Cereal Killer

them.
    ‘You want to pat this guy down and stick him in the back of your unit?” Savannah said. “He’s a suspect in several murders, and I just caught him looking in my windows. Detective Coulter will be along in few minutes. And I’m sure he’ll have some questions for Ronny Boy here.”
     
    When Dirk arrived, Savannah and Tammy quickly filled him in on the situation. He talked to Tumblety a few minutes, then instructed the patrolman to take him to the station and put him in a holding cell.
    ‘You tailed him all day?” Dirk asked Tammy as they watched the radio car pull away with the unhappy Tumblety in the rear seat.
    “Sure, just like you told me to,” she replied proudly. “Exactly what did he do from the time he left his house... er, van?”
    “He went to a liquor store, then to that porn shop down on Chaparral Street. Next he went to a photo lab—the one on the east side of town between the McDonald’s and the Taco Bell. Then he drove out to Arroyo Verde and sat in his car in front of a house there for over an hour.”
    “It was Desiree La Port’s place,” Savannah said. “I went out there myself and talked to her. He must have been watching her place and saw me when I arrived.” ‘Yeah, and when Savannah left the house,” Tammy added, “he followed her all the way home. He parked over there.” She pointed to his car, parked half a block down the street. “Then he got out, snuck up to her house, and peeked in the windows. He had a camera and was taking pictures, too.”
    “The camera’s lying over there, in my flower bed,” Savannah said. “And my cell phone, too.”
    They walked over to the window and retrieved both items from the dew-damp lawn.
    “You say he went to a photo lab?” Savannah asked as she wiped her wet phone on her shirt.
    “Yes.” Tammy nodded eagerly.
    “Could you tell if he was dropping off or picking up?”
    “I didn’t see anything in his hands when he went in, but he was carrying a little plastic bag when he came out”
    Savannah and Dirk gave each other a knowing look.
    Dirk turned and headed across the grass toward Tumblety’s car. Savannah and Tammy followed close behind him.
    “If he didn’t go home, the pictures are probably still in the car, right?” Savannah asked Tammy.
    “Yes, I guess so. Why? Do you think there would be anything good in them?”
    Savannah sniffed. “Anything good? With any luck at all, it’ll be something bad.”
     
    “I thought you said you aren’t photogenic,” Dirk said. He picked up one of Tumblety’s pictures and studied it closely. Too closely, as far as Savannah was concerned.
    She snatched it out of his hand and placed it back on her kitchen table, along with the other twenty-three shots they were perusing.
    “I’m just saying you look pretty yummy in that blue swimsuit,” he added, reaching for it again. “Can I have a copy of this one? I want to tape it to the inside of my locker at the station.”
    “Oink, oink,” Tammy said with a snort.
    “Business,” Savannah told him. “Keep your mind on business, boy. And stop gawking at my hooters.” She reached for another picture that showed off her curves even more than the first. “Here. If you’re gonna decorate your locker, do it right.”
    Meanwhile, Tammy was shuffling the photos around on the table, grouping them in some manner that only she understood.
    “What are you doing there?” Savannah asked her. “Trying to decide who old Ronald liked best, you or Tesla.” She pointed to a row of pictures that she had arranged in a column. “Out of the twenty-four shots, four of them are of the whole group of models. Eight of them feature you in the center and up close. And twelve of them have Tesla as the main focus.”
    Savannah suppressed a shudder. “Good. That’s one beauty contest I’d prefer not to win.”
    Dirk dragged several of the pictures across the table and lined them up in front of him. “These are the ones I’m interested in,” he said. “The ones he took as you girls were leaving.”
    “Why those in particular?” Tammy asked.
    “Good point,” Savannah said.
    “What?” Tammy looked from Savannah to Dirk. “What are you looking for?”
    “To see who he’s fixated on at that point,” Savannah said. “Right, Dirk?”
    Dirk nodded. “And just as I figured—it’s Tesla. Look at this....”
    He pointed to the central figure of the four photos that were taken of the driveway area as the women were getting into their