15

The Dungeon had no spare rooms for interviews unless they wanted to do it in a utility closet, so Lazarus chose an interview room tucked on the second floor. Few went to that section of the floor because it was reserved for Major Crimes and Homicide, which consisted of only a handful of elite detectives, so the hustle of other floors wasn’t evident there.

Piper rested against the wall of the elevator and watched Lazarus. He was leaning with one shoulder and staring at the floor, lost in thought. The elevator doors opened, and they stepped off.

An officer with wide shoulders and gray hair stood above a desk flipping through a file.

“Got your man in interview two.”

They walked by the detectives’ offices. Piper quickly peeked into one. A man sat quietly, looking out the window, his desk and chairs buried under a mess of files and papers. He looked like he had a hand-tailored suit and an expensive watch.

The interview room was better than Piper expected. A clean carpet covered the floor. A big table sat in the middle, with lots of black, comfy chairs around it. Through the windows, she could see the busy streets below.

Jayden Camden sat at the end of the table, shackled to the floor’s O-ring used for security during interviews. The one-way glass didn’t draw his attention.

“I need to talk to him alone,” Lazarus said, his eyes never leaving Jayden, who was sitting with his arms folded.

Lazarus went into the room. He ran his fingertips over the top of the table, but his eyes never left Jayden’s. He sat down across from him.

“I have this recurring dream, Jayden,” he said in a low whisper. “I’m walking and there’s this hole in the middle of the world. I’m right at the edge and the hole’s getting bigger, and it feels like I’m spending my life just tryin’ not to fall in.”

Jayden lifted his eyes. He tried to seem calm, but his fear was loud in the quiet room.

Piper saw a camera in the corner on the ceiling but couldn’t tell if it was on or not.

“That hole don’t leave. It follows you ... and whenever you look back and think you’re gonna see blue skies, you see a bigger hole. And now it’s looking to swallow you up.” He stared the man in the eyes. “I bet it’s been looking to swallow you up for a long time.”

Jayden looked down.

“It was just you and your mama growin’ up, wasn’t it?”

He didn’t respond.

“I didn’t see anything about your pop other than his rap sheet. Did you know him?”

He glanced up at him now and said softly, “No.”

“My father was the opposite. He was always there, always willing to spend time. It was my mother that ran off on him. Probably hard to picture with your mother. She seems like a tough lady. Willing to stick it out for the people she loves.”

“She is a tough lady.”

One corner of Lazarus’s mouth lifted in a small smile. It was quick, barely there.

“Must’ve been hard for her to see you in juvenile court so much.”

He kept his head down. “They told me—”

“That those records are sealed? They are for most people. I have permission to see things like that. I’m not judging you, Jayden. What’s youth for if not to act like an idiot?” Lazarus reached into his pocket and came out with some cigarettes.

“You want one?” Lazarus said.

“No.”

He held the cigarette out for him. “Give it a try. If ever there was a time to calm your nerves ...”

Jayden stared at it but didn’t move.

“Take it, Jayden.”

His hand came up slowly and took the cigarette. Piper could see what Lazarus was doing; establishing a power dynamic where he had subtly forced Jayden to do something he didn’t want to do.

Lazarus lit the two cigarettes. He seemed at ease with a cigarette in his hand, though Piper had never seen him smoke anything but a vape pen.

Jayden brought it up slowly to his lips, concern etched on his face as he inhaled a drag and coughed.

Lazarus waited for him to stop.

“Did your mama ever get remarried?” Lazarus asked.

He shook his head, staring down at the cigarette, which he didn’t seem to know what to do with.

“Why not?”

“She said she didn’t want to. She just wanted it to be us.”

“That’s a good mama right there.”

“Is she here? I wanna see her.”

“Yeah, we’ll get her down here for you.”

“Thank you,” he said with relief.

Lazarus blew out a stream of smoke from his nose. There was no ashtray, as smoking in a government facility was banned now, but there was a watercooler in the corner with paper cups. He got two cups and placed one in front of Jayden. He set the other one down in front of him and ashed into it.

“Did you see that new Jeffrey Dahmer show on Netflix?” Lazarus said.

Jayden swallowed and looked down into his cup without moving.

“No,” he said.

“It was good. See, I always thought he was just insane, but now I’m thinking he didn’t have a choice. He liked what he liked and no one, not even him, knew why.”

He inhaled softly on the cigarette.

“I noticed the tattoos on your calves. What are they?” he asked.

“Just anime characters.”

“Now that ain’t true, is it, Jayden? I’ve seen ’em before.”

He said nothing.

“It’s all right. I understand. But tell me about ’em. What do they mean?”

“You already know that.”

Lazarus nodded. “So, is the fantasy you getting eaten or doing the eating?”

“I’d never really do it. I just acted it out a few times.”

“With prostitutes?”

He nodded. “I’m on the forums. No one really does it. No one. It’s just fantasy. Like when people have foot fetishes, nobody looks at them for stealing shoes or whatever. But because of what we like, everyone thinks we’re into hurting people. We’re not.”

“You on the forums a lot?”

He nodded.

“Let’s assume for a second you’re tellin’ the truth. The man I’m after, I think he’s a chef but not like you. It’s not fantasy for him. I think he’s going to do it. Can you think of anyone I should be looking at in the forums?”

He shook his head.

“What about Reddit and 4chan? Anyone ever talk like that? In a way that maybe has other people wondering if they’re serious or not?”

He didn’t respond for a second and then nodded.

“Who?”

“I don’t know his name. He just has a screen name. BloodyChef77.”

“What is it about BloodyChef that made you think of him?”

“He doesn’t talk like it’s a fantasy. He talks like he’s done it before. Just, like, detailed stuff about what he’s done. He lives here, it’s a Vegas forum.”

“I’ll need to know everything about that forum and him.” Lazarus slid over the legal pad and said, “Start writing.” He rose and came outside. He stood next to Piper as they watched Jayden writing down information.

“He could be lying,” Piper said.

“I don’t think so. He’s too scared. I’m gonna send Riley to check out where he was on the dates we’re lookin’ at, but I don’t think this guy could kill anybody. He doesn’t have the fortitude.” He looked at her. “I need to get BloodyChef’s information.”

“I can draft a subpoena and get it from the ISP providers.”

He said, “You sure you wanna see how deep this rabbit hole goes, Alice?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”