Mystery: The Card Counter: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) by James Kipling

were any criminal investigations in the last few years, I’ll make sure we know about it.”
    “All right, I’ve got the Dean here. I’ll look into any possible scandals that might have been swept under the carpet.” I looked over at Dean Jackson, who had been listening to me on the phone. He knew exactly what I was implying and shook his head to indicate no such cover-up existed, but I knew we’d have to check with the President, possibly the other Deans as well; just because the first body had been found by the Arts building, it didn’t mean the other students or the murderer had anything to do with his division in particular.
    “Did you notify dispatch?” the Captain asked.
    “I did. Flo and I have the scene secure until the new team gets here.”
    “All right. Keep it that way.”
    As the line went dead, I turned to face Dean Jackson. “If there are any dark secrets or scandals that the university swept under the rug, now would be a good time to let me know about it.” Dean Jackson was sullenly quiet for a change. “I’m not here to out any dirty laundry, but if you know something that could help stop this from happening again, you need to speak up!”
    The Dean still shook his head. “If such a scandal existed, it did so without my assistance,” he answered. “Nothing ever came across my desk that would spark this kind of madness. What I saw in there was disgusting.”
    “I know,” I said as I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I’ve been working here a while and that was a lot for me to take in, as well. This looks and feels personal, though. Whoever is attacking the football team is angry at them for a reason. This person is going out of their way to torture, humiliate, and degrade them publicly. Whatever is going on...” my words trailed off.
    “I’m not sure what could have provoked this,” the Dean admitted. “The only scandal we’ve had in the past was last year’s spending scandal. I’m sure you watched it unfold on the news, as I did, for the most part.”
    “I remember that,” I said as I paced the hallway. The university had been caught giving money and gifts to some of its players. As a result, the team had been fined, and banned from bowl games for the next four seasons.
    I couldn’t imagine someone being so upset about that as to attack the coach and the players so viciously. Something had happened that we were not aware of, a secret that never made the light of day, and one that this killer was trying to force the campus and the staff to expose to the media and the public.
    It was finally time to make a call that I had hoped wouldn’t be necessary, but the time had finally come. I fished into my wallet and pulled out a card I hadn’t used in years.
    A few years ago, when some sick, demented predator was killing prostitutes in the slums, I’d had no choice but to bring the feds in. Normally, people in my profession considered it a weakness to call the FBI for assistance, but I was above pride, which to me wasn’t worth more than the lives of future victims. We had 17 dead girls before we solved the case and brought the bastard in.
    After that case, the special agent who helped me out left his card in case I needed his assistance again. Now that I was getting impatient waiting for the feds to return our numerous calls, it seemed to be that time, especially since the legal standard for a serial killer had been met with this third body, so I decided to make the call. 
    I was not above asking for help, especially when I needed it to get things under control. I also had this feeling in my gut that this was not the first time this killer was striking. These killings were not sloppy and they left little or no traces behind from what we’d found so far. At least none we could connect to the suspect at the moment.
    I immediately dialed the number and was surprised it still worked. I waited a few rings before someone finally picked up. “This is Special Agent