Tully for a closer look. Now Maggie glanced at the man's photo, a handsome, dark-haired man in his forties with a movie star's slick looks. Then she read the caption, and she felt her stomach flip. Reverend Joseph Everett. Jesus! The man who might be at the center of these murders was her mother's savior.
CHAPTER 36
Justin couldn't believe his eyes. Compared to the rest of the compound, Father's small cottage looked like a fucking palace. There was a fireplace and expensive leather chairs. Bookcases were filled with books, something members were not allowed to own or keep, except for a personal copy of the Bible. The walls were covered with framed artwork and the windows with flowing drapes. A bowl with fresh fruit, another rare commodity, sat on a hand-carved sofa table. Next to the bowl was a can of Pepsi. Shit! Alice had led him to believe that junk food was like the Antichrist or some fucking thing. He sat in one of the leather chairs, waiting as he had been instructed to do by Cassie, Father's personal assistant. He should have been nervous about being asked here-no, summoned. That was the word Darren had used when he came to get him. Had to be Father's word. Not likely an idiot like Darren would come up with a word like that all on his own.
He could hear Father's voice in the room next door, Father's office. He couldn't hear another voice, though it was obvious Father was having a conversation with someone. He had to be on the phone. Another surprise. Had to be a cellular phone, since there weren't any fucking phone lines running into the compound.
"I don't like the sounds of this, Stephen," Father was saying.
Yeah, he had to be on the phone, 'cause Justin wasn't hearing Stephen answer.
"How could this have happened?" Father asked, sounding impatient. He didn't wait for an answer. "He made a big mistake this time."
Justin wondered who'd fucked up. Then he heard Father say, "No, no. Brandon's being taken care of. Don't worry about him. He won't make the same mistake twice."
Brandon? So it was the golden boy who fucked up? Justin smiled, then caught himself. There could be cameras.
He tried to sit still, but his eyes kept pivoting around at the amazing surroundings. Office, bedroom, huge fucking living room. He knew Father even had his own bathroom. Now he wondered if the man had a fucking whirlpool bath and... Oh, shit. He hadn't even thought about it before-the man probably had toilet paper. Not just toilet paper but that white, soft, cushiony stuff. And no way was he restricted to two-minute showers. The thought had Justin raking his fingers through his hair. At least this morning he had gotten all the shampoo out before the water shut off. Maybe he was finally getting the hang of it. But he would never get used to brushing his teeth without water. The antiseptic taste of that generic paste stayed with him throughout the day.
"Justin?' Father entered the room without a sound, no footstep, no warning. He wore a black turtleneck sweater and dark trousers that looked freshly pressed.