“I think our theory might be a bit of a stretch,” Ray said slowly, not taking his gaze from the names on the board. “The two women that were in law enforcement had been out of it for years. Anna Luther retired over a decade ago, and Gabrielle Gower left her job two years before she was shot.”
“What’s she been doing since?” Mason asked.
“Working on a degree at Portland State. Business,” answered Zander. “I think we need to stay on this lead. I like it.”
“But how do these women tie to these young guys who died?” asked Ray. “Where do they come in? Hell, what I really want to know is how he gets them to go along with this plan. ‘Wait in the bathroom while I kill people until I can shoot you in the face.’ It doesn’t make sense. We’re missing something.”
Mason nodded. A clock was ticking down in his head. Every hour and day that passed, he felt them moving closer to another mass of deaths—but he couldn’t see the end time on the clock. The air pressure seemed to increase as more time went by.
He dug in a folder and pulled out photos of their shooters—no, they weren’t shooters. The young men were victims. He studied each face, wondering what had put the men in the positions that’d caused their deaths. He wished he had video of the first two men. The video at the Rivertown Mall of Justin Yoder a few days before the shooting had brought the young man to life. He’d moved and interacted like a happy man. Not someone who knew he was about to die.
How did the shooter convince them to go along with the shootings?
He closed his eyes, remembering the shooter walking beside Justin, laughing and pointing in the mall. Just another carefree day. And then he’d held his hands up like a movie director. Mason went still. A movie director? The shooter had pointed at the mall cameras . . . and then places where there were no cameras, but was he telling Justin there would be cameras? For the performance?
He also studied drama in college and falls back on that when he needs to. Kari Behling’s statement about AJ Weiss.
AJ Weiss had had a recent acting gig. And he’d had to buy the clothes for the gig. Was it possible . . . ?
“Hey, Ray. Do you have a phone number for Kari Behling handy? You know, AJ Weiss’s girlfriend.”
Ray pulled a notebook out of his pocket and flipped through it.
Mason looked at Zander. “Do you remember anything in Justin Yoder’s background that had to do with acting or drama?”
Zander thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I can look over some of the notes.”
“Here you go.” Ray handed Mason his notebook, his gaze sharp. “What are you thinking?”
Mason dialed his phone. “I’m thinking that AJ Weiss may have believed he’d signed up for some sort of acting job. Maybe our other guys, too. What other reason would they have to go along with this unless they were killers? Nothing we’ve found in their backgrounds indicates these are guys that would knowingly stand aside and let someone commit mass murder, right?”
“Hello?” Kari answered her phone. Mason identified himself and plunged right into his questions.
“You told us the other day that AJ had purchased clothing for one of his acting jobs, right?”
“Yes,” she answered cautiously.
“What did he buy?”
“I’m not sure. He said he’d been told Dick’s Sporting Goods store would have what he needed. I never saw his purchase.”
“You didn’t ask him about it?”
“I asked him what he’d been told to buy and he’d said exercise pants and jacket.”
Yes! “What was the acting job for?” He couldn’t help the small quiver in his voice. Ray’s eyebrow rose at the sound. Both he and Zander were carefully listening to Mason’s side of the conversation.
“Um . . . I’m not sure. He never got to do it.”
“You mean it was to happen after he died?”
“I assume so. He never said anything more about it after he’d been given money to go buy the clothes.”
Mason suspected AJ had made his last performance.
“Did you find new workout wear in his apartment?”
Kari paused. “I didn’t see anything, but I wasn’t looking for it. I haven’t gone through all his things yet, but I can look if you need me to.” Curiosity rang in her tone. Mason didn’t press the issue. He knew AJ had been wearing the clothes when he was shot.
“Do you know how he got hired for that particular job?”
“I’m not sure. Probably through one of the websites where they post that sort of thing. He was always scanning for quick jobs. Or one of his acting buddies may have passed it on to him. Often he hears about things through word of mouth.”
“What kind of websites?” Mason tucked his cell phone between his jaw and shoulder and flipped to a clean page in Ray’s notebook.
“Job posting boards. I don’t know what they’re called exactly. All the people looking for acting jobs visit them. At least AJ and his friends did.”
“Can you give me a name and phone number of his closest friend who does the same sort of thing? Someone who’d know that side of the business?”
“Sure. He has an acting group that meets regularly at Portland Community College. Frankly I think the group did more drinking than working on their craft, but he has a couple of close friends from there. Hold on.”
Mason looked at Ray and Zander. “She says AJ went to the sporting goods store to buy exercise pants and jacket for his next job. And there are job boards for actors where she thinks he might have picked up that gig.”