Merrville Sheriff's Department

  Dave glances up to find Detective Mackey descending on his desk. The detective holds a manila folder in one hand and a cardboard drink carrier in the other hand. A brown bag, Dave can only assume contains some variety of food, hangs from Mackey's closed mouth.

  When James is close enough, Dave frowns and takes the cup carrier from his overburdened partner. James immediately uses the freed hand to take the brown bag from between his tightly squeezed lips.

  "Thanks, Dave. I've got some new information. Well, old information. But news to us."

  James pulls up a chair and sits down at Dave's desk. Dave inspects the two cups and locates the black coffee. He takes his coffee cup out of the beverage carrier and slides the half-empty drink carrier over to Detective Mackey. Mackey has already begun to rummage through the bag of food, setting a sub sandwich in front of Dave.

  "Here's your nasty tuna melt. Yuck."

  "It's not yuck! Now what info do you have, James?"

  "Well...Before her murder, it was reported that Sabrina had a stalker on her college campus. Reports from the college said she never saw the man's face. At one point, she even thought she was going crazy. That is, until one of her roommates saw the guy too. He wore dark clothes and always stayed in the shadows. Watching her, leaving things in her car, even slipped a weird note under her room door once. Sabrina's college dorm had a faulty camera. Just like at Water's Gym. No way to identify who left the note. This proves Aquarius is a very methodical son of a bitch. He watches his victims for long periods of time before he strikes."

  "Uh-huh!" Dave murmurs, biting into his tuna sub. "Did Sabrina have any bad breakups before going off to college? Any boyfriends with separation issues?"

  "It's like Detective Bennett said, lots of the boys wanted Sabrina. And she dated quite a few of Lich's bachelor population. And a couple of not so bachelors as well. One unhappily married guy shot himself in the face after he and Sabrina broke up. He survived the suicide attempt but died a couple of years ago. She was quite a character. Beautiful, but quite a character. For only twenty-two years old...Our Sabrina got around."

  "Hmmm," Dave says, reaching for the manila folder Detective Mackey put on the desk. "What's that?"

  "No," Mackey cries out.

  With embarrassment, Detective Mackey remembers that the very awkward photo of Sabrina's siren mermaid tattoo is still on top. He instinctively tries to grab the folder first. Dave manages to snag it and gives James a hard look.

  "Oh, ho! What's wrong with you, Mack?" Dave mocks. "Something I shouldn't see? Then, why did you bring it to my desk?"

  "Um. It's not that you shouldn't see it, Dave. It's just that...I didn't have a chance to...Um. There's um..."

  Without letting James finish, Dave opens the folder. He only stares at the top photo for a moment before shutting the folder back. No wonder the young detective's boxers are in a bunch. Jeezus! The rumored mermaid tattoo. Literally in the flesh. And so damn real looking. Damn Aquarius for taking such natural beauty out of the world.

  "Well, yeah. That," Mackey stammers.

  "Oh wow. Hazel wasn't kidding. That's some tattoo for a woman to have on her arm," Dave whispers. "Wow. And it looks so real. You think it was one of those photographic tattoos, Mack? Like an actual photo put on her arm? That is just too damn real."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "Agreed. And that's why...Uh, Dave, I have a confession to make," Mackey says, leaning forward on the desk and whispering. "Sort of makes me feel very ashamed."

  "Yeah."

  "I'm wondering if it's because of how these young women have been put on display. If it's messing with my mind. I've worked with dead bodies before. And I've never felt anything like this. The first thing I thought, when I saw that picture was...Damn, she's fine!" Mackey confesses with a shameful expression.

  Dave blinks rapidly. He hesitates to admit having nearly the same intense reaction to the photo. However, he has already seen something similar. Thanks to Hazel's elaborate attempt at roleplay messaging. He will have to warn her about that. It's way too easy for such images to fall into the wrong hands. Dave decides to inform Detective Mackey of his humanity as nicely as possible.

  "Uh, well. Same here. I think you're being too hard on yourself, James."

  "Am I?" James questions, deep worry lines appearing in his brow.

  Dave twists his bottom lip and scrunches up his nose. He is putting on his most teacherly face.

  "I don't think there's a man alive who wouldn't have had that initial reaction, James. Every single one of the victims was quite a looker when they were alive. Our brains remember that. Imagining undressing a pretty woman is natural. Sabrina's tattoo just means the work has been done for you. Sort of. What that Aquarius freak has done is the unnatural part. The fact that you felt any shame at all...Proves you're a thousand times more human than that bastard could ever hope to be. You refuse to give in to your baser instincts. That's what sets you apart from an animal. It makes you a better man, James. It's okay. You're not a freak."

  "It did feel pretty awful though," James admits.

  "Everything about this case is awful, Mackey!"

  "Yeah. But it got me thinking about what you said. About me needing a woman. I don't think I need a woman. But, you could be right. Seeing that very racy tattoo, and having such a strong reaction to it, made me wonder if I'm just as depraved as the killer. If I could ever become that depraved. Sabrina was extremely gorgeous. Her death doesn't change that."

  "Eat your food, James. And put that picture on the bottom of the stack so we can get to work. Forget about it. You're fine. For about ten milliseconds...You felt what it's like to not be so perfect all the time. Welcome to the League of Ordinary Humans," Dave chuckles with a grin.

  "O-kay," Mackey says, rolling his eyes.

  Without opening the folder completely, fearing another glimpse of Sabrina's temptress tattoo, Mackey shuffles the photos. Temptation safely tucked away, Mackey opens the folder and draws out the picture on top. A picture of the small flattened stone, and various other odd things, which were found crammed into Sabrina's very secret place.

  For the next few hours, Dave and James go over witness reports from the days leading up to the discovery of Sabrina Engle's battered body. Dave squints at a photograph of a handwritten note. He turns the photo with one splayed hand so that Detective Mackey can also see it.

  "You see what I see, James? In the bottom left corner."

  James pushes his reading glasses higher up on his nose and studies the photo. A surprised expression explodes onto the detective's placid face.

  "It's no longer a suspicion, Dave. It's him. He actually left his signature on the note. The two squiggle lines. The sign of Aquarius. How did no one notice this?"

  "They didn't know what they were looking for. We do. It's so tiny and out of the way. It could've very well been some misshapen letters or a goof. They didn't realize those lines were important."

  "The stone found in Sabrina's privates has squiggles carved into it. The handwritten note also contains squiggles. Oh Jeez, Dave. The two bobby pins. If you laid them out on a piece of paper...Parallel to each other...Two squiggly lines. Dammit, this guy is one sick freak. So...Why the switch to the bucket of water? Because he thought it would draw more attention? Did he believe he was being ignored?" James wonders aloud. "Maybe. The cops in Lich withheld most of the crime scene details. Yes. I think this bastard felt ignored."

  "Then, we'll have to do something about that," Dave says, staring at Mackey over the top of the witness report he is thoroughly reading.

  "And we will. But I want to visit the Asbury's again. We need to find out if there was ever a time when Carmen felt she was being followed. We might get lucky checking a few cameras."

  "Now that is a plan," Dave agrees solemnly. "All we'll need is a search warrant."