Color of Justice by Gary Hardwick

and he drowned in them.”
    â€œBut it would take time, right?” asked Danny. “How much time?”
    â€œDepends on the person, the shot, and other factors,” said Fiona. “I’d guess it took them a half hour or so before they were pretty much goners. Now, the woman was shot in the same manner, but one of the slugs is still in her. It impacted some bone.”
    â€œOkay, so what else did our boy leave at the crime scene?” asked Danny.
    â€œNot much,” said Fiona. “We found some fibers that didn’t match anything in the bedroom, but they are so common, they could belong to anyone. We found powder residue used in the making of surgical gloves, so we know why there were no fingerprints at the scene.”
    â€œHair, skin, blood?” asked Danny. Even he could hear the desperation in his voice.
    â€œ Nada ,” said Fiona. “That’s the smart part. Our boy is no dummy. He knows enough about forensics that he was not going to get sloppy.” Fiona smiled at them. “Fellas, you got yourself a goddamned dilly of a murderer.”
    â€œHow many sweeps did you do of the house?” asked Erik.
    â€œTwo,” said Fiona.
    â€œDo another one,” said Erik.
    â€œOkay, but we won’t find anything,” Fiona said. “I’ve seen a lot of sick bastards in this town, and I’m telling you, this guy’s gonna be on my top ten. You know, these stiffs, the Bakers, had one helluva bad week. We found dog hairs in the house, but no dog, right? Turns out their dog died.”
    â€œHow?” asked Danny.
    â€œI know what you thinking,” said Fiona. “It wasn’t shot. We found the records from a vet. The mutt died of old age.”
    Fiona finished up her report then Danny and Erik left. Danny felt his body warm as soon as he stepped into the hallway. Erik looked pissed about something. He walked along, his steps falling a little harder than normal.
    â€œWhat’s up?” asked Danny.
    â€œI had some downtime coming,” he said. “But now it’s not gonna happen.”
    â€œProbably not. The boss will want us on this full time.”
    â€œMarsha and me were going to Mackinaw. Boating, fishing, fucking. I had it all planned,” said Erik.
    â€œIf it’s that important, we can ask Jim to let you off,” said Danny.
    â€œYou’d like that, wouldn’t you? Solve this case by yourself and get a promotion?”
    â€œDid I say that?”
    â€œNo, but you were thinking it,” said Erik. “I know you.”
    â€œThen you know I was just trying to be nice. I don’t want your ass to go anywhere while this guy’s out there. There ain’t nobody in the squad who can cover my back the way I work.”
    They walked out of the forensic area not saying another word. Danny was sure that Erik was thinking about how he was going to tell his wife that she’d be stuck in Detroit for the rest of the spring. Danny was thinking that if the killer had a plan, it was mysterious and so elaborate that he’d invented a unique and terrible new way to kill.

10
THE LOCKE
    The Locke watched the abandoned house as the last of the men went inside. He was one street over looking through the vacant lot. The weeds had grown big, so he had to look over them to see, but there was no doubt that these were the men he wanted.
    They had no idea what Detroit was about or they would have left town right after they’d robbed his store. Perhaps they were as crazy as he’d heard. His street sources told him that the three brothers were from out of town, from the South somewhere. When he was done today, they’d wish they had stayed there.
    The Locke, as he was called, waited until the men had been inside the little dilapidated home for a few minutes; let them settle in. When he was sure it was time, he signaled his men to get ready.
    In the back of the SUV, Dapp, a muscular black who sported a