Back Devious
Chapters (59)
  1. Books by Lisa Jackson
  2. Title Page
  3. CHAPTER 1
  4. CHAPTER 2
  5. CHAPTER 3
  6. CHAPTER 4
  7. CHAPTER 5
  8. CHAPTER 6
  9. CHAPTER 7
  10. CHAPTER 8
  11. CHAPTER 9
  12. CHAPTER 10
  13. CHAPTER 11
  14. CHAPTER 12
  15. CHAPTER 13
  16. CHAPTER 14
  17. CHAPTER 15
  18. CHAPTER 16
  19. CHAPTER 17
  20. CHAPTER 18
  21. CHAPTER 19
  22. CHAPTER 20
  23. CHAPTER 21
  24. CHAPTER 22
  25. CHAPTER 23
  26. CHAPTER 24
  27. CHAPTER 25
  28. CHAPTER 26
  29. CHAPTER 27
  30. CHAPTER 28
  31. CHAPTER 29
  32. CHAPTER 30
  33. CHAPTER 31
  34. CHAPTER 32
  35. CHAPTER 33
  36. CHAPTER 34
  37. CHAPTER 35
  38. CHAPTER 36
  39. CHAPTER 37
  40. CHAPTER 38
  41. CHAPTER 39
  42. CHAPTER 40
  43. CHAPTER 41
  44. CHAPTER 42
  45. CHAPTER 43
  46. CHAPTER 44
  47. CHAPTER 45
  48. CHAPTER 46
  49. CHAPTER 47
  50. CHAPTER 48
  51. CHAPTER 49
  52. CHAPTER 50
  53. CHAPTER 51
  54. CHAPTER 52
  55. CHAPTER 53
  56. EPILOGUE
  57. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
  58. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  59. Copyright Page

“I’m tellin’ ya, this isn’t the work of a serial killer,” Montoya said. “This murder”—he tapped Camille Renard’s autopsy report with one finger—“it’s personal. The killer knew her.”

Bentz tugged at his tie. From his pinched eyes and washed-out face, he looked as if he hadn’t slept in days, which was probably right on. Bentz’s infant daughter was colicky, kept Bentz and his wife, Olivia, up at all hours. “Just a thought.”

“Yeah, well, a bad one,” Montoya said. To prove his point, he opened the computer image of Camille Renard as she’d been found in the yellowed wedding dress, lying near the base of the altar. Then he put the two photos side by side, Camille beside the battered body of Cherie Bellechamps spread-eagle on the dingy sheets of a cheap motel room bed. There were other photographs as well, and he clicked through them, searching for any link to the other victims of Father John, a nutcase if ever there was one.

“I hope he’s dead,” Bentz said fervently, then, dragging his gaze from the computer screen, added, “I’ve got one lead. Found the wireless service Camille Renard used and got the records for her BlackBerry. The cell phone company sent them over this morning.”

That was a start. “You have a chance to go through them?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And?”

Bentz laid the list of telephone numbers on Montoya’s desk. “Most are what we expected—calls to her sister and to O’Toole, of course. To the orphanage, where she worked, and even a call here”—he pointed to one number in the list—“to the parish.” He slid his finger lower, to another number. “The only one that is a question mark is to a prepaid cell phone. Get this, I already talked to the store where it was purchased, by cash, of course, but the person who bought it was none other than Camille Renard.”

“So she had two cell phones?”

“Unless someone posed as her or she bought it and gave it to someone else,” Bentz said. “They’ve got security cameras in the store and keep the tapes for several months. Later today I’m gonna review the tape for the day it was purchased, just to make sure Camille was the buyer. If someone else was impersonating her, we’ve got ourselves a lead to follow. And if it was Camille Renard, where the hell are the damned phones?”

“Probably with her BlackBerry and diary.” Montoya scowled and shoved a hand through his hair. “For a person who’s supposed to give up worldly possessions, Sister Camille had quite a few.”

“And then there’s the baby. I double-checked, and Brinkman’s right about the blood type. We’re looking for a man with B-neg or AB-neg blood as the father.”

“Apparently not Frank O’Toole.”

Bentz nodded.

“Should narrow it down.”