Acts of Mercy by Mariah Stewart Read Free Book Online Page B

what are you thinking? That the killer was waiting out back for Walker to come out?” Sam frowned, trying to see it in his mind.
    “Basically, yeah, that’s pretty much the way I see it. There’s only one light out back there, over the door. So Walker steps out into the dimly lit area, walks back to the Dumpster, and he’s brought down, strangled manually—there were no ligature marks on the neck, did you notice that? Then the killer drags him behind the Dumpster, stabs him, stuffs the burger in his mouth, and takes off.”
    “He’s gotta be covered with blood,” Sam murmured.
    “Yeah, you’d think, but there were no drops of blood leading from the alley.”
    “So maybe he brought a bag or something with a change of clothes in it.”
    “That’s what I figured. At least, he’d have had another shirt to change into.” Coutinho paused. “But what we couldn’t figure out is why all the drama with the knife if he was going to strangle the guy.”
    “He was blowing off steam. He wanted the guy dead quickly and quietly, so he takes him out immediately. Then he gets to take his time, do what makes him happy, make his statement.”
    “You think this was his way of making a statement?” the detective asked flatly.
    “Yeah. I do.”
    “What’s he saying?”
    “When I figure that out, you’ll be the first to know.”
    “We figure this was real personal, that the killer knew Walker, had some beef with him, knew his routine, knew where he’d be at that time on that night. He’s all prepared, right down to the change of clothes ’cause he knew it was going to be messy.”
    “That would have taken a lot of planning, which would take it out of the realm of a random killing. The body was left where it would be found quickly, but not too quickly, so the killer has time to slip away. It could suggest a crime of retaliation, or revenge, but what do you suppose is up with the burger?”
    “Maybe the hamburger has something to do with the fact that Walker was there at the mission serving food?”
    “Hard to tie that to a possible revenge motive though. And revenge leads to the question, what did Ross Walker do to deserve this kind of retribution?”
    “The wife says he has no enemies. The other volunteers and his coworkers all said the same thing. Everyone we talked to had only good things to say about him. Nicest guy in the world, wouldn’t hurt a fly. Loved by one and all.”
    “All but one, apparently.” Sam thought it over, then added, “Assuming that you’re right, that this is personal, that it’s revenge for something.”
    “What else could it be?”
    “Not sure. Revenge is the obvious. But I’ve been around too long to believe that everything is always the way it seems.”
    “What else could it be? The attack after the guywas already dead makes it appear personal to me,” Coutinho said, somewhat defensively. “The killer went there prepared to kill Walker, and he did just that. Why would you think there’s another explanation?”
    “Something just doesn’t feel right to me. If this is payback, why the burger?”
    “I don’t know, maybe burgers were on the menu that night. We can check on that. But like I just said, the guy was already dead,” the detective said pointedly and with no lack of exasperation. “He wasn’t eating that burger.”
    “That’s my point.” Sam thought it through. “The burger is part of the message.”
    “So you’re saying the stab wounds aren’t important?”
    “Oh, they’re important, all right. Everything about this murder tells us something important. The over-the-top number of stab wounds tells us the killer was angry, either at Walker or someone else. But the posing of the body, the food stuffed in the mouth … that’s a part of the story, too. We just need to piece it all together.”
    “You have a lot of experience with this sort of thing?”
    “Some.”
    “What did you do before you were a PI? Were you on the job someplace?”
    “I was with