The Cruelest Cut by Rick Reed

could find a connection between the victims and the killer, or between the killer and Jack.
    Liddell looked relieved when Jack came in. “Maddy said she was going back to the station to see if she could narrow down when the notes actually arrived,” he said.
    Jansen looked up, saw Jack, and said, “How we gonna find anything in these damn files, Murphy?”
    Jack responded calmly, “The captain wants you to go to Channel Six and try to nail down the exact times those notes were delivered. See if they have security cameras. You know the routine.” But he only half believed that Jansen really knew what he was doing. And even if he did, he didn’t think Jansen would give half an effort. Jack added, “We’ll deal with these files.”
    Jansen paused, weighing the possibility of losing track of Murphy against the idea of being at the television station around gorgeous babes like Maddy Brooks. The deputy chief would be pissed if he found out Jansen had left Murphy alone. But he could always say that he was ordered to by the captain. “Captain Franklin, huh?” he said, and put the file down that he hadn’t opened yet.
    â€œYeah, the captain,” Jack lied. “I guess he figured since the mayor’s mother is going to have to be interviewed, it should be someone with more seniority and tact than me doing it.”
    â€œThe mayor’s mother?” Jansen said to Liddell. “You didn’t tell me nothing about the mayor’s mother being involved in this shit.” His face took on a pained look, as if he’d just swallowed an ice cube and gotten brain freeze.
    â€œWell? You didn’t tell me you were blowing Double Dick,” Liddell responded. “So we’re even.”
    Jansen ignored the insult, grabbed his hat, and waddled out of the squad room. As soon as he was out of earshot, Liddell asked, “What’s really going on, pod’na?”
    Jack told him about the conversation with Captain Franklin. How Franklin said the mayor was putting pressure on the chief, and that he believed that there was going to be a coup attempt by Deputy Chief Dick to replace Pope.
    â€œChief Double Dick.” Crossing his arms across his big chest, Liddell said, “Ugh, me Chief Double Dick. Me fuck’em up’em wet dream.”
    Jack didn’t laugh. The thought of Dick becoming chief wasn’t funny.
    â€œIs that really possible?” Liddell said, getting serious. “Is there no God?”
    â€œGod’s got nothing to do with it,” Jack said. “If he did, Jansen would be a wart on Double Dick’s ass.”
    Liddell laughed until he almost choked.
    â€œOkay, that’s enough. We’ve got work,” Jack said, looking at the two large stacks of folders.
    â€œDo warts wear hats?” Liddell asked.

C HAPTER S IXTEEN
    Jack tried to concentrate on the stack of files on his desk, but the last riddle kept nagging at him until a sense of urgency swept over him. This case was like nothing he had ever come across, and the normal methods of investigation didn’t apply. Murphy’s Law said that if something could go wrong it most likely would at the most inopportune moment. Not only had Maddy Brooks broken her promise to the captain, by going on the six o’clock news and hinting that the police suspected the recent killings were the work of a serial killer, but she had also claimed the police had dubbed the killer “Mother Goose.” That would bring every nut job out of hiding to get their faces on camera.
    These cases had been screwed from the beginning, which only confirmed the rule. There were no witnesses to interview, the bodies were hacked into sushi, and the victims seemed to have nothing in common.
    That last thought brought him out of his reverie. “Liddell,” he said.
    â€œHuh,” Liddell said, his nose still buried in a file.
    â€œWhat if these victims are all connected