back.
It was a five-pointed star but drawn upside down.
'Yep, same thing I did.'
He turned to see Williams staring at him. The police chief bent down and lifted Hinson's shirt. 'And it's here too.' They all studied the drawing on the woman's belly.
Michelle had seen the symbol on the wall as well. 'It's an upside-down pentagram,' she said. She drew in a sharp breath and looked at King and Williams. 'That one I know. Richard Ramirez, right?'
'The Night Stalker,' said King, nodding. 'Who, unless I'm mistaken, currently resides on death row almost three thousand miles from here. He drew an upside-down pentagram on some of his victims, and also on walls of at least one of his victims' bedrooms, just like here.'
Williams turned Hinson to the side, and they all looked at the multiple bloody stab wounds covering her back.
'Sylvia says it looks like she was held facedown, stabbed in the back and then presumably turned over and her hand wedged against the bureau drawer.'
The lawman laid her back down without any indication that he might soon forfeit his breakfast. Williams's resistance to nightmarish sights seemed to be growing stronger.
'Any clues?' asked Michelle.
'The killer used a knife from her kitchen to stab her and telephone cord from one of her phones to bind her. There are marks on her wrists that show that. But he took off the restraints to prop up her arm. There are lots of prints in here, but I'd be real surprised if the bastard wasn't wearing gloves.'
'And we're sure it's a man?'
'No sign of a struggle. She was overpowered pretty quickly. And even if a woman did that maybe with a gun in hand, it'd be a little risky to tie her up. Hinson might have been able to get the upper hand. She was in great physical shape.'
King looked puzzled. 'And no one saw or heard anything? These are attached residential units. Somebody had to have seen or heard something.'
'We're looking into that, of course, but it's too early to tell. We do know that the unit to the right of Hinson's was for sale and empty.'
'When was she killed?' asked Michelle.
'You'll have to ask Sylvia that, if that FBI fellow will let her go.'
King glanced over once more in Sylvia's direction. 'Is he with VICAP?'
'To tell you the God's honest truth, I'm not sure. I've had so many people in here I don't know who's coming or going.'
'Todd,' said King, 'make sure you don't say that within earshot of a defense counsel.'
Williams looked confused for a moment and then said, 'Oh, right, gotcha.'
They went and looked at the watch.
'It's set to four o'clock,' said Williams miserably.
King bent down and took a closer look. 'No, it's not.'
'What?' exclaimed Williams.
'It's set to one minute
Williams knelt beside him. 'Come on, Sean, I think under the circumstances that's close enough.'
'This guy's been pretty precise up to now, Todd.'
Williams looked skeptical. 'He'd just killed a woman and wanted to get out as fast as possible. He's probably operating in the dark. Unlike with the other crime scenes, he's smack in the middle of lots of potential witnesses. In his rush he probably just didn't notice he was barely one minute off.'
'Maybe,' said King with equal skepticism. 'But a killer who's careful enough not to leave any usable trace behind doesn't strike me as the sort to write ‘kid' when he really meant ‘kids' or set a watch to four-oh-one when he meant four.'
'Well, if he did mean to make it one minute past, why?' asked Michelle.
King had no answer for that. He looked down at the dead woman for a long moment as Williams went off to check something else in the room.
Michelle put a hand on his shoulder. 'I'm sorry, Sean, I forgot you knew her.'
'She was a good person and a fine lawyer. And she sure as hell didn't deserve this-not that anyone does.'
As they walked past Sylvia on their way out, she stopped them. The man in the suit had joined another group hovering over the body. He was a little shorter than King but thicker and very strongly built; his shoulders seemed to be splitting out of his suit. He had thinning brownish-gray hair, cauliflower ears and a boxer's flattened nose resting between two intense brown eyes.
Sylvia said, 'Well, number four and counting. The Night Stalker. Who would have thought?' She shook her head.
'Who's the guy you were talking to?' King asked.
'FBI agent. Chip Bailey, from Charlottesville.'
'Chip Bailey?' King said slowly.
'Do you know him?' asked Sylvia.
'No, but I think I'd like to.'
'I can arrange something. Later, of course. People are pretty busy right now.'
'That's fine.' He paused and then added, 'Did you note the time on the watch?'
Sylvia nodded. 'One minute past four. Like Pembroke's.'
'What?' King and Michelle said together.
'Pembroke's watch was set to one minute past two. Didn't I tell you that?'
'No,' said Michelle, 'and neither did Todd. He seems to think it was close enough to discount any significance.'
'What do you think?' King asked her.
'I think it's important. I just don't know why.'
'Anything else jump out at you?' asked King.
'I did a rectal temp on Hinson, after I checked for evidence of sexual assault, of course; that turned out negative. She's been dead eight to nine hours. There are
Michelle picked up on the tone in Sylvia's voice. 'That equals overkill.'
'Yes. It also equals rage,' said Sylvia. 'There were no defensive wounds on her hands or forearms. She was obviously surprised and quickly overpowered.'
She picked up her bag and nodded toward the door. 'I'm heading back to the office. I've got patients to see, and then I'll do the post on Hinson.'
'We'll walk out with you,' said King.
They headed out into brisk air that was being quickly warmed by the sun.
'I meant to ask you, how's your investigation coming with Junior Deaver?'
King glanced at her in surprise. 'How'd you know about that?'
'I ran into Harry Carrick at the grocery store. I told him you two were looking into these murders, and he told me you were doing work for him. I still can't believe Junior Deaver could have done it. He's done work at my house. I always found him very courteous and accommodating, if a little rough around the edges.'
'We met with Remmy, Eddie, Dorothea and Savannah and the household staff.'
'And didn't get too far, I'm sure,' noted Sylvia.
'Remmy's really torn up about Bobby,' said King.
'I heard he was in very bad shape.'
'Well, there's hope,' said Michelle. 'He recently regained consciousness, even spoke, but he just rambles apparently; he's not really coherent, just spouting off names and such. But still that's a positive thing, I suppose.'
'Strokes are completely unpredictable,' said Sylvia. 'Just when you think someone's recovering, they suddenly pass away, or vice versa.'
