Charmed to death: an Ophelia and Abby mystery by Shirley Damsgaard

allowed me to sit in the chair. I felt him hovering behind me. Neither man spoke and, from behind his desk, Perez watched me.
    I plunged right in. "I want to know if there's anything new with the investigation of Brian's murder?"
    Perez looked over my head at Comacho.
    Looking back at me again, he asked, "It's been five years, Ms. Jensen. Why the sudden curiosity?"
    "Umm, well—" The words I wanted to say dried up in my mouth.
    Comacho moved from behind me and perched on the edge of the desk. "Do you have any new information?" he asked, zeroing in on me.
    "N-no," I stuttered.
    Damn, I sound guilty of something. Get some spine, Jensen , I thought. Squaring my shoulders and ignoring Comacho, I met Perez's stare.
    "No, of course I don't have anything new. If I did, I would've told you by now."
    Perez eyed me with curiosity. "Then why are you here?"
    "I'm in town for a librarians' convention and I wanted to know if the murder is still being investigated," I said, twisting the strap of my purse around my fingers. Glancing at Comacho, I saw him watching my hands twist the strap. Dropping it, I clasped my hands in my lap. Comacho's mouth twitched at the corner.
    "Look, I know it seems funny, after all this time, contacting you, but there's never been any closure for me after Brian's death. I want to see his killer caught. It won't bring Brian back, but it might provide some peace to his family and me to know you haven't given up."
    Perez leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head, and looked at Comacho. "The Iceman never gives up. He doesn't appreciate loose ends, do you, Enrique?"
    Comacho gave Perez a cool glance. "No, I don't."
    Confused, I looked at Comacho. "But the officer at the desk said you weren't assigned here any more?"
    "I'm not; I'm with the Iowa Department of Crime Investigation."
    "The DCI?"
    "Yeah, I was in town, so I thought I'd drop by."
    Right. After my experience with him five years ago, I knew every question he asked, every action he took, had a reason. But what was that reason? I didn't have time to worry about it now.
    "You're still investigating?"
    "Yes," answered Perez. "But unfortunately, we don't have any new leads. We know there've been other murders in the past five years that we believe were done by the Harvester. Yeah," Perez said noticing the shocked look on my face. "He has a name now, thanks to a clever reporter. The victims were all successful men who were homosexuals and all were murdered the same way. But the killings have been sporadic and over several states in the Midwest."
    "And the DCI's involved now?"
    "Yes, and the FBI." Comacho studied his hands. "You haven't been contacted by the killer, have you?"
    "Who, me? How would he contact me?"
    Perplexed, Comacho watched me. "The usual way: anonymous phone calls or letters."
    I stared at the cracks in the floor. Sure, I could tell him the killer had contacted me in my dreams. And that I'm starting to have this weird mental connection with him. Oh, and by the way, may I use my runes to help you find him? What would the logical Detective Comacho do if I said that? He already thought I was nuts.
    I shook the mental image away and said, "Why would he do that?"
    "Well, thanks to Fletcher Beasley and his articles in the paper, your connection, your friendship, with Brian Mitchell was well known and sometimes serial killers think it's fun to taunt the friends and families of their victims. It extends their feelings of power and control," Perez explained.
    "No, nothing like that has happened."
    "But you'd tell us if it did?"
    "Yes, I would." I stood to leave. "Thank you, Detective Perez. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me, but I must go."
    "I have to go too. I'll walk you to your car, Ophelia," Comacho said.
    "That's okay. It's not necessary."
    "No, I insist. Joe, great seeing you again. Tell Marcella hi and give her a kiss for me."
    "Sure thing, Iceman. Take care, hermano ," Perez said, doing a macho handshake thing with