Declan
My eyebrows furrowed as I typed in the next name on the list in the social security system. I still had about twenty to go and it was already 2pm which meant that I didn't have much time until Malachi came over to pick me up.
After meeting Riley this morning and going over to the murder scene this morning, I was determined to know the trackers in the area and have a good understanding of who they were for today's meet. All of them had to be ruled out as suspects.
My one suspicion on how most of the murders happened was that their murderer was someone they knew, and if all of the victims were as comfortable as Malachi was with Riley then that meant a lot of them were welcomed into their homes with open arms.
That was a concern. That could explain the lack of struggle and tonight my goal was to see whose story didn't match up. If I could get a hint that something was connecting it would make it easier for me to zone into my prime suspects.
So far I didn't have a clue on who it could be. Most of the trackers had either lived here their whole lives or came from surrounding communities. They had a large trail that none of them felt like ghosts. Some had a few traffic fines, parking tickets and a few arrested for minor DUI's which were sorted out with community service as most were first time offenders.
No one was squeaky clean which was human. Not someone who was hiding in the forest. Some had day jobs as well and a few were patrol officers. That made my job a lot harder.
After another hour, I scratched off the next few names until I only had two.
"Are you going to the meeting today?" Jason came over chewing on a doughnut with coffee in tow.
I nodded, "just doing some research."
He peeked over at my computer and hummed. I would have had the privacy of my office but as if the universe was against me, this morning my chair fell apart before I could even get a chance to sit on it. At that point I called the office a hazard and opted to occupy one of the cubicles until a maintenance man could come in to make sure the private air conditioning didn't explode on me too.
"Zion Zephaniah?" He raised his eyebrows and said his name as if it was extremely important. "Are you checking out the chief's son?
"It's my job to investigate," I looked up at him searching for a look of resistance but only to find amusement. "What?"
"Trust me your killer isn't Zion," he laughed. "He's barely in town to even try to kill a soul."
I ignored his words as I finished typing in his name. The space between my eyebrows knitted together when I saw that unlike the others there wasn't a picture of him. That meant that there wasn't any record of him.
Thirty-two years old, went to school at Washington university and graduated. Mostly lived abroad which explained the lack of information about him. His resistance within the town only popped up last year.
"Where had he been this entire time?"
"Apparently he lived in Ireland for a while. Involved in the volcanic studies or whatever they explained," he hummed as if searching his brain for information. "He and Gedaliah didn't get along too well from what I've heard. He was forced to come back to take over the reserve when he died."
As I looked through his profile I saw he had siblings. Three brothers, Amariah, Amon then Ziha. He was the oldest it seemed.
"Couldn't one of his siblings lead?"
He shook his head, "the oldest always does. He knew it was his responsibility from day one."
It was my turn to nod and hum. "Will you be at the meet today?"
"No but if you would like for me to tag along I'd be happy too. I know a lot of the men and women there. It could come in handy to see a familiar face."
"Thank you, any customs I should know off?"
"Bring meat," he grinned. "Lots of it."
"When Jason mentioned bringing meat I didn't think he meant four lamb thighs," I looked at Malachi who whistled as he drove his green Dodge truck.
"Trust me if you're going to the Zephaniah tribe, you're going to need lots of meat. That's how you get their favoritism. Why do you think I'm their chosen vet," he winked and laughed. "Anyway I would suggest not poking your nose into things. Especially if Zion is there. He can be intense."
I frowned, "I'm a detective. It's my job to go looking into things. If he has nothing to hide then he won't have a problem with it."
"I'm just saying," he shrugged, "just try to be subtle about it. It's not everyday you're invited into the meet, especially if you're new to the community. They're guarded about these things."
I wanted to argue that very much but I guessed it was my 'city' way of handling things. It wasn't everyday in the middle of New York that you met a chief of a community therefore I wasn't too sure how to go about this.
However, by how much Jason and Malachi were coaching me when it came to meeting Zion I figured that he was far too important for me to be ignorant too. To me it seemed he was more respected than the mayor I was yet to meet and if he didn't like you, you were going to have a tough time coping in the town.
"This is the reserve?" I gaped when we approached the large iron wrought gates and the fence that looked like it stretched on forever across the forest.
"I did say they are very strict about who comes into their land. If you're not invited to come in. You're probably going to need to get a court order any other way."