I looked at the body and sighed. "What can you tell me, Jasper?" Jasper Light is our Medical Examiner and my husband. Oh, and I'm Detective Edward Zone.
"Ten-year-old Halla Air. Died from being strangled. Though there might be another reason," Jasper said. He had blue eyes and blond hair like his twin sister Lisa. Who is on my team along with Julian Coon, Noah Tenor, and his wife Amanda Tenor.
"Just like the other murders. Do you think she was drugged?" Lisa asked.
"I won't know until I do the autopsy."
I looked at the wolf head that was painted in black above Halla. "He didn't drug his other victims. This is the third one so far. He leaves that symbol on each one," I stated.
"Is it time to give the killer a name?" Julian asked.
I nodded. "Anyone have a suggestion?"
"How's Night Wolf?" Lisa said.
Amanda smiled. "I like it. It points out the wolf perfectly."
I shook my head at their teaming up. "Night Wolf it is. Julian, Noah, I want you to do door-to-door. Amanda, Lias, I want you to watch this crime scene. I'll go talk to the mother. She found the body and called it in, right?" Luckily, Amelia, my daughter, wasn't at this house when Night Wolf came.
"Yes. She came home with her three-year-old to find her ten-year-old dead," Lisa said matter-of-factly.
I forced myself not to glare at my sister-in-law. "What wasn't the ten-year-old with her?"
"I didn't get a chance to ask."
I nodded and walked to the neighbors. A woman answered the door and led me to the kitchen then left. "Hello, Mrs. Air," I said.
She looked at me. "Mr. Zone."
"Actually, I'm here as Detective Zone."
"Oh, for a second there I thought you were coming to see why I canceled Faith's and Amelia's playdate."
I do want to know that but not at this moment, I thought. I shook my head. "Nope, this is my case. I just have a few questions for you."
"Okay."
"Why was Halla not with you?"
"She was at a friend's house. That visit must have ended sooner than it should have and they must have brought her home. She had a phone but I never got a phone call from her."
"I'm going to need that friend's name."
"Harry Snap." She gave me the address.
"Has anyone sent any threats to your family?" I know he didn't because he didn't send any threats to his other victims. Though he went to the friends of my kids this time. I wonder if he's trying to get me to give up.
"No."
"Has Halla ever been on the phone with someone and hung up when you walked into the room?" Some of the girls had done that to their parents.
"No."
"Do you know if she used drugs or drank?"
"She never did. She knew that it was wrong."
"Where were you today?"
"I had errands to run in town."
"Where?" I repeated.
"The store, pharmacy, and Faith and I decided to go for Ice cream so we went to The Ice Cream.
I nodded. "Did Halla ever lock you out of her room?"
"N…A few times. She told me it was to keep Faith out so she could either read without any distractions or do her homework in peace."
She probably talked to him on the phone when she had her door locked. "Do you check her phone at all?"
"No, I trusted her."
You should have checked her phone no matter what because there's a killer around! I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Are you aware that this killer tricks kids into sending photos of themselves in different outfits to him? Has them give him their addresses so he can 'meet' them? He kills them when he comes to see them."
"I didn't know that. Do you think that's what happened to her?"
"I do." I stood. "Thank you for your time, Mrs. Air. Amelia asked me if I could ask you to set up another playdate on Saturday. I understand if you can't." My daughter just misses her friend, I added silently.
She smiled. "I'd love to."
I nodded and left. When I got to the station I went straight to the Investigation Room. I stared at the murder board for a minute and then wrote the serial killer's new name down. After that, I turned around and watched everyone come in. "So the killer has killed three kids. Daila Dee at five, Sarah Ruth at seven, and Halla Air at ten. All these killings have three things in common. Once they are all females and two, they all have a wolf head painted in black above them. Thirdly, they were all beaten and strangled. Julian, Noah, what did you get?"
"None of them saw anything too unusual. One said they saw an orange sedan drive by on multiple occasions. They couldn't give us a license plate though," Noah said.
"The person also said that he saw the sedan today but didn't see the driver. He was sure the glass was tinted a lot," Julian added.
I nodded. "Lisa? Amanda?"
"The forensic team didn't find the phone, tablet, or computer the victim owned," Amanda said.
"Halla's room had been ransacked too. So had the younger ones. All jewels were taken too. Mirrors and picture frames were all shattered. Just like in all the other killings. This guy seems to hate anything reflective, " Lisa said.
I nodded. "Mrs. Air told me Halla went into her room and locked the door several times. Not only that but Halla had been supposed to be at a friend's house all day. That friend was Harry Snap. We arrested his father a few years back. Lisa, you and I will go talk to him and his mom. Noah, I want you to pull the CCTV footage from Safeway and The Ice Cream. Julian, Amanda, I want you to look for more information on these girls. See what they have in common that makes the killer want them. Maybe we can prevent the next killing. Dismissed." We all went our separate ways.
We took my car to the Snap house. I knocked on the door and a woman answer it. "Are you Mrs, Snap?" I asked.
"Yes. May I help you?"
"I'm Detective Zone and this is Detective Light. We're here to talk to you about Halla Air. May we come in?" She hasn't let us in herself so I guess I had needed to ask. Lisa glanced at me to tell me she can tell Mrs. Snap was reluctant to let us in. Probably because we arrested her husband. But he had been robbing people and he had killed a guy because the guy had stood up to him.
"Um, sure." She took us to that living room.
"How long was Halla here?" Lisa asked.
"A few hours."
"Wasn't she supposed to be here all day?"
"Yes, but Harry and her got into a fight and she had wanted to go home."
"So you dropped her off," I said.
"Yes. What is this about?"
"Halla was killed after you dropped her off. Did you see an orange sedan there when you got her home?"
"No."
"Is your son home?"
"Yes."
"May we speak to him?"
"Why?"
"To see if she told him anything important," Lisa said.
"Harry, come down here please," Mrs. Snap called up the stairs. A young boy came down. He took one look at us and ran.