“I can look into getting a security detail outside your house—”
“That’s not necessary.”
“You want a new number?”
I took a moment to think about Reilly’s offer. “No. I want to stay in touch with him. It’ll keep me on my toes. Plus, if he feels like he can keep calling me, he might make a mistake, and that’s how we’ll get him.”
Reilly lowered his glasses from his head to his nose. “All right. Keep me posted on the calls.”
He looked down at his laptop and started to type but realized I was still sitting across from him. “Is there something else?”
“Uh, actually, you called me in here, but I brought up the phone call, and we never got around to why you called me in here.”
Reilly threw both hands up in the air. “You’re right. Sorry, been a little distracted lately.”
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking. Listen, I received a call the other day from a Captain Richard Cavanaugh from SFPD, Central District. He said he has two detectives working a couple of homicides, and they’re of the opinion that they might have a serial killer on their hands.”
“Why is that?”
“He didn’t go into the details too much, but he asked for a meeting with his two detectives and us. He wants our take on their reasoning. If it seems likely that they are right, he wants to know if we could help them out with a profile on their killer. As I told you yesterday, you’re our best when it comes to stuff like this. Will you meet with them?”
“Sure. Not a problem.”
“By the way, how’s the investigation on that hiker coming along?”
“It’s coming. I’ll have more to convey later today after I do a little more digging.”
Reilly nodded and went back to typing on his laptop, and I went back to my desk.
I was curious about the detectives’ findings, since I had come to a similar conclusion with the Taylor case. I dialed the Oakland offices and asked for Agent House.
“Abby, good to hear from you. How are you and the family doing?”
“I’m doing well. The kids are busy with school, and well, you know my mother-in-law.”
“That I do,” House said, laughing. “I hear you got lucky and picked up my leftovers.”
“Yeah, way to stir up the pot and pass it along,” I joked.
“Seriously, though, I’m sorry you were handed this mess. Who’d’ve thought we’d find a frickin’ body up there?”
“It’s fine. Listen, I wanted to pick your brain a bit more. Mind if I stop by?”
“Sure. I’m in the office all day.”
Time was a factor, so there was no sense in putting off our meeting. I sent a couple of emails and stopped by the ladies’ room before leaving. As I was about to enter the elevator, I heard someone call my name.
“Agent Kane.”
I turned around and saw a man, a young recruit straight out of the Academy, hurrying my way.
“Agent Kane?” he called out once more. This time his voice wavered.
“Yes?”
“I’m glad I caught you. Special Agent Reilly wants to see you right away in his office.”
“About what?”
“Uh, I’m not sure.” He looked a little flustered. Poor thing, he only started last week. Heck, even I couldn’t remember the guy’s name. “I know he has a couple of SFPD detectives in his office.”
That was fast. “All right. Thanks,” I said and gave him a pat to his arm.
As I reached Reilly’s office, I heard voices I didn’t recognize. One was loud, boisterous and had an accent, and the other… Well, it wasn’t anything — just forgettable.
As I turned into Reilly’s office, I immediately stopped as if a force field had prevented my advancement. What I saw made me feel like I was teleported into an episode of The Twilight Zone, because standing in front of me, with that toothy grin of his, was Detective Kyle Kang.
Chapter 13
To an outsider, it must have looked like an old-time vaudeville act, with Kang pointing at me as he struggled to get at least one coherent word out of his mouth. “Wait, you work here?” He finally managed.
I folded my arms across my chest. “Apparently you still need my help.”
“You’re an agent?”
“I know. You were hoping for free tickets to the museum, right?”
His partner had put two and two together and burst into big belly laughs.
Reilly was in the dark. “I guess you guys know each other,” he offered.
“Detective Kang and I have met on a few occasions, though I believe this is the first time he’s discovering that I work for the FBI.”
“Agent Kane is our best when it comes to cases involving heinous and sexual crimes,” Reilly told Kang and his partner, “especially those involving a serial killer. She also has a tremendous understanding of how criminal organizations work, having run the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau back in Hong Kong.”
“Hong Kong?” Kyle repeated.
“That’s right. Abby joined the Bureau about four years ago.”
“Give or take a few months,” I added.
“Look, Detectives, I’m doing your captain a favor here and allowing my agent to lend her expertise to your case,” Reilly piped up. “You can take it or leave it. We have plenty to do around here.”
Kang immediately pulled himself together. “No, we’ll take it. I apologize if I came off as not wanting your help. I was caught off guard, that’s all. My partner and I would be happy to hear Agent Kane’s thoughts on our case.”
“Well, with that said, why you don’t you guys go play nicely?” Reilly suggested, motioning with his hands for us to get out of his office.
“Follow me,” I said. “We can talk in the conference room.”
As we walked down the hallway past L-shaped desks and glassed-in offices, I could only imagine what Kang thought — probably that I thought he was an idiot. I didn’t know him well enough to make that judgment. We’d had a series of weird and unusual encounters. That’s all.
“You guys want something to drink?” I offered as we passed the break room. “Coffee? Soda?”
“We’re fine, thanks,” Kang replied.
I led them both into the conference room and shut the door behind us. It had large windows instead of walls. “I hope you don’t mind.” I walked around the room and closed the shades. “I can’t stand it when people peer inside as they walk by.” Neither said anything.
I took a seat opposite both of them and thought, before getting into the details of their case, I should make peace. We’re all fighting the bad guys. “It’s Detective Sokolov, right?”
The big Russian nodded.
“Look,” I continued, “before we get started, I want to apologize if I led you to believe I was someone I wasn’t.”
“You could have pointed out you were an FBI agent the first day we met,” Kang said.
I nodded my head. “I could have, but what took place that day wasn’t a federal crime. There was no need to identify myself as a federal agent. I had a duty to help, which I did.”
The two of them looked at each other, and then back at me.
“You’re right,” Kang said. “Now that we know what each other does, we can move on.”
“Great. So fill me in on your case.”
Kang did most of the talking as he told me about the two bodies, the details of each crime, and how the missing body parts connected the two.
“And other than the missing finger with the diamond ring, the other jewelry and money were left behind?” I asked.
“Yes. That’s why we ruled out robbery. Same thing with the man with the missing teeth.”
“Both victims were killed fast and quietly with a blade.” Sokolov motioned across his neck with his finger. “Our guy knows how to kill.”