Drained (Edgars Family #6) - Suzanne Ferrell Page 0,115
at the edge and took another deep breath. Music played inside. He strained to make it out. It was the kind rich people went to hear at the opera or nerdy kids who played violins learned for school productions.
With his heart pounding in his ear, he leaned in closer. Like he thought, the paint was completely covering the glass. As if someone smeared it on in a hurry. I guess when you were busy planning how to kill people and drain out all their blood, doing a good paint job wasn’t a priority.
He turned a little more and tried to see more of what was hiding inside.
Squinting, to adjust to the bright lights inside, he could see the big white van to the left. To the right? A large metal door.
Suddenly something struck him in the back. Lightning charged through him.
His body spasmed.
He couldn’t breathe as he fell to the ground.
35
“So, you think he’s got a doctor as his next victim?” Captain Stedaman asked Aaron.
Both search teams were gathered back in the Homicide Division’s conference room. Brianna sat between Aaron and Carson. In front of her lay two picture frames in evidence bags—one the picture of what they assumed was Armbruster’s mother, the other was a funeral program for her. It had been the last item they’d found in the secret hiding space. And a third bag held old typed medial reports.
“The things we found in his stash all meant something to him and his victims,” Aaron said, holding up the bag with the violin inside. “This belonged to Mia Tanaka. Confirmed by Ms. Matthews.”
He held up the next bag with the school sweatshirt in it, then passed it on to the captain. “Kyle Dandridge’s high school logo.”
Then he lifted the first small bag. “Art’s Army medals. And then there’s this.” He handed the last bag to his boss. “It’s a medical school alumni ring. We checked and those are only given to people who graduated from this particular medical school. We’re assuming that if our guy has it, the doctor it belongs to is strapped to a table somewhere being drained of his blood.”
“Don’t suppose there’s a doctor on the missing person’s list?” Stedaman asked, laying the bag back down with the others after studying the ring.
Jaylon shook his head. “First thing we did when we saw the ring. No such luck.”
“We’re working on the idea this was a doctor who hit hard times and living among the homeless like our other victims,” Aaron said.
“Makes sense,” the captain said, folding his arms over his chest. “Have we checked with the local hospitals to find out if any of them had a doctor on staff who graduated from this school?”
Again, Jaylon shook his head. “Not yet, but a few of them said they’d get back to us in the morning. You know what it’s like to get information on a Sunday, especially at nearly eleven at night.”
Stedaman nodded then focused on Brianna. She sat up a little straighter. “What have you there Ms. Matthews?”
“We found this framed picture on top of the credenza where Armbruster hid his treasures.” She pointed at the second bag in front of her. “The other is the funeral program from Armbruster’s mother. The techs found these medical reports in with it.”
“The importance of it?”
“It gives us motive.” Carson took up the story. “According to the first report, Armbruster’s mother was the rarest blood type and bled out due to a lack of the appropriate blood in the hospital.”
“And the second?” Stedaman asked with one brow arched at the FBI profiler.
“From the same hospital. Part of a chart from the Emergency Department on the same day as Armbruster’s mother’s death. Same blood type.”
“Let me guess. He was homeless.”
Everyone in the room nodded.
“And the blood at the blood bank?” the captain asked.
“Investigator Ramos and the techs took samples of all the blood they had in the labs,” Matt said.
He’d elected to come with Jaylon back to the precinct instead of returning to the safehouse. Brianna could see both the frustration and excitement on all the men’s faces. Matt wasn’t going to be left out of the hunt when they were this close.
“She told Jaylon she’d put a rush on them. The administrators weren’t too happy they’d have to close the lab to the local hospitals until the results are back.”
“Okay, not much we can do tonight with Armbruster in the wind,” Stedaman said. “Any luck on finding his killing spot?”