Page 138 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

Angela looked up from her computer. “He was laid to restabout the same time our first John Doe is presumed to be killed and set up inthe tomb. Which makes his son and now owner of the vault, Benjamin Robertson, asuspect. Then again, is it too obvious? Unless he wanted to becaught.”

“Someone wanted them found. The vault wasn’t locked,”Jackson noted.

“And if it was Benjamin...” Angela murmured. “I mean, couldyou forget to lock a vault after slicing up a human being and leaving him orher within? Was it locked before? We have three victims, killed at threedifferent times. If it was Benjamin Robertson, then... what? He wantedto be discovered? Or he loved the display. Whoever didit, the spectacle mattered.”

Jackson shrugged. “Naturally, the man who owns the vault isa person of interest. Keys to the family vaults are in the family’s hands.Except the cemetery keeps a copy of each key for vandalism purposes, stormdamage, or other forces of nature that can cause problems. Some of the familyvaults are old, and the families have moved on to other states—though theymaintain ownership. So, it’s more than possible that a key might have beentaken and copied and even returned.”

He continued. “They do have security cameras at the frontoffice. They don’t really cover anything inside except who comes and goes, butif a key was taken and copied, we can at least see who has been in the buildingover the last three months.”

He walked over to the board that Angela had created, lookingat all the dates. At this time, and even after full autopsies, they wouldn’tknow the exact times of death for the first John Doe and Jane Doe.Identification on the dead would help with thetimeline. But even then, simply going by the date they disappeared might not beaccurate. Some killers held on to their victims until they were ready to committheir final crime.

“There is little else we can do until tomorrow,” Jacksonsaid. “The local police will keep the cemetery closed. Luckily, no burials orinterments are scheduled for the week. I’ve informed Cassandra in the cemeteryoffice that Debbie Nolan, the young woman who witnessed the character with theknife, wasn’t seeing things. She probably did see a killer. We’ll need tointerview all the managers and groundskeepers in the morning. We’ll need tobring Debbie in, too.”

“Jackson, do you think the killer saw her?” Angela askedworriedly. “If he’s involved with the cemetery, he’ll likely know the bodieswere discovered. That could put her in danger.”

He nodded. “Already thought of that. We have a patrol carwatching her home.”

Angela smiled at him and nodded grimly. He walked over toher and placed his hands on her shoulders. It was amazing to work with hiswife. They’d met when Adam Harrison had first formed the Krewe of Hunters toinvestigate a case in New Orleans. And Jackson had been thankful every daysince.

“Tomorrow is going to come early. And it’s already late.” Heslipped his hands down and squeezed her biceps gently.

“At least the kids will be sleeping.” Angela placed her handover his.

He smiled, thinking of Mary Tiger at home watching the kids.“Let’s hope.”

“Except I feel bad. They are so excited about Halloween. I’msure Mary has seen a half-dozen possibilities for their costumes. Corby isimaginative and helps Victoria become more and more so, too. I think she wouldhave been happy being Spider Baby, but Corby likes to get a bit ghoulish.”

He chuckled his agreement.

“Ghoulish. Just what we need,” Angela said. She gave alittle shudder and made a face. “We have to find whoever did this, Jackson.”

“We will. It’s what we do,” he reminded her gently.

She stood suddenly. “Right. We’re on it in the morning. Butnow... a shower. I feel that I still smell like death,” she finished quietly.

He wrapped his arm around her and started them toward thedoor. “Then let’s go.”

They did. At home, they found that the children were indeedsleeping. Mary, Axel Tiger’s aunt, was the best caretaker in the world, andthey knew they were incredibly lucky to have her. She said that she was luckyto have them.

Mary was watching television when they came in but quicklygreeted them. She frowned a bit with worry and asked about the case, then toldthem, “Well, I took pictures tonight as Corby dressed himself up—and enhanced afew of Victoria’s ideas. But I think I’ll show them to you later. I’d best begetting home, and you should get some sleep.”

Angela, of course, still wanted to see the pictures.

As expected, Corby, nearly a teenager now, had come up withall kinds of bizarre costumes. A few were just fun, from a member of the oldrock band KISS to a Marvel superhero, a demon, adark angel, and a ghoul.

They managed to smile through the pictures.

Then Mary was gone. Angela looked at Jackson and grinned,blue eyes shining like sapphires.

“Race you!” she said.

“Race me?”

“Shower.”

He let her beat him, though they both had to slow down tosecure their service weapons, always carefully locked in the mini-vaultsby the bed because of the children.

But their clothing still wound up strewn everywhere, andthey burst into the shower together, laughing, with Jackson warning her theymight not get anywhere if they tripped one another or fell because of theslickness of the tile.