Chapter 76

Dana glancedin her rearview the entire drive to the FBI forensic lab. She trusted Jake not to follow, but the media was a different story. The increase in Reaper hysteria had returned the news vans to her street. When she'd walked to her car, a reporter from one of the networks tried to approach.

"What can you tell us about the D.C. Reaper case being turned over to the FBI? Have you and Agent Shepard been assigned?"

She'd muttered "no comment" and hurried to her car. Halfway to the lab she thought she spotted the same news van from her street behind her, but she was being paranoid. News was big business in D.C. and most networks had multiple vans.

Still, she heard Jake's voice in her mind. Stay on the hunt or become the prey.

Dana had been there too many times. She may have chosen this path, but she was determined to do things differently, and that meant learning from her mistakes.

She turned onto 8th Street, showed her ID to the guard manning the gate, and pulled into the safety of the FBI's forensic lab lot. She turned off the car and sat there for a moment, watching the traffic roll by on the other side of the fence. Nothing suspicious, but she'd promised Jake she'd be careful, and she planned to do everything in her power to hold up her end of the bargain.

She called Hartwell from her car to let him know she'd arrived.

"Great. Meet me in the lobby. I'll walk you back," he said.

Inside, Dana took in the familiar beige walls and black chairs. The waiting room looked even more worn in the watery morning light filtering in through the glass doors. The reception area was still unmanned, but Hartwell pushed through the metal door, his arrival announced by the loud buzz of the lock disengaging. "Follow me," he said, waving her through. "Let's walk and talk."

Dana followed Hartwell down the chilly hallway, listening intently as he caught her up on the case. "SSA Richter's the Unit Chief in charge. He's seasoned, knows his way around cases like this, but isn't all that happy to have been dragged down here from Quantico."

"I thought you said they requested a joint effort?"

Hartwell nodded. "They did, but since the murders are local, they preferred to conduct the investigation on their own turf. Only thing that got them here was the crime scenes and you."

"Me? I can work anywhere," she objected.

"Let's not mention that," Hartwell warned. "I don't want to add commuting to Quantico to my day. Besides, Shepard would blow a gasket if I sent you to Quantico."

"Agent Shepard doesn't dictate where I work."

Hartwell raised his eyebrows. "Does he know that?"

Dana ignored the rhetorical question.

"He does know you're working this case, right?" Hartwell pressed.

"Yes."

Hartwell grunted, shaking his head. "I can't decide if that's a good thing or not."

"Why?"

"The last time I called you in, he blew up my phone like it was the Dr. Gray hotline."

"That's my fault. I got detained by Homeland Security after I left here."

Hartwell stopped short, looking her up and down with amusement. "Christ, you're both shit magnets!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Just tell Shepard to lay off the speed dial. I'm not your babysitter. I pulled strings to get you on this case because I've seen what you can do. You and the BAU are the best chance we have at catching this psycho. But this is happening in my city, so I'm making the rules, which includes running the investigation from here, so don't mention that you're willing to go to Quantico. I'm needed here. The department's overworked as it is, and this case is wearing me thin."

The deep purple bags under Hartwell's eyes were proof of that. He looked like he hadn't slept since the last time she'd seen him here. "Understood," Dana replied.

The answer seemed to suffice, because Hartwell led her into a busy room and began making introductions. "This is Dr. Dana Gray. She's our expert witness. I've worked with her on a case like this before. Her background in occult studies was paramount in identifying key evidence, so take what she says seriously, no matter how bizarre it sounds."

There were brief nods of acknowledgement before everyone returned to the work they'd been doing prior to Dana's interruption. She did her best to ignore the mocking murmurs of Witch Doctor that always followed her in the narrow-minded FBI circle.

This was always the part she found most difficult, integrating herself into an established unit. She never knew where she belonged, and her tendency to jump right in often rubbed people the wrong way.

Deciding to take a page from Jake's book, she took the temperature of the room. There were ten people examining a mountain of evidence from all three cases. Officer Lennox was a familiar face, and so was Dr. Raynard, but Dana didn't expect the world-renowned forensic scientist would be happy to see her after their last interaction. Opting to save that confrontation for later, she decided to start at the top.

Approaching Agent Richter, she asked, "Where would you like me to begin?"

He faced her with open assessment, scratching the salt and pepper stubble already showing on his freshly shaved face. "Dr. Gray, you come highly recommended. I hope you can live up to the hype."

"So do I," she answered. "I look forward to continuing my collaboration with the FBI. I'm familiar with standard policy and procedure thanks to my work with Agent Shepard, but if there's a particular way you prefer to operate, please let me know."

Agent Richter laughed. "You've worked with Jake Shepard? How is the one-man army?"

Dana smirked. "So, you know him then?"

"We go way back. If you're good enough for that blow hard I'm sure we'll get on just fine." He turned back to the folders spread out in front of him. "How familiar are you with the evidence?"

Dana informed him of the crime scenes and evidence she'd already examined. "Then you know we haven't got much to go on. No prints, no DNA, no fibers. Whoever this Unsub is, they're meticulous, organized, and know how to contain a scene."

"The weapons," Dana asked. "Have they been analyzed?"

Richter waved over another BAU agent. "This is Agent Walsh, our analysis and algorithms specialist." Dana shook the young man's hand.

"Show Dr. Gray the weapon analysis," Richter commanded.

Walsh obliged, pulling up the results and mirroring them onto the large smart board covering one wall of the exam room. "The weapons are identical. Steel iron alloy. A substance produced in massive quantities in fourteen different countries."

Dana frowned. "What about the snath?" She'd been about to explain the snath was the wooden handle attached to the scythe's blade, but Agent Walsh needed no explanation.

"All three snaths are also a match, constructed of American ash wood."

"That's something we can use," she suggested.

"Ash grows throughout the entire eastern US from New York to the Gulf of Mexico," Walsh explained. "The American Hardwood Export Council is only required to catalog raw material distribution. Tracking manufacturing beyond that point is impossible."

With her hopes dashed, Dana expressed what evidence she wanted another look at.

Richter, nodded. "Have at it. Flag anything you want another set of eyes on. Agent Vaughn will add it to the board. I'd like to narrow our scope by finding patterns that intersect."

"Find the intersect, find the killer," Dana replied.

Richter grinned. "Looks like Shepard found a disciple."

"Or perhaps it's the other way around," she teased.

A mega-watt smile spread across Richter's face. "Oh, I'm gonna like working with you, Gray."

"I hope you feel that way after you hear my theory on the D.C. Reaper."

"Theory? As in you already have one?"

"Several actually."

Richter spread his arms toward the mountains of evidence in the room. "This isn't for show, you know. You might want to take a look first."

"I will, but if I'm right, I don't think we have time to waste."

Richter folded his arms like a father facing a petulant child. "Let's hear it."