Of Fever and Blood

Or is there something we’re missing?

Something less… ordinary?

She turned around to study the circle of blood around the boardroom table.

So, what’s the meaning of your ritual?

You’ve made me run in circles for a whole year.

Leroy crouched behind one of the armchairs to take photos.

“To put it mildly, the man likes to play with blood.”

“He has been covered with it,” the pathologist confirmed. “A hell of a bloodbath. Do you think it’s a message he left for us? To test us?”

“You betcha,” Deveraux asserted, hands on his hips. “He wants to prove that he’s smarter than we are. But trust me, honey, this won’t last.”

“I don’t think he did any of this thinking about us,” Eva said.

“Yeah, right,” Deveraux said. “All this fucking setup, the moronic message, who’s that for? The pigeons?”

“What he’s doing has a meaning, yes. But it has meaning for himself only,” Eva insisted. “That’s what’s important for him, the ritual. He intends to accomplish something very specific. He’ll complete it at any cost. We just have to figure out what it’s about before he strikes again.”

Deveraux gave her an exasperated look.

“Words, and more words. You’re good at talking up a storm, aren’t you. To me, there’s nothing complicated to understand here. We’re dealing with a nutcase. The man wanted to shed blood, and he found a way to get inside the building. I tend to think it’s a Goth freak. That’s the kind of people Barbara Meyer hung out with, right? Some of those kids actually worship death and the devil and shit. One of them just took it a bit too far, that’s all.”

“Will you shut the fuck up, Jean-Luc?” Eva snapped.

Deveraux shot her a murderous look.

“Of course. I forgot you’re all-knowing, right? Then, honey, go solve it for us. Just try not to kill anybody, for once.”

Eva tensed.

“First of all, I’m not your honey. If it hurts to call me by my name, you can use my rank, Jean-Luc. That’s inspector.”

“Oh yeah? Then how about Inspector Honey?” he sniggered.

Leroy landed a hand on his colleague’s shoulder.

“I’m getting tired of it too, Jean-Luc. We’re supposed to be a team, so leave Eva alone, will you? We’re here to work together.”

“A team, you tell me?” Deveraux barked. “I’d actually like to do my job properly here, without having to listen to the nonsense that keeps coming out of this one’s mouth.”

“Okay,” Eva said. “I’ve taken enough shit already. You guys can interview the personnel yourselves. I’m done here.”

“There you go,” Deveraux went on. “On top of everything else, you just abandon your post. The chief will love that, I’m sure.”

Eva left the room before she exploded.

21

Officer Leroy ran after her in the hallway and grabbed her arm.

“Leave me alone, Erwan,” she said, yanking herself free.

Her colleague backed off, trying a calmer approach.

“Eva, listen to me. I’m really sorry about his behavior. He’s an asshole, really. I don’t understand why the boss stuck him with us again.”

Eva leaned against the wall. Her hands were trembling, but her face remained impassive. She knew full well why.

“It’s not a big deal,” she said. “I’m getting used to it.”

“All men aren’t like that, you know.”

“Deep down? I think most are-with one or two exceptions,” Eva said.

Erwan Leroy still gave her a smile.

“You’re letting us do the interviews then? You sure you don’t want to take care of that?”

The inspector straightened her glasses and looked around. The Chick offices were set up like a little maze: a series of corridors connecting rooms that seemed identical at first glance. A bit farther on, by the elevators, was the reception area. She could see some of their colleagues talking to the cleaning crew. The rest of the team must have been busy gathering contact info for the magazine staff in order to start the interviews as soon as possible.

She shrugged.

“All they’re going to tell us is that their boss was harder with them than she needed to be, that she worked way too much, stayed late at the office, had morals that were loose enough to cause people to talk behind her back.” She studied the hallway where they stood, thinking. “Nobody was left in the building last night. Still, our man took the elevator or used the staircase. In both instances, you need a magnetic ID. Each use is registered and time stamped.”

“I’ve already asked about that,” Erwan told her. “No one used an ID before the cleaning crew this morning.”

“Then it’s Desiderio who let him in. Jean-Luc is a moron, but he’s right about one thing. The victim knew her killer. Just like Meyer knew him. Maybe we’ll luck out tracking down their mutual acquaintances.”

“You think our man came here to shut Desiderio up so she couldn’t identify him?”

Eva took a moment to think.

“That’s quite possible, actually. But still, there are too many details that don’t add up. All that’s certain is, he’ll do it again.”

She pushed herself off the wall and began walking.

Leroy followed.

“But then,” he insisted, “What are we focusing on, exactly?”

“The ritual,” Eva said. “That’s the key. I’d bet my bottom dollar on it. We need to understand what’s going on in our killer’s mind, why he’s doing this. Why cutting up girls turns him on so much.”

Flashing their badges, they made their way past the officers screening the entrance, and Eva dove into the elevator.

“Wait, I’m going with you,” Leroy said, following her inside. Eva pressed the button for the ground floor.

“So, what are you going to tell him?” he asked as they slowly went down the eight floors.

“What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what. We’re meeting with the boss this afternoon, and you already know what question he’s going to ask.”

Of course Eva knew. She just had no idea what she was going to say.

“He’ll want to know if there’s a link to the Salaville case,” she said. “And if there is a link, he’ll want to know how I managed to fuck up that much last year.”

“That’s exactly what I meant,” Leroy said.

“And if I can’t serve something real convincing to him, he’s not going to be a happy camper.”

“That’s the spirit,” Leroy said. “The media’s going to go ape shit over this. We’d better bring our A game, and sooner rather than later.”

“What do you want me to say? I missed something last year. Something huge. And the worst of it is that I