I have some big news,” Dan said.
They had adjusted their clothing, opened Melanie’s office door, and sat down. They were sitting and talking as calmly as any prosecutor and agent discussing evidence in a case, as if the wild tumult of ten minutes earlier had never happened. Melanie felt relieved, like she’d stepped onto solid ground after being lost at sea.
“You found out who’s sending the e-mails?” she guessed.
“What e-mails?”
“Didn’t you get my message?”
Dan pulled out his phone and looked at it. “Oh. Sorry, I’ve been on the damn thing the whole time.”
“You’ve been hard to reach lately.”
Dan looked back at her without answering.
“Never mind,” she said. “Tell me your news first, then I’ll explain.”
“David Harris is free and clear. The DNA profile developed from the skin found under Suzanne’s fingernails doesn’t match the sample he gave. We already pulled the surveillance detail off him.”
“Quick turnaround time on the DNA test,” she commented.
“Yeah, even I can’t believe how fast they did it, and I was the one hounding ’em. We still don’t have the results back from the CODIS database comparison, and we sent that sample over almost a full day earlier.”
“When will we get that?”
“I was told by close of business today, but it hasn’t come through. I have no idea what’s taking so long. All’s they have to do is push a button on a computer.”
“Can you call them again?”
“I tried. Nobody picked up. I’m afraid we’re gonna have to wait till Monday morning now.”
“If Harris is innocent, that means the real Butcher is still out there, and we need to find him. Fast,” Melanie said.
“I know that. But it’s not like the results on Harris come as a surprise. You didn’t really think he did it, did you?”
“Not really.”
“To me, his story always had the ring of truth. I mean, what married guy is gonna put himself in the Ramble looking to blow another guy if it isn’t true? Even to beat a murder rap?”
“We should offer Harris protection,” Melanie said. “If he’s not the Butcher, then he’s my star witness.”
“You’re right.”
Her phone rang. “Hold on a second,” she said, picking it up.
Melanie listened to the sound coming over the wire. It took her a minute to figure out what she was hearing.
“What’s the matter? Something wrong?” Dan asked, seeing the look on her face.
“That’s so weird. It’s—it’s me.”
“What?”
She pressed the speakerphone button. The sound of Melanie’s own voice filled the room, answering a question at the news conference she’d given in the early morning hours after Suzanne Shepard’s murder.
“What the hell is that?” Dan said.
“It’s me. At the news conference. Somebody must have recorded it off the TV.”
“Is anybody on the line?” Dan asked.
“Hello? Hello?” Melanie said into the speaker.
The only reply was audible breathing, followed by a moan.
“What the fuck!” Dan leaped to his feet and came charging around the desk. “Who’s there?” he yelled into the speaker.
The line abruptly went dead.
Melanie looked up at him with frightened eyes. “I wonder if that’s the same guy who’s e-mailing me.”
“Tell me about these e-mails right now,” Dan demanded.
She took a deep breath. “I’ve gotten two so far. Both moderately obscene in content. The first one was the morning after the murder. The guy said he’d seen me on TV, which is what makes me think this phone call might be from him. Janice and I decided he was just some creep, that it was nothing to worry about. But he sent another one earlier today, and he makes it sound like he’s following me. That one got me nervous.”
“Any reason to think this asshole is connected to the murder?”
“In the first e-mail, he called Suzanne Shepard a bitch and said the Butcher did the world a favor, but that wasn’t enough to raise a red flag for me. I figured the actual killer would have said something more specific about the crime.”
“Show me the e-mails, now.”
Dan was scowling. It occurred to Melanie that getting him involved might not have been the smartest move. Dan had a tendency to become overprotective and lose his cool when her safety was at stake. Too late now. Under his thunderous gaze, Melanie printed out the two e-mails and handed them to him.
“Why is it you invariably fail to tell me shit like this in a timely fashion?” he demanded when he’d finished reading.
“I left you a message that you didn’t bother to listen to, remember? Why is it you haven’t been answering your phone lately?”
“Don’t change the subject. You left that message an hour ago, but you got the first e-mail a day and a half ago.”
“We’re not talking about me, and I don’t want to fight. Just tell me what you think of the e-mails.”
Dan’s face flushed with fury. “What do I think? I think I’m gonna find this prick and pummel him to a bloody fucking pulp without due process of law.”
“Be serious.”
“I’m very serious. Break every bone in his goddamn body and leave him bleeding in the gutter.”
“But do you think he’s dangerous?”
“I think he’s a dead man.”
“Okay, I get the point.”
“Fucking psycho. The guy was jerking off on the phone just now, you know.”
She swallowed hard. “We can’t be sure of that.”
“Oh yeah? What do you think he was doing?”
Melanie didn’t answer.
“I’m gonna put him in the ground,” Dan said.
“You don’t mean that.”
But he stormed out of her office, slamming the door behind him.
“You wonder why I don’t tell you this stuff,” she muttered to the still-vibrating door.