Part 16 (1/2)
”Mr. Ellis.” She leaned forward just a bit and clasped her hands in her lap. ”From what I've seen so far, you're a man of pa.s.sion. What kind of pa.s.sion do you suppose drives a person who would murder another human being and then take their hearts right out of their chests?”
He took a moment to sip his coffee. The delicate bone china cup and saucer looked right at home in his long fingered hands. This was a man who enjoyed the finer things in life. He wasn't pretending to be hoity-toity, he was. All the way down to his expensive hand-tooled leather shoes. But those hands of his weren't soft and smooth... they were rough. Maybe from working with tools-like the ones used to crack open the chests of his victims.
”I'm sure you would know better than I,” he said at last. ”Clearly, it would take a person driven by strong emotions.”
Jess nodded in agreement. ”Did you hear about the three murders, exactly like these, when you lived in Paris? I think the victims attended the school where you taught art.”
There was a hint of a shrug and the inevitable averting of his gaze. ”Paris is a very large city, Chief Harris. I do recall hearing something about the murders but I didn't know the students personally.”
”The odd thing is,” Jess went on, ”there were several murders exactly like these, always a couple of years apart and in different cities. You didn't hear about those?”
”Not that I recall, no.” He set his cup aside, rested his hands on the ornately carved wooden chair arms and stared directly at Jess, game face on. ”Where did these murders occur?”
”I don't remember the names of the cities.” Jess made a big production of blowing off the whole subject. She reached into her bag and retrieved the photos of the Vance sisters. She showed them to Ellis. His face remained impa.s.sive but there was something in his eyes... approval or pride. ”Were either of these women ever students of yours?”
”No.” He shook his head.
”You're certain?” Jess pushed.
”The bond that develops between teacher and student in art is far different from, let's say, English or Math,” he explained in a tone just shy of arrogant. ”I would remember any student I've had the pleasure of teaching.” The glee or pride she'd noted in his eyes when he viewed the photos of the sisters was still there.
”They travel a lot to Europe.” Jess studied the photos. ”We've spoken to the detective in Paris who was in charge of the cases there. He's thinking of reopening them. He wants to see if he can connect the murders that occurred there with the ones happening here. He plans to start with the Vance sisters.”
Jess felt confident the detective would as soon as she pa.s.sed along their ident.i.ties.
”I'm happy to help any way I can, Chief.” Ellis stood. ”Unfortunately, now I have to get to the gallery. I'm sure you understand.”
Jess rose from her chair. ”Certainly. I didn't mean to keep you so long.”
As he walked them to the door, Ellis a.s.sured Jess he would be available if she had any other questions.
Outside, she hesitated at the car. ”I want Ellis followed,” she told the lieutenant. ”He lied about not knowing the Vance sisters.” He not only knew them, Jess was certain he shared that bond he'd spoken of so fondly with them. Her instincts were humming. He was part of this... somehow.
Hayes glanced toward the Jag backing away from the garage. ”That might be difficult unless you want me to follow him.”
”Send our surveillance detail. He's headed to the gallery. We'll catch up with them there. I have a stop to make first.”
”Chief Burnett won't be happy about that.”
Ellis's Jaguar was already rolling down the driveway and here they were debating an order on the street. ”Do it. Now, Lieutenant.”
”Yes, ma'am.”
Jess settled into the pa.s.senger seat of Hayes's Audi. Her frustration mounted as she watched Ellis's Jag fading out of sight. Finally the BPD cruiser rolled out after him. ”Jesus.” She took a couple of deep breaths.
Hayes settled into the driver's seat. ”Where to now?”
”The morgue.” Maybe Lori would have that warrant for the gallery and Ellis's home soon.
No doubt word had traveled to the Vance sisters by now. They were wanted women.
Ellis's cage had been rattled. Time to find out what else the victims had to say.
Jefferson County Coroner's Office, 10:50 a.m.
”It took some time,” Sylvia Baron announced, ”but I found the culprit your killer used to disable the victims.”
”Not one of the usual date rape drugs?” Jess glanced at the lieutenant who seemed perfectly fine standing next to Mr. Thomas's body on a cold steel slab.
”Nope.” Sylvia pointed to a spot on the victim's upper thigh, near the groin. ”This is the injection site. I found one on the shoulders of the other two victims.”
”They disabled him with the stun gun and then injected him with...?” Jess prompted.
”Curare. A skeletal muscle relaxant. One of those organic compounds you have to be looking for to find.” Sylvia waved her hand and made a face. ”It wouldn't show up in a routine tox screen. I looked for the most common paralyzing agents until I found the one used. Just the right amount of Curare paralyzes. A little too much and the respiratory system shuts down.”
Jess couldn't wait until the county saw the bill for that one. Police business was like most others these days, trying to find ways to cut costs. ”So we were right about Templeton and Burgess not being able to fight back.”
”You were right,” Sylvia corrected. ”You pointed out the fact that neither victim fought their restraints. Good catch, Harris. I gave you full credit on the orders for testing. Now I won't have to listen to my boss complain about my decisions.”
Jess flashed her a fake smile. ”That was thoughtful of you.” What a friend! ”You have the cause of death on Thomas yet?” She'd said earlier that the triple stun gun hit hadn't been the culprit.
”Drug induced asphyxiation. They gave him too much of the Curare.”
Hayes checked his cell. ”I'll take this in the corridor,” he said to Jess as he backed out the door.
Her thoughts were on the Curare. The ways the Vance sisters may have gotten their hands on the drug ticked off in Jess's mind. Making it was risky business, but it could be done.
”So you're staying at Dan's now?”
Jess frowned at the ME. ”What? Yes. Just until we get this Spears thing under control.” She wasn't about to feed the rumor mill.
Sylvia peeled off her gloves and headed for the sink. ”Gina and I have a bet on how long it'll be before the two of you are married. I think I might win.”
”Is that a fact?” Jess checked her cell, wished she would get a call, too. Where the heck was Hayes?
”Are you going to be one of those over forty women who start having babies right away?” Sylvia tossed a paper towel into the trash. ”You don't want to let all those eggs shrivel up and die and, of course, we wouldn't want v.a.g.i.n.al atrophy to set in. Women like us are behind the curve, Harris.”
Now she was just fis.h.i.+ng. If Jess weren't standing here already pregnant, she would have been offended. Maybe she was anyway. Dammit. But she gave Sylvia grace. After all, her husband had left her for a younger woman who immediately gave him a child. What they needed was a subject change.
”Officer Cook seems to be quite smitten with you.”
The abrupt change of subject startled the ME, but she quickly regained her mental footing. ”I'm aware.”
”He's young and naive.”
Sylvia smiled. ”He is young. I don't know how naive he is.” She inclined her head. ”Get to your point, Harris. Do you have an issue with older women dating younger men?”