Mystery: The Card Counter: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page A

to be more political than anything else. I’d been playing dumb with the Captain back at the scene when talking about football. My brother was a die-hard college football fan and I remembered a lot of things he’d told me about this upcoming season.
    Wally was a candidate for the college player of the year. If he even lived up to half the hype going into this season, he was going to be a top 10 pick at next year’s draft. A promising career had been brutally cut short by someone who didn’t like him very much. The murder was too vicious to be someone from a rival team. Whoever committed this heinous act clearly hated Wally a great deal, to the point where he’d tortured the poor boy for at least a half hour before finally putting him out of his misery. “We need to speak with the victim’s family. See if they were getting any threats, as well.”
    “Think this one is personal, Jake?” Flo called back from a few stairs behind.
    “It sure looks like it,” I answered, but as I said that to her, I noticed something out of place. One of our people from forensics was in the lobby. They were looking for me, and I knew exactly what that meant: they’d already found something.

 
3
     
    Flo and I walked over to the member of our forensics team in the lobby. “What did you find?” I quickly asked.
    “This,” she answered as she handed over a clear plastic bag. Inside the bag was a small playing card. “We found it stuffed in the side of his sock. It was the only one there, which is what triggered our curiosity.”
    “Fuck,” I said as I looked at the card. It was the ace of hearts. I handed it over to Flo for her to look over. “Thoughts?”
    “I’m getting that feeling this isn’t going to end with one body,” Flo commented. She was never one to hold back her opinion, and she wasn’t often wrong.
    “Take this back to evidence and keep it under wraps,” I ordered. We followed the young forensics officer out the door and I directed Flo to follow her back to the crime scene so no one would bug her. I strolled over to where the Captain was still talking to the press. While the Captain was doing well, I felt the need to butt in. “That’s all the time we have. No, we will release more statements at a later time.” I grabbed the Captain by the arm and dragged him away from the press. “We need to talk.”
    Rather than get upset that I took away his press time, the Captain knew I wouldn’t have done it unless I thought it was urgent. “What do you have?”
    “A card,” I answered.
    “What kind of card?” he asked.
    “The ace of hearts.”
    “Where did they find it?”
    “In his sock. We think the suspect planted it there.”
    “What the fuck does it mean?”
    “Your guess is as good as mine.”
    Captain Bancroft paused for a moment. “The ace. It’s usually considered the top card in the deck. Could it possibly be a reference to Wally’s standing on campus?”
    “It’s also considered the first of 12 cards,” I added. “We could see 11 more coming in our near future.”
    “Holy shit,” the Captain cussed. “Could this get any worse?”
    “Let’s hope the suspect doesn’t want to play a game of 52 pickup,” I answered. “Things could always get worse.”
    “Don’t start with me,” the Captain said as he took a deep breath. “We’ll have to warn the Dean and the President to make sure their students stay inside and avoid walking around here at night, at least until we can determine the risk and whether the suspect is indeed going to strike again.”
    “Will do,” I said as I started to take notes. “We also should contact the FBI and see if this fits a profile. For all we know, this could be someone they’re already following.”
    “Good idea,” my boss agreed. “If this is someone that’s already on the radar, we could use the extra help without straining our budget.” As much as my Captain liked that idea, I knew he didn’t relish the thought of a serial killer moving to