of the organized crime these little cults were so good at hiding. The kids were the worst. Big frightened eyes. Utter distrust. Just like Kailey, screaming at the sight of him.
Ross came back to the present with a jolt and struggled to remember what Harry Everett had been talking about. Oh, yeah. Spokane. “I was involved.” He got the conversation back on track with an effort. “Tell me what you need.”
Everett backed off and got to the point. “I think we need an undercover. I think you need to buddy up to one of the members and find out as much as you can. I’d suggest our informant, but she’s lost their trust and doesn’t interact with them anymore. There’s got to be a reason for these deaths, but no one knows enough about the Elect to find out what it is. They could be into blood sacrifice, for all we know, and faking the accidents afterwards.”
“What does your informant say?”
“She says they’re not like that. But there’s two and a half dead kids. That’s evidence of something weird, in my opinion.”
“Two of them were natural, weren’t they?”
“You have to ask yourself. Look at the last one. A pillow and some steady pressure wouldn’t be very natural.”
“But to what purpose? If you’re going to make a blood sacrifice, why do it that way, with no ceremonial?”
Harry shrugged. “Who knows how they think?”
“Okay. So where do I find these people?”
“Easy. Pick the most upstanding citizens in Hamilton Falls and you’ll find one. The principal of the high school. A fireman. A bookshop owner.” He nudged the informant’s file and it slid off the stack. “We’ll arrange a conference for you and our fink can give you the details.”
Ross pulled his notebook out from under the folders and began jotting down notes. “All these upstanding citizens belong to a cult? Usually cult members isolate themselves, don’t mix.”
“They don’t. You can’t get them to socialize at all. They won’t even let their kids play sports.”
“Then why are they so successful in Hamilton Falls? Do they have something on the mayor or what?”
“That wouldn’t be hard,” Harry scoffed. “I didn’t vote for the guy. But these people are honest, even if they’re trusting to the point that it’s easy to rip them off. They don’t believe in lawsuits or stereos or anything.”
“And this makes them a cult?”
“You tell me. You’re the expert.”
“I will, when I know more. So who else belongs?”
“You’ll love this. The doctor on all these cases.”
Ross’s eyebrows lifted with interest. “Yeah? The pediatrician?”
“Couldn’t find a thing on him. But maybe you can—from the inside.”
Sounded like the logical place to start. “Tell me about the most recent family.” Ross turned a page of his notebook.
“The Blanchard kid is the son of the high-school principal. You should see the wife. What a doll. The sister’s not bad, either, if you like the wholesome type.”
Ross set his teeth and ignored the bait. “How did they come to your attention?”
Everett jerked his chin at the folder. “Ulstad. She’s a nurse at the hospital, and to hear her tell it, these people are knocking off their kids one by one. She used to belong and got kicked out. You’ve got to take her with a grain of salt because she’s got a massive hate on for these people, but her information is worth looking into. Especially with the Blanchard kid. He was the near-miss.”
“How soon can I talk to her?”
“I’ll try to get it set up for this afternoon. After that, you’re on your own as far as finding a way in. Although I have a few suggestions.”
He gave Everett a long look. “Like what?”
“The sister I just mentioned.”
“What about her?”
“She’s single.”
It took a second to sink in. “Are you suggesting I pursue one of the women?” For the first time in his career, he wondered if his obsession was going to take him where he wasn’t willing to go. An angry, uneasy heaviness began to swirl in his stomach as his body recoiled at the thought.
“There’s worse ways to earn a living. Let’s see what we can get on her.” Harry leaned out the door a second time. “Hey, Kurtz! C’mon back in here, would you?”
Jenny Kurtz smiled as she did so, perching on the edge of the desk to be sure that Ross got a good view of her legs. “What’s up?” she asked.
“You’ve lived here all your life, right?” Harry said. “You know the folks in town pretty well.”
“Sure. What do you need to know?”
“Do you know the Blanchards?”
Jenny shrugged. “Madeleine was a couple of years ahead of me in high school. I don’t know her husband. But I graduated with her sister Julia.”
“What can you tell us about her?”
“That stick-in-the-mud?” Jenny looked amused. “What do you want to know about her for?”
“Because she’s connected to this case Investigator Malcolm’s here for. Tell us about her.”
“I don’t see her much anymore, thank goodness.” Jenny giggled with a sudden memory. “She was such a Goody Two-shoes in high school. Some of the boys thought it would be funny to write her phone number up on the bathroom wall—you know, ‘for a good time, call…’ A couple of the crazy ones actually did it. She wouldn’t know what to do with a guy if she had one. She probably tried to save their souls.”
Ross eyed her with distaste. There was nothing quite like the cruelty of the “in” crowd to the outsider, all the more amazing when he reflected that high school for Jenny had been a good many years ago. Some people matured. Some just stayed stuck at seventeen forever. “How do you think she felt about it?” he asked in spite of himself.
She shrugged. “Who knows?” And who cared, from the tone of her voice.
“Do you know where she lives?” Harry asked, bringing them back to the matter at hand.
“No, but she works at that bookshop downtown. Quill and Quinn. I never go in there. They don’t stock anything good.”
“What about her religion?” Ross asked. “Know anything about that?”
“Only enough to know it gives me the creeps,” she said, making a face. “Nothing but black to their ankles and high-maintenance hair. I went once, for a joke, when they had some kind of meeting at the hall downtown, but—”
“Where’s
