Moreland. This is how your premier law enforcement agency protects you.
So who can protect you? You can. I will ask for no more than you can afford—a laughably small price to pay for the safety of yourself and your loved ones.
“Scroll down,” I said.
“That’s it.”
“But there’s no demand. See if you can find a complete version—”
“That’s all there is, Dee. I’ve searched every copy, and every summary. There is no demand.”
Evelyn showed us a few sites where people were already debating the missing demand, and the significance of its absence. The prevailing theory was that the demand portion of the letter had been suppressed, that someone had managed to scare every news agency in the country into not printing it.
Bullshit, of course. The killer had intentionally held back his demand to leave people dangling. Let the panic mount, and the conspiracy theorists feed off it.
As for the ineptitude of the Feds, that was more misleading fear-mongering. He’d put the federal agents in the awkward position of defending themselves to Joe and Jane Citizen, who’ve read too many stories about inept, ineffectual or corrupt cops.
“Head games, Dee,” Jack murmured. “Remember that. We’re getting closer.”
“Are we?” I said, unclenching my jaw, but keeping my gaze down, hiding the dark rage bubbling in my gut. “This throws a big wrench in our theory, doesn’t it?”
Evelyn flicked off the monitor. “Tell me this theory.”
I explained what we’d learned from Volkv.
When I finished, she nodded. “If that’s not why Leon Kozlov was killed, it’s a hell of a coincidence. Only one problem…”
“This”—I waved at the television screen—“screws it all to bits. If he’s making demands, then he’s not doing preretirement cleaning.”
“Don’t be too sure, Dee. That’s isn’t the problem I meant. How many witnesses have you left, Jack?”
“None I know of.”
“I had one,” Evelyn said. “My fourth job. When I told my partner what happened, he sent me back to clean it up, and I learned my lesson there. Make damned sure you don’t have witnesses, or you might have to do something you’d rather not.”
I nodded. “In other words, if the killer is as good as he seems, there’s no way he should have left six witnesses…maybe more. So Kozlov is a coincidence?”
Evelyn shot off her chair and marched to her bookshelf. She grabbed a thin paperback. A second later it landed on my lap, the cover facing up.
“A B C Murders. Agatha Christie.” I skimmed the blurb on the back cover. “Oh, right, this is the one where the killer murders a bunch of people to hide a single—” I looked over at Evelyn. “You think he killed the others to cover killing Kozlov?”
“Former Russian mobster winds up dead, where’s the first place the cops look?”
“Organized crime.”
“A little extra effort, and Kozlov’s murder is hidden. Plus, our hitman goes out with a headline-making bang. Not a bad way to retire.”
“Killing five innocent people isn’t what I’d call a ‘little extra effort.’”
“You know what I mean. For someone who’s spent his life killing people, a few more isn’t going to matter. Most pros don’t even see people anymore. Not the way you do, Dee.” She looked at me, finger wagging. “And that’s what could make you a hell of a hitwoman. Conviction. Purpose. Passion. Harness that and—” Her eyes gleamed. “You might even become better than me.”
Her gaze locked mine, daring me to break away.
“Kozlov,” Jack cut in. “We need more.”
She looked at him. For a moment, no one spoke. Then she turned to her computer and got to work.
As Evelyn searched, we put together criteria for a list of potential hitmen.
“The Nikolaevs fired Kozlov in the early eighties, according to Little Joe,” I said. “That means we’re looking for a guy at least…”
“My age,” Jack said. “Probably older.”
“And judging by the language in that letter, I’d say he’s well educated,” I added.
“Age,” Evelyn said, not looking up from her typing. “The style. It’s overly formal. Not so much educated as an older person trying to sound educated.”
“Educated in an era before e-mail, so he pays more attention to his word choices, composition, whatever.” I looked at the printout. “He goes overboard. Wanting to sound smart, not be dismissed as some high school dropout thug. Appearances are important. Could be self-esteem issues there, too. Proving himself, like with the murders.”
“Wilkes retired yet?” Jack called over to Evelyn.
“Dropped out of the life years ago. And a plodder. His idea of creativity was toy handcuffs. We’re looking for someone with vision.”
“Add him anyway,” Jack said to