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Derik led her to a conference room, where several otheragents were waiting. She’d been in the room many times in the past, but it lookeddifferent now. The table was new, the chairs were different, and there were nowthree dry erase boards on the wall as opposed to the single dingy one she’d onceused.
Each member of the group looked up as Morgan entered. Shecould feel their eyes on her and tried not to let it get to her.
Her own eyes did linger on Assistant Director Mueller fora moment. He’d aged considerably in the last ten years. He’d grown a beard thathad gone mostly gray, and his widow’s peak was much more pronounced. He smiledat her, and she worried that he was about to even get to his feet.
She simply nodded to him. She was glad to see him, shesupposed, but she was also still slightly angry that they’d expected her tocome running right away when they called, even if it was just one single dayafter being released from prison.
For a sentence she may have been able to avoid had thebureau fought a little harder for her.
She also recognized AD Yen. She’d never worked closelywith him but knew his face. He was about fifty, clean-shaven, and didn’t seemat all affected by her presence.
“Agent Cross,” AD Yen said.
“Nope. Just Morgan. I don’t know about the agent partyet.”
“But…you came,” Mueller said.
“I did. I came because my old partner told me Samson isback. I’m here because none of you apparently think this can be done withoutme.”
Mueller and Derik both looked taken aback. Derik hadtaken a seat at the table, but Morgan remained standing. She liked that theyseemed to not know how to handle her now. She’d never been this forward andrough in the past.
“You…you’ve seen the file?” Mueller asked.
“I have. Agent Greene brought it over to my house yesterday.I’ve looked through it. The only thing new I saw was the drowning deaths atKisanthum River.”
“I also told her we had a new lead that just came in,”Derik pointed out.
“He did,” Morgan said, still opting not to sit. “What’sthe lead?”
Mueller eyed her for a moment and then shrugged. Apparently,he was willing to roll with her new attitude. The ease in which he made thisdecision told Morgan all she needed to know: he’d not been expecting her toshow up and because she was here now, he wasn’t about to make things harderthan they had to be. She actually respected him for this.
“A man showed up in two surveillance cameras at two o’clockin the morning on the day the bodies were discovered on the banks,” Muellersaid.
“The cameras are positioned at the parking lot near thecanoe rentals and then again over near the pavilions you can rent for parties,”Derik said.
“Do we know who he is?” she asked.
“Not yet,” AD Yen said, opening up a folder and sliding aphoto across the table to Morgan. “But we do have a clear image of his face.”
Morgan picked up the photo and examined it closely. Itwas a man in his mid-thirties, with short, dark hair and a sharp jawline. Helooked like an average guy, but something about his expression made her uneasy.It was almost like he was smirking at the camera.
“So no ID yet?” Morgan asked.
“No,” Derik said. “But we’re running facial recognitionsoftware on him now. We’ll know soon enough.”
Morgan nodded, setting down the photo. “What about thevictims? Anything new on them?”
“We’ve been able to identify all the victims,” AD Yensaid. “We’ve been in touch with their families, but none of them have any leadsfor us. We’re still trying to piece together any connections they might havehad.”
Morgan nodded, feeling a familiar sense of frustration.This was the same problem they’d had ten years ago. The Seven Signs Killer wascareful. He didn’t leave any evidence behind, and he didn’t seem to have anyclear motive for his killings.
“There’s one more thing,” Mueller said. “Each victim hada piece of paper in their mouth. The killer made sure it stayed in their mouthsbecause their mouths were taped shut when he put them in the river.”
“What was on the paper?”
“A reference to scripture,” Derik said. “Mark 6:45–53. It’sthe story of Jesus walking on water.”
“He never left clues like that before,” Morgan said. “Imean, he left his vague letters, but never actually pointing to scripture,right?”
