Free The Poisonous Ten by Tyler Compton

Fairmont asked. “You mean, like, this is an unfinished swastika?”
    “No,” Tanaka said with a roll of her eyes, clearly getting fed up explaining everything. “Not a Jew. Jū.” The examiner pronounced the word with more emphasis, and most around the table heard the Japanese in the word.
    “You mean like ten?” Parks asked.
    “Oh,” Tanaka paused, the look on her face showing her surprise that Parks knew the Japanese number for ten. “Yes, exactly. Jū. The Japanese character for ten.”
    “So what are you saying?” Parks asked, his eyes glassing over.
    “Not saying anything,” Tanaka admitted. “Just that I think it’s the symbol for the Japanese character for ten. I don’t know what it means. That’s your job. I just bring you what I find. And it could just be a plus sign. Who knows?”
    “But it means something,” Moore added. “It has to. The killer wouldn’t just put that on the body for no reason. It means something.”
    “Most likely,” Parks agreed. “Okay. We have some r esearch to do. We need to run a check to see if there have been any similar murders with matching symbols carved into the bodies or left at the crime scene. Check with VICAP. Then we still have to find out how and why Allison Tisdale was chosen. I think that’s just as important as why our killer’s doing what he’s doing. He chose her. For a reason. We need to know why. And how he came across her path. Does he know her intimately? Professionally? We need to tear Allison Tisdale’s life apart piece by piece and then put it all back together again. This could be about anyone in Allison’s life. So we’re going to have to dig deep with this.”
    “We’re on it,” Moore said, motioning to Fairmont.
    “Oh, Amy. The victim . . . was she pregnant?” Parks asked. Tanaka made a face, so Parks offered an explanation. “We’re crossing off potential reasons behind the honey.”
    “Not sure what honey has to do with pregnancy, but for the record, Allison Tisdale was not pregnant.”
    “Good. Perfect. Milo, we’re also going to have to do some research on the number ten and poisons,” Parks continued. “What I think we should do is find out all we can about the number ten. What’s its significance to anything? Locally? Historically? Universally? Anything and everything. But that’s not a priority.”
    “Got it,” Tippin said.
    “Jackie, you’re on the cyanide. See if there’s anything significant that’s been stolen in the last six months. At least. Anything reported missing. Universities. Chemical plants. Not just cyanide. Everything poisonous. I’m not talking Tylenol and simple household items. Our guy is theatrical. He’s going for big and showy. The exotic. See if anything sticks out. I understand this is a needle in a big-ass haystack, but it’s at least a start. The problem with only one body is we’re not sure what his plan is, or what direction he’s planning on going. So until we learn something else we have a large canvas that everything’s going to fall into.”
    “I’ll make some calls. See what I can find out,” Jackie o ffered. “I know certain people in the right circles when it comes to poisons.”
    “All right then,” Parks said, standing back up to end the meeting. “Everyone do what you can. Go home and get some rest and be back bright and early tomorrow. We have a full day ahead of us.”              
    Parks noticed Hardwick motion for him to follow her out of the room. He followed her to her office where she asked him to close the door behind himself.
    “Is something wrong?” Parks began. “With the assignments I just—”
    “No, no,” Hardwick said, brushing Parks’s comment off and motioning for him to sit in one of the chairs opposite her desk. “You know what you’re doing. You know how to lead an investigation. You don’t need me eyeing your every move.”
    “Though the higher-ups would probably prefer that you did, considering recent