Chapter 15

Sally Roux was waiting on forensics to get back to her on the blood that was on the car belonging to Eva Lewis. When someone finally did come around, she was surprised by what she was told.

“It’s animal blood. Cat’s blood to be exact.”

Sally grimaced, “It doesn’t fit the profile of our guy to use animal blood. He would’ve used the real thing.”

Her partner, Donald Ferguson, nodded, “You think it’s a different guy?”

“I don’t want to rule anything out. Have you talked to Lewis yet?”

“No, but I plan to send some detectives to do the leg work,” Donald answered.

“That’s fine. Make sure they ask her if she has any relationship to Tom McDaniels.” Sally thought it was odd that anyone would vandalize the reporter’s car for a story.

In the meantime, she planned to go through the statements of the families and friends that reported the four women missing. Maybe there was some kind of clue that could tie them together. Right now she was leaning towards Tom McDaniels being involved in some way. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that he was at the wedding and that he was the boss of the fourth victim. Sally pulled out her files and began to comb through them. If Tom McDaniels was involved in some way, she was going to find out how.

~IN HIS CELLAR~

He picked up an old femur bone and put it in a black bag along with some other bones. He hated to part with his trophies but he had no choice. He reminded himself to be patient, “Good things come to those who wait.” He picked up his phone and looked at one message in particular.

“Did you want to talk online or in person?”

He smirked. “All in good time,” he thought, “All in good time.”

~AT THE LUDWIG NEWS BUILDING~

Eva was grinning. She couldn’t stop. David had dropped her off at work and had promised to pick her up when it was time for her to go home. She thought it would be strange to transition from friend to lover but it hadn’t been. Eva wondered what sort of date he had in store for her.

Her editor, Tony Sharp, came up to her, “Lewis! What the hell were you thinking?”

Eva jumped up at hearing someone suddenly yell her name, “Thinking?”

Her editor threw a newspaper down on her desk, “This is today’s top story. I don’t know if you noticed...but that’s not our paper!”

Eva looked down and read the headline, “Demon King kills fourth victim.” She didn’t know that a fourth victim had been found, “What the hell?”

“That’s right. What the hell were you thinking? The Demon King is your story Eva. Unless you want me to assign it to someone else, I suggest you write a better story for your next article.” He looked at the photo of her parents on her desk and said, “Your parents would’ve gotten the story Lewis. They never missed a headline. Never.” He stormed away while yelling at a few other employees to get back to work.

Eva sat down at her desk and clutched her locket. She always wanted to live up to the expectations of her parents. Growing up, she was told countless times by her parents that she would be a great reporter.  She wouldn’t’ stop now. She read the article of the paper Tony had thrown at her. Another woman had been found? If she hadn’t been a victim of vandalism, she would’ve written the Demon King article. She picked up the receiver to her phone and started dialing her contacts within the police department. She couldn’t let her personal life’s problems distract her from her work.

~LATER THAT AFTERNOON: LUDWIG POLICE STATION~

“It was cat’s blood?” David asked.

Detective James Smith nodded, “I don’t know what kind of sick person kills a cat to do a prank but that’s what it was.”

David didn’t understand why anyone would want to scare Eva but he wasn’t going to let them get away with it.

~AT THE HOME OF TOM MCDANIELS~

Tom was watching an old video of two boys playing outside. A young woman came out and told them to go inside to have lunch. The two boys were laughing and ran inside. The woman walked up to the camera and told the person holding the camera, “Go in and eat too honey.”

The camera stopped recording after that.

Tom was trying to hold it together. He had been called by one of the secretaries at his office and was told that his personal secretary, Stella Meyers, had been murdered. Hearing about her death made him feel as if he was some kind of curse to the people in his life. He decided to watch an old family video. So many people had left him in his life that he couldn't help but feel he was the cause.

What was going on? Not one but two women he knew had been killed. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Tom thought of anyone that might want to hurt him but couldn’t think of a single soul. As far as he knew, the deaths of Paula and Stella were twisted and horrible coincidences.

A ringing sound filled the air and Tom walked over to his door. He opened it and saw men in FBI attire standing before him. They began shuffling in without waiting for him to allow them entrance. A tall woman handed him a paper and asked, “Tom McDaniels?”

He nodded and she continued, “I'm Special Agent Sally Roux. This is a warrant to search your property. I’m going to need you to come down to the station with me.”

Tom was shocked. “I’m sorry am I under arrest?”

“Not yet sir,” the woman answered.

Not yet? What the hell was going on? Tom had a feeling he already knew the answer but he asked anyway, “Can I know what this is about at least?”

Her response was very matter of fact, “This is in regards to the murders of Stella Meyers, Paula Masterson, Tifanny Sanchez, and Georgina Ambers. Do the names of these women sound familiar?”

Tom shook his head, “Only Paula and Stella. Should I know these other women?”

Sally’s eyes narrowed, “It’s come to our attention that all four of these women had a connection to you.”

Tom loosened his tie, “And?”

Sally cocked her head to one side, “You didn’t know? They were all victims of the Demon King.”