We now had solid potential suspects in the Andrieopovs, and just needed conclusive evidence to solve not just one but a potential string of murders spanning several countries. We were going to spend some time at the station house and then go to try and meet with reporter Tara O’Malley at her office after she helped us lay a trap for our suspects.

As we entered the station house, the man at the front desk called us over. “Was just about to call you guys – we just had some Feds show up, nosing around about the Marshall murder.”

Dina cast a dark look my way, then turned back to him: “What did you tell them?”

“That they would need to talk to the Captain or wait for you two to get back.”

“And they are with the Captain now?”

“Yes – oh wait they’re coming out.”

We both glanced over at the door to Captain Jancowyk’s office. Three figures emerged, two in matching dark gray suits, the other in a police Captain's uniform. First out the door was a large, powerfully built man of mixed racial descent, and a slender, graceful woman with blond hair and bright blue eyes followed hard on his heels, bringing up the rear was the bulk of the Captain himself. I always wondered how he made it through that door – or managed to pass the annual physicals, for that matter

“Daniels, Genovelli – glad you are back. In here now.”

The two agents – if nothing else, the almost matching suits gave them away – turned and followed him back inside as we hurried to comply with the bellowed order.

Once inside, he asked me to close the door, and offered the one open seat to Dina. She declined so I remained standing as well.

“How far have you two gotten on the Marshall murder?” he asked.

Dina nodded to me to answer. “Sir, we have identified five persons of interest. One we ruled out, one is trying to put together proof of his alibi as we speak, and one is out of town. We have talked to the other two with little resolution. We have also discovered a possible link to four other murders and a disappearance.”

Both agents jumped slightly at this. “Four?” the woman said, clearly surprised.

“Hold it – introductions first,” the Captain insisted. “Detectives Dina Genovelli and Nathan Daniels, meet Special Agents Lynn Burke and David Adamsky.”

“We’ve met,” Dina replied, nodding at them.

The woman – Lynn Burke, obviously – smiled back at her. The larger Adamsky glowered at her but offered me his hand. Lynn appeared … at least friendly. Something in Adamsky’s mannerisms made me think he was used to being in charge though. He was also one of the few people I had met – outside of that biker bar, at least – larger than the Captain, though his mass had far more muscle behind it than bulk.

I accepted his hand, and offered mine to Agent Burke, who accepted before she spoke again: “We were aware of two similar murders – and recent access to our database suggested a link to this one but four?”

“Why don’t we take this over to our desks and compare notes?” Dina offered.

The two agents exchanged a glance, and then Adamsky nodded.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Burke replied, rising to her feet.

The Captain waved us all out and returned to his never-ending mound of paperwork as the four of us filed out.

As we approached our desks, Dina informed them: “So far, all we have is a trail of breadcrumbs – very bloody breadcrumbs – that we are not quite sure where they lead.”

“Sounds like you are a little farther along in some points than we are,” Burke replied; Adamsky glared at her.

“Is this some kind of a competition,” I asked innocently, “or are we supposed to really be working together?”

Adamsky turned his glare on me but both women smiled slightly. Dina answered: “Probably six of one, half a dozen of the other…” and Burke laughed. Adamsky’s glare deepened.

Dina broke the tension with: “Has the lab given you guys everything from last night?”

“No…”

“Then I will call down for a copy. Would you mind running down and grabbing it – that’s faster than waiting for a fax…”

I knew the lab preferred e-mail over faxing but figured she had some angle, so agreed.

Adamsky spoke for the first time, his voice a deep bass that I felt in my bones: “I will come along, if you don’t mind?”

I cast a quick questioning glance Dina’s way, and she flashed a faint smile telling me this was exactly what she had hoped for. “Not a problem, sir,” I answered.

As we headed out, Adamsky spoke again: “Surprised they do not just email it…”

“They’re weird. You know techies, right?”

He nodded: “Silly squints,” he replied, then resumed his silence. I wondered if this was as close as he ever came to a bonding moment.

In the lab, Seville greeted us: “Was just about to go off shift when Dina called down. Pity the email server’s on the fritz – again.”

He slid me a folder with one hand and a scrap of paper with the other. I passed the folder over to Adamsky and scanned the paper as surreptitiously as I could at the same time. “She also said keep you two here as long as possible”

Seville glanced over at my companion then his eyes widened: “Wait, Adamsky – David Adamsky? Tight end for the Ohio Buckeyes five years ago? Also the guy who broke the Cincinnati Strangler case two years ago?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

After giving Seville his likely patented stare, the FBI agent replied: “Yes.” He was clearly quite the chatterbox.

“Man – pity about that blown knee… You were great. I graduated the year after you. Buckeyes forever, eh?”

Adamsky looked a little uncomfortable at this and Seville changed tactics: “That was some fine detective work in Cincinnati, too – I owe you a debt of gratitude in fact; one of the victims was my cousin. Glad that monster was stopped.” He held out a hand. Agent Adamsky reluctantly enfolded Seville’s hand in his own and shook it gingerly – and then released it as if it were some kind of stinging insect.

“Say, we put through a few more potential digital reenactments of the murder; we have figured out the order some of the … bits … were removed in. You guys want to look?”

I did not really want to, but understood the ploy and glanced over at Adamsky.

He sighed: “Probably a waste of time,” he replied.

At that point one of the section clerks interrupted: “Officer Daniels? Were you expecting a file from Baltimore?”

I am not sure who was more surprised by this – me or Adamsky. “Detective Daniels - and, yes, but it was supposed to come upstairs.”

“Well, it came through here, Detective Daniels” he replied, handing a small stack of printouts to me.

Adamsky reached for them, and then shot me a questioning glance. “Number four,” I answered and handed them over.

As he took them, Seville asked: “Number four what?”

“We believe that last night’s death was the fifth in a string of murders.”

“This guy’s serial?”

I pointed a thumb at Adamsky: “That’s why the FBI’s here.”

“Ah! Come on, then - let’s go see those videos, eh?”

I started to follow when Adamsky placed a gigantic hand on my shoulder: “This victim was her sister?”

“We believe so, yes,” I answered – and felt my phone vibrate. I closed my eyes for a moment, tuning in on the signal (a handy trick of mine, and one that does not always work correctly) and saw the message in my mind. Tara was heading to her office. I knew I would need to give her an explanation of why we would be running late – and noticed the men’s room. “If you will excuse me, I need to make a pit stop.”

Both of the men with me nodded and I went on in while Adamsky continued to skim the files and ignore Seville’s attempts at small talk. Clearly our techie was a fan of the FBI agent, and clearly Adamsky did not like having fans…

As soon as the door closed, I sent back a reply: “FBI here.”

“Then highlights: professor was in San Diego, Baltimore, Djakarta. Only record of sister Djakarta, San Diego then here.”

I sent back a simple: “Thanks”

Then she threw me off: “Dinner sometime?”

I surprised myself by, instead of immediately rejecting this, typing back: “Maybe when case over. Ask then.”

“Can’t wait.”

I looked at my reflection in the mirror as I shut off the phone and asked: “What am I getting myself into?”

My reflection did not answer, so I flushed the toilet, washed my hands and rejoined my companions in the hall.

Somehow Seville had gotten hold of the photos from the Baltimore file. “Definitely similar but not the same – looks like there is some hesitation here, see?”

Adamsky nodded, visibly impressed.

“Almost like a follower or disciple, not a normal copycat,” Seville mused, and Adamsky started at this. His gaze met mine and I nodded.

“Great. Some sort of cult then?” the bass rumbled through the room.

“It may be worse than that,” I added. “We have some indications it started in Djakarta.”

“International cult. Just what we needed. Just a second.” He took out a smart phone – the thing looked absolutely tiny in his hands – and typed in something, then waited a few seconds for a response. “We will have to skip those videos. Need to talk with Burke and your partner.”

While he played with his phone, I took mine out and sent Dina a quick note that I’d gotten some info from Tara. She sent back that she had too, and I put my phone away again, just as Adamsky did the same with his. Without saying another word, he handed me the Baltimore file and headed back upstairs. I thanked Seville for his time and started to follow. “Hey, Adamsky,” Seville called out, “I meant it about that beer – whenever you're off duty, just let me know and I’ll buy you a few.”

Adamsky just grunted in reply.

When we reached Detective Genovelli’s desk, both women smiled at us. “I told her everything I could. Also got a call from Sam Innes – he’s got two guys who can vouch for him, one can even provide a video, but insists on being anonymous and the other requests immunity. I’m pretty sure he’s being as honest with us as he can and isn’t a serious suspect in this case.”

“Yeah, she put him on speaker. I could hear the desperation and frustration in his voice, but the video should be sufficient, even if it is anonymous,” Burke offered.

“Video! The CD…”

Dina glared at me: “What CD?” She gave a barely perceptible shake to her head, and I immediately covered with:

“The one I left on the dashboard – when we parked in the sun. I had better get down there before it melts;” turning to the FBI agents, I added: “Personal stuff. Be right back.”

Burke laughed, and Adamsky just nodded authorization. I hurried off as if in a panic. Once out of sight, I slowed down, got a drink of water, paced back and forth for about a full minute, and then returned to the squad room, after making a mental note to compare stories with my partner before saying anything else.

“So, is your cousin safe?” she asked when I walked in.

Fortunately I am a quick study and figured out what she meant instantly: “I think so – didn’t see any melting at least. Have to check when I get home to be sure. It’s under the seat now.”

“Good. I’ll have to watch that with you later. He’s such a good kid.”

“Six,” I said. She almost laughed.

I hadn’t noticed that she had left the room, but Burke rejoined us at this point. “Just got off with Langley. They want us taking point on this – but also are contacting Interpol and the Indonesians to see if this thing is even bigger than we realize.”

Adamsky gave a satisfied nod, as if this was the news he had been waiting all day for.

“Well, you have got all of our files,” Dina said.

“Plus the Baltimore one,” I added, and she gave me a questioning look. “They sent it downstairs for some reason,” I continued.

“Right, probably not the same guy but definitely connected,” Adamsky added. I suspect it was the longest sentence that had ever exited his mouth.

A moment of tense silence followed, and then Dina said: “Well, with that, I think we have done everything we can for the day. I think I will knock off early – you guys can get in touch with me if you need anything further, right?”

Burke nodded. “Thanks for all your help, Dina. As always, it’s a pleasure working with you.”

“She has given us everything then?” Adamsky rumbled.

“Of course,” Burke responded, though her tone perhaps suggested she suspected otherwise.

“Well, give us a call if you need anything. Can I give you a lift anywhere, Nathan? Oh, I have got a better TV set up than yours – we could go watch your cousin at my place?”

I was about to say that I had some paperwork to do first, but then saw the look in her eyes, and replied: “You know, that sounds like a great idea.”

“Wait,” Adamsky said, grabbing my shoulder. He seemed to like grabbing my shoulder. “You are new. We do not have your contact information.”

“Ah,” I replied and took out one of my cards. He buried it in his palm and then nodded to me, making it clear I was dismissed.

I hurried out of the squad room.