The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 19*

After such a crazy morning the afternoon couldn't have been any more different. The coin toss had come up tails meaning that Hank was entrusted with the task of finding out what ATD was responsible for; while Sam was attempting to find some sort of link or connection between the victims to ascertain whether the killer was working with some sort of pattern. The following morning had continued in very much the same vein, quiet and uneventful. Not that they were complaining about that. At least things had settled down a little with the local detectives. They hadn't gone out of their way to avoid them or anything and presumably neither had they but with the exception of the meeting with F.B.I agent Masters they hadn't seen or heard from them in several days. Something they were both grateful for.

During their now regular morning chats, captain Beesley had confirmed that the F.B.I. knew this was a somewhat gruesome scene. Even if they were, in fact, not aware of the involvement of the pool ball itself, that also meant that they would have not had any knowledge of the earlier killings. And if there was any chance they had missed victim number seven then they could have assumed they were investigating a single murder rather than being on the trail of one, or possibly, more serial offenders. Something they both felt added even further credence to their theory that Anthony Drummond could still be involved.

"So how is your luck, got anything?" Hank asked.

"No, not really," Sam told him. "I thought I did earlier but we can rule that out now. I think the killer is striking opportunistically rather than working to a pattern. Or at least the original one was fifteen years ago. Who knows if this is the accomplice stepping up now, then maybe they might have a different way of operating."

Hank sat back in his chair and let out a huge sigh before uttering the next sentence. "This is so weird and I can't believe I'm saying this...," but Hank stopped and Sam closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He knew what Hank was about to say and he had to admit he was in agreement with him even if he was afraid to say it himself. "It's almost like," Hank continued, carefully choosing his words, "we're waiting for the next victim to see what happens."

"I know, and yes it is weird. But if the feds are still watching Drummond then we'll know if he is or isn't involved. At least with the more recent attacks anyway," Sam agreed. They both looked at each other over the desk. This was a painful admission, they didn't like it, not at all and wanted to fight the unsettling feeling but they had to admit the next body could be critical in solving this case.

Hank stood up, stretched his arms out wide, than stretched again, reaching up towards the ceiling before turning around, and making his way towards his coffee pot. "Oh," he suddenly remembered as he poured the coffee into his cup while also attempting to change the subject. "Did you ever call that coroner?"

"Emily? I did, yes," Sam responded. The subject change appeared to help him relax a little also. "We had quite a chat actually." A smile slowly began to appear on his face as his focus switched away from the case and onto a much more pleasant subject.

"And?" Hank asked, impatiently waiting for further details.

"I'm not really sure," Sam told him, the smile slowly dissipating into more of a frown. "She seems really nice and I'd love to meet up with her but I don't know if that's going to happen." Sam fiddled with the pen he was holding as he thought about the call.

"Oh, how come?" Hank queried. "I thought she seemed dead keen on it."

"Yeah, I think she might have been to begin with. But she seemed to cool off a little when I explained that we were essentially just visitors here and only really here for the one case."

"Ah, I see," Hank responded, getting back to his chair again with a freshly filled cup.

"Yeah, I think she was after something a little more long-term. However, after saying that, she did take my cell number though, so who knows huh?" The smile returned once more to Sam's face.

"Watch this space," Hank suggested. They both nodded acknowledgment and switched back to the tasks they were both working on.

"Well I don't know about you but I think I'm done for the day," Sam suggested after several hours of research. Hank, meanwhile, was still engrossed in his work, Sam noted as he glanced over at his partner. "Got something?" Sam asked. And still, there was no response. He reached across the table and moved Hank's coffee cup, something that never failed to get his attention.

"Oh sorry," Hank said finally looking up.

"No worries," Sam told him, almost laughing. "I was just saying I think I'm done for the day unless of course, you're onto something there?"

"No, it's okay," Hank told him. "I was just... I mean.... well." Sam laughed as Hank was still looking at the screen and struggling to process his thoughts into words. "Well, if you haven't found anything yet I've got a great suggestion for tomorrow morning," Hank finally suggested gaining Sam's attention.

"Sounds good. I take it you've found something then?" Sam asked as he closed his computer down.

"Quite possibly, yes," Hank explained "A.T.D cleaning currently only holds three contracts, one of which they seem to have held onto for twenty years now."

"Twenty years? Wow, that's suspicious in and of itself!" Sam exclaimed, sitting upright "Rogers Electrical were changing every two, three years tops so twenty seems very odd. Something fishy going on there," Sam added, looking concerned.

"Exactly, and the second reason this caught my eye..," Hank paused, waiting for a reaction from his partner who looked on in anticipation waiting for the conclusion of that sentence, "the contract is for cleaning a pool hall."