*Thirty-five stores. Claire had personally been to thirty-five stores. The detectives had been to twenty, and Tim had been to twenty-five. That made eighty different stores in the small area, and no one had seen the Lucy Killer. With a heavy sigh, Claire walked up to the lone checkout counter in store 81, and flashed her badge.*

FBI. Have you seen this man?

*The girl wore the disinterested expression common among teenagers everywhere. A pink bubble grew bigger and biiger, popping with an audible crack.*

~Yeah, I seen him. What did he do?~

When did you see him?

~Sunday afternoon. He bought duck tape, rope, and a big bag of Cheetos.~

Did he say anything to you?

~No, but I asked him what he was doing with that stuff.~ *Claire raised an eyebrow.*

What did he say?

~He said he was stringing a clothesline.~

And the duct tape?

~All guys round here carry duck tape. They keep going on about how useful it is. I don't get it myself, but you know guys.~

Did he say anything else? What direction did he go in?

~He didn't say nothing else. Gave me a twenty, and I gave him change.~

Which way did he leave?

*The girl shrugged, cracking her gum.*

~I didn't see. Had other customers.~

Did you see him again?

~No.~

Thank you. *Heading out the door, Claire called Tim.* I was right. He bought his tools here in town. I want a search of every house, building, and outbuilding in a 25-mile radius. He could still be here.

~Right away.~ *Click. Another call.*

Yes?

~Hey Claire.~ *She could hear Annie's enthusiasm over the phone.*

What did you find, Annie?

~The hole in Camille's head was neatly drilled. Running a comparison check, I discovered that the killer used a power drill. A Black and Decker rechargable power drill. The hole in her head is as deep as my middle finger. However, a search of Camille's house and the church found no such drill. I bet the killer took it with him.~

So? How does that help?

~Over time, drill bits wear differently from where they jump the screw, slam into the substrate, etc. If you find the drill, I should be able to match it.~

Great. But how do we -find- him?

~Still working on that.~

Let me know when you figure it out, then.

*Click.*

~*~Back~*~