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Back The Lying House Save as PDF
Chapters (103)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover Text
  3. Praise
  4. Booklist
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. 41
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. 64
  71. 65
  72. 66
  73. 67
  74. 68
  75. 69
  76. 70
  77. 71
  78. 72
  79. 73
  80. 74
  81. 75
  82. 76
  83. 77
  84. 78
  85. 79
  86. 80
  87. 81
  88. 82
  89. 83
  90. 84
  91. 85
  92. 86
  93. 87
  94. 88
  95. 89
  96. 90
  97. 91
  98. 92
  99. 93
  100. 94
  101. Epilogue
  102. Acknowledgments and a Personal Note
  103. Excerpt

The air smelled of Old Spice. As he returned to his chair, Morrow’s eye went to the brochures on condos in Key West and cruises in the Caribbean. Weggnor’s mind was on retirement. When she moved to take a seat, he stopped her.

“This won’t take long.” He leaned back, making his chair springs creak.

“You spoke to Miami-Dade?”

“I did. Now, from your note, and in addition to my understanding of the case, the possibility of a connection between Loften and the task-force cases is tenuous at best.”

“Tenuous? But, sir, I don’t think—”

Weggnor held up a finger.

“Let me be clear. I’m not ruling out any action on our part. Miami-Dade has Loften in custody, and they’re working on charging him with other crimes. They have a very active investigation, and he’s not going anywhere. Now, I understand they’ve got a backlog in processing some of their evidence. Our best course of action is to let Miami-Dade do their thing before we move. We’ve got to respect their jurisdiction and the fact that it is their case and Loften is their guy.”

“But, sir, did you tell them about the task force?”

“I made them aware of our interest.” Weggnor turned to his keyboard. “We’ve got time. We’ll just wait and let them get on with their work.”

Morrow strode back to her desk in disbelief. Weggnor was the consummate bureaucrat—a hindrance, not a leader. Why didn’t he just get out of the way? She was considering a few choice words for her supervisor when her phone rang.

“It’s me,” Zhu said. “Just sent you more stuff. Take a look.”

She opened the files to see the inventory list on the search warrant Detectives Cruz and Reddick had executed on unit 45 of the Oceanwave Gardens, Loften’s residence. She studied it until her heart skipped. There on the list was cord, along with women’s underwear. Nothing directly linked to The Collector’s murder victims, but maybe there was something else.

She continued studying the list until her computer pinged with notifications on her submission of Loften’s name into national crime data banks.

He had driving infractions in Kentucky and Indianapolis.

Morrow entered her password to access the encrypted data bank for the task force to check the dates against the cases. It didn’t take her long to learn that Loften was in each state around the time of the most recent Collector incidents.

One was the murder of Jasmine Maria Santos, October 22, 2016, in Indianapolis, bound with cord, sexually assaulted and stabbed more than fifty times with a serrated knife. Her phone and driver’s license were missing. The other was the case of Rhondell Felicia Hinson. On April 8, 2017, she survived her attack in her Louisville, Kentucky, home. A shoe impression found at the scene was the same size as the one recovered in earlier cases.