Page 60 of M for Murder

‘Not yet.’

‘You haven’t forgotten about the joker, have you? Remember what I said about each victim receiving–’

‘I know about the joker,’ he interrupted, a little too abruptly. ‘We’ve been over this before, remember?’ He softened his voice before continuing. ‘You don’t have to worry about anything. I promise you that I have the situation under control.’

There was a long pause before the voice answered, this time in an almost pleading tone.

‘I know you do and please don’t think that I don’t trust you. I do. It’s just very important to me that the job is completed. Do you understand?’

‘I understand.’

He had understood from the beginning the importance of the situation. Murder was not something to be treated lightly.

‘Good.’ The voice seemed reassured. ‘I guess I’ll leave the matter in your capable hands.’

‘I won’t let you down.’

‘I know you won’t.’ There was another pause. ‘Well, I guess I should leave you to get on. You’ll call me as soon as you have any further developments?’

‘Of course.’

‘Okay. Well good luck and happy hunting.’

The line went dead.

‘Happy hunting,’ he repeated to himself as he replaced the receiver, the faces of potential victims coming to mind.

‘I think it went well.’

‘Sure it went well. Did you see the looks on their faces?’

Max shook his head and laughed. ‘Trust me, it went well. Before we went in there I had visions of everyone trampling in a mad stampede to get off campus.’

The idea made Joel smile. ‘Come on, we told them there was a killer on the loose, not a pack of brain sucking zombies.’

‘Yeah, I guess so.’ Max swung the car into the parking space behind the police precinct and switched off the engine. ‘Maybe I was the one who was overreacting.’

‘Let’s hope so.’ Joel clicked off his seat belt and opened the door. ‘We have enough to deal with without having to worry about hysterical students.’

‘Tell me about it.’

When he returned to the campus, he reflected on the conference that had taken place earlier; the two Federal Agents having decided it was time to warn the students that a killer was on the loose.

Of course, several people already suspected that was the case, but this made it official.

The Feds decision to come clean had caused him, as far as he could see, two problems. His first thought was of Kylan. Sitting in the cafeteria sipping the acidic coffee, he wondered where she was. Did she know yet about what had gone on? And if so, what did she make of it all?

Although the only students who had been brought in to see the Feds were those who had the initial O, news of the murders was now sure to spread like wildfire. It was highly unlikely that, by the end of the night, there would be a single student left who didn’t know about what was going on.

What would Kylan do when she put two and two together?

She’d seen him twice now. Firstly, in the grocery store, then last Saturday at her house, and, on both occasions, she had been understandably spooked. Chances were that once she heard about the murders, if she hadn’t already heard the rumours, she would either bolt or go to the police about him.

He couldn’t afford to let her do either and he realised that he would have to watch her extra carefully.

His second problem was more imminent. Although the Feds hadn’t been specific about why those gathered for the conference were the most likely victims, people weren’t stupid, and it was obvious that every student who had been in the room had the same surname initial. The original Alphabet Murders had been notorious, and everyone was going to know it was the same pattern with the current victims. Once he had found victim O, it was going to be difficult to get her alone. Everyone was likely to be taking extra precautions, probably hanging round in large groups watching each other’s backs. And then, of course, there were those who would probably leave town, hoping to get away until it was all over.

He gave it some thought, his mind working overtime on how it would be possible to get the next victim and wondered if he was worrying unnecessarily. It might be a lot easier than he thought. Not everyone was as highly strung as Kylan Parker and most of them would probably let their guard slip at some point.