matter that his former subordinate was now his boss. This was a command, and it was going to be obeyed without question, or there would be consequences.
Davis left the room first, and I was on his heels as Zach stepped out of the room and locked the door behind us. After he did that, he took the key and put it back into his pocket.
“You know where to reach me if you need me,” he said to Davis.
“Yes, of course. I’ll be in touch if anything else comes in tonight.”
“Thanks, but it won’t,” I said, not realizing that I’d just vocalized my thoughts.
“Why do you say that?” Davis was looking at me oddly, but Zach just smiled.
I’d started this, so I had to explain my reasoning. “There’s no need to. We’ve been warned, and until midnight tomorrow, the killer is going to wait and see before he does anything else.”
“You’re putting a great deal of faith in a theory,” Davis said.
Zach answered for me. “She’s right, and you know it.”
We got on the elevator and traveled down to the ground floor. Davis was surprisingly quiet all of a sudden, and I thought I knew why. Zach had backed me to the fullest, instead of taking Davis’s side. It had to sting, but what did he expect? He and Zach might have been friends and coworkers at one time, but I was his wife.
It helped that I was right, too.
We left Davis on the ground floor and made our way to our car. Even though we would still be working in our suite, it was a much more conducive atmosphere for critical analysis. We didn’t have to worry about anyone trying to get into our room. It was our sanctuary, and the way things were going, we were going to need it. I wasn’t sure how long we were going to be able to ignore the killer, but I had the feeling that by tomorrow night, I might be packing my bags if we weren’t able to name the murderer.
Blood on my hands was something I just wasn’t willing to risk, no matter how brave I’d sounded talking to Davis.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW LONG THIS DAY HAS BEEN,” I SAID AS we walked into our suite.
“It’s going to get longer. That note has put us under the gun. It’s long past personal.”
I stared hard at my husband. “Zach, what are we going to do if we can’t figure this out in time? I can’t stand the thought of someone dying because of us.”
“He’s counting on that, you know. We must have struck a nerve over the last few days.”
“I don’t doubt it, but who’s guilty?”
“I have a few ideas.” He tapped the box in front of him. “It’s in here. I just know it.”
“I have faith in you.”
“I’m thankful for that, believe me. Are you having any luck with the latest note? I can’t imagine what that clue was supposed to mean. I’m guessing he’s just trying to muddy our thinking.”
“I have to treat it seriously, though. If there’s something there that could help us, I have to keep searching for it.” I studied the latest copy, and then added, “Even if the clue is inadvertent.”
“What do you mean?”
I sighed. “I don’t really know how to explain it. Do you know how you can tell when someone’s lying to you?”
“Any number of ways, actually. The suspect’s eyes shift downward, he covers part of his mouth with his hand, or maybe his inflection changes.”
“But sometimes he does none of those things, and you still know.”
Zach nodded. “Okay, I agree that there are parts of my mind working on levels I can’t easily access.”
I smiled at him. “Kind of like women’s intuition?”
“More like a seasoned cop’s gut feeling.”
“Same thing,” I said.
“Maybe. What’s that got to do with the codes we’ve been receiving?”
“Numbers can lie, too.”
That got his attention. “How can that be true? A four is always a four. It can’t tell you it’s a three.”
“There are some mathematicians who believe that the entire world of statistics is one big lie. In fact, I had a stat professor in college who had a plaque above his door so everyone would see it when they left the classroom. It said, ‘Figures lie, and liars figure.’ He taught me that you can manipulate data to suit your purposes.”
“Okay, I can see that,” my husband said. “But that four is still a four.”
“Sure, but what if it’s disguising itself as one plus three?”
He shook his head. “It’s still a four.”
“But isn’t one way of lying telling only part of the truth? Numbers are perfect for that kind of sin of omission.” I tapped the latest copy. “There could be something in here disguised as a lie, but it’s really the truth.”
“If that’s the case, you’re going to have to find it, not me. I’m lost as usual when it comes to your number discussion.”
“That’s okay,” I said as I touched his hair lightly. “You’re good at other things.”
“I just wish one of them was solving this case.”
