Normally, I wouldn’t give my word to anyone unless I intended to keep it. I didn’t see a reason to backpedal now. We would interview the people whose names Tim gave us, and that would be that. There wasn’t a good reason to disclose his name, and it wouldn’t serve any useful purpose.
Devon waited with pen in hand for Tim to give us the names of those he thought might go to the extreme of human sacrifice. On our own, we didn’t have a single name, but with his help, we would compare the names to the rest of those nine police jackets we had.
Reluctantly, he told us that Dylan Marx and Trent Fremont would likely go that far if one was coaxed by the other. “They were as thick as thieves and usually the two who initiated every animal kill and sacrifice. The rest of us were as stupid as sheep.”
“And I imagine sheep were also sacrificed,” I said sarcastically.
Tim stared at the floor again. “Yeah, they were.”
I handed him my card. “Okay, and that’s all you know?”
“It is.”
“Thanks, and if you think of any more names, just call.”
“I won’t.”
I frowned since I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant. Maybe he wouldn’t come up with more names, or maybe he wouldn’t call if he did. No matter what, we knew where he lived if we had to go back and talk to him again.
Rue and I returned to the precinct with the little information we’d gotten. We’d interviewed only two of the four people we’d intended to, and only one had told us anything. We had a twenty-five percent success rate on that trip—not the best. So far, only Tim had given us a few names to work with, although even that wasn’t voluntary.
We checked for Dylan and Trent’s names in that group of nine that had been arrested for animal abuse years earlier. Their names weren’t among them. That worried me. Had twisted people like them slipped through the cracks? Were they currently committing heinous deeds right in Savannah’s backyard? We needed to find out.
After buying two coffees, we returned to our office and prepared to find out more on the two names we’d gotten. Before I forgot, I grabbed my phone to call Royce and ask whether Lawrence and Bentley had reported in yet. If luck and the right camera angle were on our side, they might have seen Valerie walking to her car, a suspicious vehicle following her, or even the abduction itself.
“Hey, Boss, Rue and I are back with a little information to follow up on.”
“At least that’s something,” Royce said.
“Nothing back from Bentley and Lawrence on the cameras?”
“They saw Valerie on Sparky’s outdoor camera, which only caught her for a half block. Then they saw her again near the intersection at Whitaker as she turned south. No further reports since then, and that was an hour ago.”
“Okay, just wondering. We’re going to look up those two names, grab lunch, and then check out the rest of the abusers who have police records.” I ended the call and joggled my computer’s mouse, and the screen came to life. Rue looked up Trent Fremont on his computer, and I entered the name Dylan Marx on mine. As I waited for the program to propagate, I tapped my fingers against the desk. When the results popped up, I leaned in closer and read them. “Humph.”
Rue glanced across his desk. “What does ‘humph’ mean?”
“Looks like Dylan Marx has a lengthy arrest record.”
Rue perked up. “Yeah, for what?”
“You name it, but nothing that sent him away for more than a year. Battery on men and women, selling weed, breaking and entering, forging checks, and holding an ex-girlfriend in his house against her will.”
“And none of that ever got him more than a year in the joint?”
“Nope. His attorney always bargained the sentence down.”
“Humph,” Rue said. “Lucky guy.”
“Let’s put him on the person of interest list along with Daniel Clayton and then speak to the rest of the nine.” I sighed. “It’ll take the remainder of the day, and after that, we should know which direction this investigation is going to take us.”
“Meaning whether Valerie was killed for profit or for sacrifice?”
“That’s exactly right.”
Seconds later, my desk phone rang. Royce was on the other end. I answered and pressed Speaker so Rue could listen in.
“Cannon, I just got word from Bentley. He said they finished reviewing every camera along Valerie’s route. They didn’t see a vehicle follow her or anyone abduct her. The last camera was too far away from where her heel was found to catch anything.”
That much, I was relatively sure of considering the distance that last store camera was from her high heel.
“Damn it. So we really don’t know if she was dragged away or picked up in a vehicle.”
“That’s correct.”
I let out an involuntary groan. “That doesn’t leave us with much, but we’ll continue down the path we’re taking now. Maybe Bentley and Lawrence can pitch in with interviewing the remaining animal abusers. If each of them gives us a new name, we might get somewhere.”
“Yep, continue with what you’re doing, and I’ll have the guys stop in your office when they get back.”
“Roger that.” I turned to Rue after hanging up. “Get anything on Trent?”
Rue rubbed his chin. “Still reading, but he sure as hell isn’t a Sunday school teacher. Looks like he just got a visit from the PD last week.”
“Really? Why?”
“Neighbor called it in. Said he was threatening to poison her dog.”
“Did he say why?”
“Yeah, he doesn’t like animals.”