Seven Deadly Colors Of The Rainbow [#Wattys 2016]

Retrace Our Steps

Realizing that we couldn't just sit and wait for the rainbow killer to finish the job or strike again, Detective Patrick and I dedicated all our time in retracing our steps.
In our cramped office we had the photos of all victims, the date they were killed and their assigned color all tacked to the wall. All the victims were female and off the same age group. As far as similarities go that was it. They all had different jobs, died in different ways and  all had a different color.
So far there were six of them, five if I exclude Marcia.

I need to find out who victim number seven will be.

I couldn't base it off these clues alone. No I had to go deeper, much deeper.

We went back to the first victim file. Well not the first person that was killed but the first person who drew out attention to the case.
Rachel; the poor girl who we found electrocuted in her bathtub. We did a quick survey of the crime scence once more. The house was now sold and evrything looked different. We tried to speak to her mother but that proved to be futile.
Her date at the time moved out of the state around three months ago.

The second female was Jessica who was killed in the most unique way. A syringe full of air simulated a heart attack. We couldn't find anything more while digging around. Her husband was tight lip about the entire situation. 

We went to the Park Washington Resturant afterwards where the color yellow was discovered. Our mystery man really went all out for this this, fake ID,  fake name, fake beard, fake numbers all complete with a fake address 

The thing that puzzled me greatly about this murder was the stakes involved. Killing somebody in a small area where you can easily escape is one thing,  killing someone in a crowded restaurant is another. The more I thought about it the more I realized how every detail was incredibly planned and the killer accounted for everything. 

"What do you think?" I asked Patrick after I shared my thoughts.

"I don't even know." He shrugged his shoulders while staring out through the glass window.

"Why would he go through so much trouble to kill her? Why here? In such a crowded area?"

The resturant did not lose any business since the death of a patron. The place was packed and it wasn't even dinner time. A statue was placed where Janet was seated and the whole place rearranged since.

"Do you love publicly Patrick?"

"No Courtney. Everyone loves their privacy." Detective Sutherland scoffed.

I remember the words of Mrs Riley so I asked, "What do you have planned for later?"

"Huh? I don't get you." Patrick Sutherland raised his eyebrows and averted his gaze from outside to me.

"Your plans for tonight, are you doing anything?" I twisted the ring around my finger under the table. I tend to do it whenever I was nervous.

He laughed, genuine laughter which caused his eyes to squint. "Are you asking me out?"

I chuckled. "The mistress would kill me if she knew I had someone on the side. Come for dinner tonight, my place and bring that pretty blonde from forensics. I know you two are dating."

His face registered shock but then he smiled. "I'll be there."

Maybe this is what we want. A break from all the work and tension. Just to unwind and take a break from it all.