The Wizard Murders Read Online Free PDF

counties is underway." Well, at least they're no longer reporting it was in her own house, Pitt thinks.
     
    "A source from the Beaumont Police Department who wished to remain anonymous revealed that 'several bizarre paintings' apparently created by the killer lined the walls of the house..."
     
    Pitt practically feels his stomach melt through his shoes. Wait 'til I...!
     
    He storms out of the office, paper in hand, shouting "Goddammit! Who talked to the...?"
     
    He's startled to find himself greeted with laughter. Contrary to his immediate thoughts, he's not being ridiculed for his burst of outrage; instead, Clarence has just finished telling the staff his morning joke.
     
    He approaches Pitt, smiling. "Andy, I-"
     
    "Have you read this?"
     
    "No, I haven't."
     
    Pitt points out the offending passage and hands it to him. Within seconds, Clarence's face flushes with disbelief and anger. Pitt moves quickly to keep himself and his partner calm. "Now, let's not focus on why someone talked about this or what this does to the investigation, but we need to know who . Clarence, is there even the slightest chance that you or someone you know-"
     
    "Hell no!" Clarence starts stammering. "I- I don't know anything about this, Andy, but I... I..."
     
    "Did Chief Stevens see this yet?" he mutters, urgently.
     
    "I don't know, man! I just saw this!" Clarence hollers back, genuinely angry. "Whoever it was, it couldn't have been one of our boys, I mean it just couldn't."
     
    The secretary with the blond poofy hair walks by, her arms filled with files, and mutters, "J.C."
     
    "J.C.?" Pitt exclaims, incredulous.
     
    "From Riverside," the secretary mumbles again, this time in a knowing, told-you-so singsong tone.
     
    After a fleeting moment, both men nod simultaneously as it occurs to them.
     
    "That son of a bitch."
                                                                                          
                                          ************* 
     
    "Dammit, John, this is it."
     
    John Curt, a recent addition to the Beaumont PD after he supposedly couldn't handle it in Riverside, responds to Pitt's exclamation with a sarcastic expression.
     
    "It's not a big deal. It would have gotten out anyway. You know, my stepdaughter lives in Beaumont, and people have got a right to know if some maniac could do something to harm their children."
     
    "That's not your decision to make!" Pitt howls in anger and frustration. "You release something like that and it's only a matter of time until the feds get involved. We need to contain this, and keep whoever it was that did this from getting the sort of attention they're clearly going after!"
     
    Clarence now steps in, and lets John have it. "Are you gonna put up the money for the overtime that's gonna be needed when people start demandin' extra patrols? You gonna? You wanna pull valuable time and resources from the investigation while we try to contain a panic, and this lunatic gets another chance at killin' whoever he wants, whenever he wants?"
     
    "Oh come off it. It's not like the officers on scene were reluctant to talk to the press. Everyone was doing it." John's eyes are two humorless, black little marbles.
     
    "Didn't anyone in Riverside ever tell you about polygraph keys? Details that only the right suspect would know? It's standard procedure since time immemorial to withhold certain information." Pitt's teeth are clenched. "Or is homicide over there too busy getting lollipops from the hookers?"
     
    "Screw you. Besides, the paper says 'several' paintings on the walls, not just one. Maybe false information is a good thing, right? Y'know, maybe some more speculation and second-guessing would be a healthy thing when it comes to this department... this podunk little hellhole. I don't know why everyone says they're so proud to live here. I mean, my God,