have two killers on our hands,” Holly said. It was early Saturday morning. To stay on top of this thing, Holly was resigned to putting in extra hours. She’d given Amar a courtesy call, since he had been decent enough to contact them about Tieg’s slaying. Surprisingly, or maybe not so much, Amar had made the trek to San Diego, where he met her and Chad downtown at the main station. They’d been putting their heads together since before nine o’clock.
“And this is based on the note the killer left inside the racing form at Tieg’s scene. If what Chad is theorizing is possible—and anything is possible—then the implication that ‘we have only just begun’ is huge,” Holly said.
Chad jumped in. “And if you want to really break it down and get literal, we have to ask ourselves if there
are
two killers involved, are they siblings like the Carpenters were? Are they romantically linked, being that this particular song is a love song? Could it be a husband and wife team? Man and woman? I think we can assume that our actual killer is a male. This guy has some strength to commit these acts. But is it possible that there’s someone else calling the shots?”
Amar stood up and made himself a hot tea. “I think that is all possible,” he said. “Maybe we look at husband and wife, or romanticlinks on the track. You know, trainer/trainer, trainer/jockey, owner/trainer. That kind of thing.”
“That’s a good idea, Amar. Maybe even Scott Christiansen and his wife, although their alibi is solid for when the jockeys were killed.” Holly input the note on her tablet. “Plus I’ve lined up a couple of our guys to conduct interviews over at Equine Health Systems starting Monday. They’ll have to speak to everyone again to see if there might be a chink in the armor. Could someone within the company, who also has the same passion for horses that Christiansen seems to have, have carried out the killings on his own, or at the will of Christiansen?”
“There are a lot of angles to explore yet,” Chad said. “This isn’t going to be easy. I was able to get a hold of one of Edwin Hodges’s assistants. We got lucky, gang. The guy has a beach house here in La Jolla, and guess who is in town tomorrow for a little R & R?”
“Good work. That was fast. Were you able to schedule an appointment with the great Mr. Hodges?” Holly asked.
“Yeah. It was surprisingly easy.”
“Good. Looks like we will be heading to the beach tomorrow, guys. Amar, are you able to join us?”
He sighed. “My wife will not like it. But I think, because of what we are dealing with, that we are now a team. It is my job.”
Chad nodded.
“Not always easy on our families. So true,” Holly said, thinking of how she’d left Chloe with Brendan and his girls that morning. “I have a guest room that you’re more than welcome to crash in.”
“Yes. That would be nice. Thank you.” He took a sip of his tea.
It pleased Holly that the three of them made a good team. It wasn’t always so easy, and because Amar was from another jurisdiction, things could have been sticky. But so far, no issues had arisen, and they all seemed to be jelling well. And because Greenfield hadagreed to allow Chad and Holly the flexibility they requested in working cases, bringing Amar in wasn’t an issue.
“That’s settled. Let’s set aside the two-killer theory for a bit and focus on the connections that we know for sure.”
Holly walked to the white board. She had photos of Tieg, Tommy Lyons, and Katarina Erickson. She’d also pulled photos off the Internet of Scott Christensen and Jim Gershon. She had printed up extra sets of her notes regarding the jockey slayings. She wanted to fill in as many blanks as possible along the timeline.
“We can’t deny there are some connections already at play. The key is fitting the right piece with the next piece.”
Both men nodded in agreement.
Holly posted the photos up on the board in a square. She
“And this is based on the note the killer left inside the racing form at Tieg’s scene. If what Chad is theorizing is possible—and anything is possible—then the implication that ‘we have only just begun’ is huge,” Holly said.
Chad jumped in. “And if you want to really break it down and get literal, we have to ask ourselves if there
are
two killers involved, are they siblings like the Carpenters were? Are they romantically linked, being that this particular song is a love song? Could it be a husband and wife team? Man and woman? I think we can assume that our actual killer is a male. This guy has some strength to commit these acts. But is it possible that there’s someone else calling the shots?”
Amar stood up and made himself a hot tea. “I think that is all possible,” he said. “Maybe we look at husband and wife, or romanticlinks on the track. You know, trainer/trainer, trainer/jockey, owner/trainer. That kind of thing.”
“That’s a good idea, Amar. Maybe even Scott Christiansen and his wife, although their alibi is solid for when the jockeys were killed.” Holly input the note on her tablet. “Plus I’ve lined up a couple of our guys to conduct interviews over at Equine Health Systems starting Monday. They’ll have to speak to everyone again to see if there might be a chink in the armor. Could someone within the company, who also has the same passion for horses that Christiansen seems to have, have carried out the killings on his own, or at the will of Christiansen?”
“There are a lot of angles to explore yet,” Chad said. “This isn’t going to be easy. I was able to get a hold of one of Edwin Hodges’s assistants. We got lucky, gang. The guy has a beach house here in La Jolla, and guess who is in town tomorrow for a little R & R?”
“Good work. That was fast. Were you able to schedule an appointment with the great Mr. Hodges?” Holly asked.
“Yeah. It was surprisingly easy.”
“Good. Looks like we will be heading to the beach tomorrow, guys. Amar, are you able to join us?”
He sighed. “My wife will not like it. But I think, because of what we are dealing with, that we are now a team. It is my job.”
Chad nodded.
“Not always easy on our families. So true,” Holly said, thinking of how she’d left Chloe with Brendan and his girls that morning. “I have a guest room that you’re more than welcome to crash in.”
“Yes. That would be nice. Thank you.” He took a sip of his tea.
It pleased Holly that the three of them made a good team. It wasn’t always so easy, and because Amar was from another jurisdiction, things could have been sticky. But so far, no issues had arisen, and they all seemed to be jelling well. And because Greenfield hadagreed to allow Chad and Holly the flexibility they requested in working cases, bringing Amar in wasn’t an issue.
“That’s settled. Let’s set aside the two-killer theory for a bit and focus on the connections that we know for sure.”
Holly walked to the white board. She had photos of Tieg, Tommy Lyons, and Katarina Erickson. She’d also pulled photos off the Internet of Scott Christensen and Jim Gershon. She had printed up extra sets of her notes regarding the jockey slayings. She wanted to fill in as many blanks as possible along the timeline.
“We can’t deny there are some connections already at play. The key is fitting the right piece with the next piece.”
Both men nodded in agreement.
Holly posted the photos up on the board in a square. She
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