Dreaming Death (Krewe of Hunters #32) - Heather Graham Page 0,66

But that doesn’t clear him.”

“Or his wife,” Keenan said.

“Do we have any reason to suspect her?” Jackson asked.

“No, but we’re looking at Cindy Hardy. Hatred can run deep,” Keenan said.

Jackson excused himself as his phone rang. He took the call quickly, giving guttural replies, and then saying a quick, “Thank you.”

He looked at Stacey and Keenan again. “That was Dr. Beau Simpson. That piece of kidney that was sent to Stacey had signs of the early stages of kidney disease. So, one of our victims didn’t turn out to be a good donor. But of course, heart, kidney, lungs and livers were also taken.”

“I really think we’re right on this. There’s an illegal transplant operation going on somewhere,” Keenan said. He looked at Stacey. “You nailed it early,” he said.

He nodded at Jackson. “We’ll get started, reinterviewing Cindy Hardy, and then we’ll pay a visit to Sandra Smith. When those lists come in—”

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door, and Angela opened it and stepped in. “You’re going to love this. You asked about the murders and disappearances of men in the area. Five men missing—the info has been sent to your email addresses. None of them were from this area. Three on vacation and two who had just moved here.”

“So, they might just have wanted to disappear, or they moved on, or they might just be victims, and these killers are disposing of their bodies,” Jackson said.

“They were all between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five. Fit. In good health,” Angela said.

“May be part of it all, maybe not,” Jackson muttered. “If so, that means there’s a lot more victims, and this thing is really monstrous.”

“Well, there’s more. You also asked about strange murders,” Angela said.

“Yes?” Keenan said.

“Check your email. A human head was found floating in Chesapeake Bay. Mostly consumed. Maryland State Police had a reconstruction sketch artist working on it and a forensic anthropologist. Male, Caucasian, about thirty years of age.”

“This has to be stopped,” Keenan said. “All right, Stacey, let’s visit some women.”

* * *

“Do you really think either of these women would have the strength or know-how to kill like that?” Stacey asked Keenan as they headed to the garage, stopping just before they reached the car.

“You don’t have to commit the murder to conspire to murder,” Keenan reminded her.

She stood still, drawing in a deep breath. “I know this is a long shot, but something has been bugging me. Well, a couple of things... But... Keenan, I know there has to be footage of the McCarron trial somewhere. Do you think that we could find it and watch it?”

He frowned. “The McCarron trial? The counts against him were numerous. But he killed a transplant doctor and a man working his hardest to solicit people to sign donor cards.”

“Right. Donor cards. People who will leave their organs to others after they die. Keenan, really, I’m sorry. But there’s just something—”

“McCarron is dead,” he reminded her softly.

“I know. And this isn’t something I’m harboring because he ordered the murder of my family. I just need to see the trial again. Then I can set aside this nagging thought.”

“All right,” he said. He pulled out his phone. They were still in the parking garage, but he called Angela. Stacey listened to him ask her if she would do what she could to find all the video that had been taken at the trial. The judge had, thankfully, allowed cameras in the courtroom; he had wanted everything on record.

When he hung up, he said to Stacey, “If I know Angela, we’ll have hours and hours of trial footage to review soon enough. Before that, let’s go talk to some angry wives.”

* * *

Cindy Hardy didn’t want anything to do with them. She was upset that they were bothering her again about the woman who had, in her mind, ruined her life.

A woman who had made the world a better place by leaving it.

Stacey glanced at Keenan, wondering how he was going to bully their way in—and certain that he would manage it.

Cindy argued with Keenan when he called her from the gate. Only his warning that they had just a few more questions but could arrange for a search warrant if she didn’t want to cooperate finally led her to opening the gate so that they could drive up to her house.

She stood at the door when they arrived, hands on her hips. She might have been small, but she could shoot out an