AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The sound of Byron Zell’s name caused Alex’s stomach to sink and her forehead to bead with sweat.
“Wait a minute,” Annette said. “I’ve heard that name.”
“So has Alex,” Lane said. “Byron Zell was on her evidence board.”
Alex’s vision blurred as she thought back to her meeting with Hank Donovan, the detective who had given her the details about Zell’s crime scene: pictures of Zell’s victims had been left around his body. Alex had drawn a faint connection to her parents’ crime scene but had run out of real estate from there. But now, the FBI’s most renowned criminal profiler had also connected the murder of her parents to Byron Zell, but through a different link: they were all clients of Lancaster & Jordan.
Lane looked at Annette. “The name probably rings a bell because the homicide happened right here in DC about a month ago. It took a sophisticated computer algorithm constantly updated with new artificial intelligence technology for me to arrive where Alex got all on her own.”
“Sexual assault,” Alex managed to say.
“What’s that?” Annette asked.
“All the cases have to do with sexual assault.”
“Exactly,” Lane said. “Sexual assault against minors, more specifically.”
The dizziness consumed her for a moment and Alex rocked in her chair before gripping the table to right herself.
“You okay?” Annette asked.
Alex regained her bearings, swallowed hard, and then looked at Annette. “They had photos around them.”
“They had what?” Annette asked.
Alex’s mouth was cotton dry and she gulped from her water bottle before continuing.
“My parents. Whoever killed them dropped photos of Roland Glazer’s victims near their bodies. Three young women who worked for Glazer. They disappeared shortly after Glazer was indicted on sex-trafficking charges. Many believe Glazer killed them to keep them quiet about what was going on at his private island. Whoever killed Byron Zell did the same thing—deposited photos of his victims around his body.”
Annette slowly turned her head to look at Lane. “Any idea if these other victims you’ve identified had photos left by their bodies?”
Lane nodded. “All of them.” He held up the packet. “So what we have is a cluster of victims who were all tied in some way to the sexual assault of minors. All were clients of Lancaster and Jordan. And all were killed by gunshot, and with the same calling card attached: photos of their victims left behind.”
Lane turned a page in his packet.
“This brings us to the point in the conversation where we transition from computer algorithm to human analytics. Or, my specialty—criminal profiling. I’ve created a detailed profile of what this killer may look like.”
Alex and Annette quickly turned the pages of their packets to follow along.
“The algorithm found a common connection to four homicides. But remember, that was a search starting after your family was killed in twenty-thirteen. So we have five homicide cases starting in twenty-thirteen if we include your family.”
“That’s either a bizarre coincidence,” Annette said, “or it’s very dangerous to seek legal advice from Lancaster and Jordan.”
Alex stayed quiet. Her mind was racing too quickly to organize her thoughts into coherent questions.
“There is no coincidence,” Lane said. “Only the illusion of coincidence. And to get to the bottom of that illusion, I constructed a profile of the type of person who might be behind a string of homicides like the ones the algorithm picked up on.”
Lane paused to take a sip of beer.
“Let’s start with age and gender. Considering that we’re talking about someone who committed the Quinlan family murders in twenty-thirteen, the killer would be well into his thirties. But considering the sophistication of the crimes, I suspect the killer is older. Midforties to midfifties.”
“Sophistication?” Annette asked.
“All the homicides occurred at the victims’ homes. In order for that to be possible, the killer had to gain access to the home, kill the victim, and flee. That takes cunning, patience, and planning. This is not some kid running around shooting people.”
Lane went back to his packet.
“So we’ve got someone who’s forty-five to fifty-five, cunning and intelligent, and likely holds a job of some importance. White collar much more likely than blue collar. And, most importantly, this person has a vendetta against those who commit crimes of sexual predation against minors. But it’s not just a vendetta, it’s a personal vendetta. In all likelihood, the killer was sexually assaulted as a child.”
