Free Dead End by Mariah Stewart Page A

for the office directory even as she hung up. She found the number she was looking for, dialed, then waited.
    “Fletcher.”
    “My favorite computer geek.” She sighed dramatically.
    “My favorite profiler.” Will Fletcher laughed. “How’s it going, Annie?”
    “Good. You?”
    “Terrific. Great wedding, by the way.”
    “You and Miranda seemed to be having a good time.” She paused, then added, “Especially Miranda.”
    “Hey, my girl does love to party. Never met a band she couldn’t dance to.”
    “And dance, she did.”
    They both laughed, then Will said, “But you didn’t call to talk about Miranda’s happy feet.”
    “Actually, I was hoping you could give me a hand with something.”
    “This have anything to do with you and Evan looking into Dylan’s death?”
    “How’d you know about that?” she asked. “Oh. I almost forgot. The word is that Will Fletcher knows everything. Word is that you have mysterious sources.”
    “Not so mysterious. I saw Brendan yesterday. He mentioned it.”
    “Evan and I are taking a look at the circumstances surrounding Dylan’s death, but this has nothing to do with that.”
    “Doesn’t matter. I’m happy to help, either way.”
    “Actually, this has to do with a case Evan is working back in Pennsylvania.”
    “Those young girls that have been murdered?”
    “If you know that, you probably know that they have three victims that are similar but unrelated.”
    “I heard a rumor, but no details. Tell me.”
    She did.
    “So you’re looking to identify the tattoo.”
    “For starters, yes. I can fax you a picture of them.” She reached over and studied the faxed image again.
    “When do you need an answer?”
    “As soon as you have one.”
    “Let me get to work on it and get back to you. I assume if I get a hit, you want all available information?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “I’ll see what I can do.”
    “Thanks, Will. Give me your fax number.”
    She wrote it down, then programmed the number into the machine next to her desk.
    “It’s on its way.”
    “I’ll be waiting for it.”
    How did anyone ever get anything done without all of this modern technology? she wondered as she fed the picture into the machine.
    Well, they got it done, it just took a lot longer.
    Evan’s fax fed through the machine and the buzz assured her the operation was completed. If anyone could trace that tattoo, it was Will Fletcher, whose skills were legendary in the Bureau. She had full confidence that if the tattoo had been entered into the system, Will would find it. She mentally moved on to the next task on her list of things to do.
    Find Melissa Lowery.

9
    Chris Malone, chief detective, Avon County, was staring out the window, a sheet of paper in his hand, when Evan knocked on the doorframe. Malone turned to look over his shoulder.
    “Come on in, Crosby.”
    “What’s up?” Evan entered the office and leaned over the back of a leather wing chair.
    “Same thing that’s been up. The D.A. has the entire county on his back over this killer who’s running around, snatching the daughters of some of our leading citizens off the street, and we’re all being toasted in the press.”
    “Yeah, the parking lot is full of news vans. I had to park down on Fourth Street again this morning.”
    “Well, get used to it. None of them are leaving until this is over. Did you see this morning’s paper?”
    He walked to his desk and held up the front page of the county’s tabloid. LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT STYMIED. HOW MANY MORE VICTIMS WILL THE KILLER CLAIM?
    He turned the page and opened it to the lead story on page three and read the screaming headline. “ ‘Will Your Daughter Be Next?’ ”
    Malone tossed the paper onto his desk in disgust.
    “And up until this morning, we didn’t have one fucking clue.”
    “What happened this morning?” Evan asked.
    “This.” Malone handed him the sheet of paper he’d been holding. Evan studied it for a full minute before reacting.
    DEAR