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Leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling, Kane sighed. “Without probable cause, that ain’t gonna happen. We’ve got two men who admit speaking to the victims, and that’s it. Sure, they fit the description of the people who saw them speaking to the women. Both men have been interviewed and although they could fit the profile of a serial killer, we have absolutely no motive. There are no links to the women in any way whatsoever. Holden sold them carvings. Strauss spoke to them at work casual-like. Both admitted to speaking to them.”
“No, not enough probable cause for a search warrant, that’s for darn sure.” Styles’ chair creaked. “Leave it with me. I’ll see what I can do about it. Having someone like Beth Katz in the office, sometimes miracles happen. Her expertise in cybercrime has given her access to more places than you would imagine.”
Glad of the support, Kane pushed a hand through his hair. “Thanks, I’d appreciate any assistance you could offer.”
“Anytime.” Styles disconnected.
“Get any information?” Jenna peered at him from across her desk.
Nodding, Kane stood and went to the kitchenette to pour a cup of coffee. He hunted through the cabinet below, looking for a jar of cookies. “Yeah. The man they have on remand is Eduardo Souza. Styles took his prints while he was there to interview Mateo’s doppelganger.” He grabbed the jar of cookies and straightened. “The general consensus of the FBI is that something unusual is going on. We have Beth Katz working on it. She’s an expert in cybercrime but really needs access to the suspects’ computers to get anywhere.”
“I’m sure Kalo will get involved as well.” Jenna indicated to her screen. “I’ve been scanning our suspects’ files right back to grade school. They’re both smart. They have strong IT backgrounds, which are at odds with their current employment. This wouldn’t assist them with the stun guns, but it could easily give them the skills to gain access to the victims’ homes. We know how easy it is to hack a security system or any local cameras. Either of them has the skills to have been watching the victims undetected.”
Nodding, Kane poured two cups of coffee and sat at Jenna’s desk. He went back for the cookies, and a doggy treat for Duke. “Yeah, since I discovered that just about all Wi-Fi cameras can be hacked, even nanny cams and robot vacuum cleaner cams, it opens up a whole new world for Peeping Toms.”
“Or the best time to lie in wait for a victim to arrive home from work.” Jenna sipped her coffee and munched on a cookie. “How can we eliminate either suspect or Carter without gaining access to their computers or other devices?”
Kane shrugged. “We’re between a rock and a hard place. I guess we could haul them both in for questioning and see what happens when we shake the tree. Other than that, I guess we wait for him to make a mistake.”
“You mean when he kills again?” Jenna grimaced. “That can’t be our only option. I’m writing down what we have and we’ll take it to the judge. Circumstantial evidence might be enough.” She gave him a long look over the rim of the cup. “We’ll pull the suspects in first. If they’re not involved, they might just surrender their devices voluntarily. Stranger things have happened.”
Kane snorted and tossed a doggy treat to Duke. “One day pigs might fly too, but I’m not holding my breath.”
FORTY
Carter had driven deep enough along Dakota Slade’s driveway so that his truck would be hidden from view by the trees. He sat in his vehicle with Kalo on speaker, trying to think like a tech-savvy killer. “You have the coordinates. Can you check to see if there are any CCTV cameras anywhere around the outside of the property?”
“Nope, you’re good to go.” Kalo tapped on his keyboard. “The victims have security systems. Nothing was activated when the deputies arrived.”
Rain splashed against the windshield as Carter drove along the driveway to the house. Apart from the pine trees, all the other vegetation had dropped their leaves, and the blackened trunks gave an eerie feeling to the surrounding area. Fall leaves of every color appeared glossy as the rain soaked the gravel driveway. He pulled the truck to a halt outside the front porch and, moving a toothpick across his mouth, stared at the house, trying to think like a killer. What would he do if he wanted to murder someone? “Do you figure he was inside the house before Dakota got home from work?”
“Well, from the crime scene photographs she wasn’t expecting a visitor, as in a date. Seems to me she’d gotten ready for bed and was having a snack in front of the TV.” Kalo moved his chair, the wheels running across the tile in a familiar sound. “They all seem to be like that, just sitting staring at the TV but dead. It’s real creepy, man.”
Carter turned up the collar on his jacket and pushed his Stetson firmly down on his head. “I’m going to take a look at the lock on the front door and try and establish if the security system was compromised.”
“If it had been damaged in any way it would have been in Wolfe’s report.” Kalo tapped away at his keyboard. “Even if the killer used some of his IT skills, it would be too difficult for him to manipulate the security system. Unless he was spying on the girls some other way. You need to look for any type of cameras. You would be surprised how many people leave their laptop cameras switched on, and there are others in the house. For instance, many motion detectors have security cameras. Nanny cams, robotics all have cameras and all are easy to tap into. If he was watching the victims, he could easily discover the code to the security system, which would give him immediate access. He would know their movements to the minute and, as you suggested, have been inside when they arrived home. They wouldn’t know because the moment he was inside he’d have reactivated it.”
Carter walked up to the house and peered through the window. The security system was blinking green, which meant he was good to go. It only took him a few seconds to get through the lock on the front door. The stink of death still lingered inside the musty house. It was getting late in the afternoon and the rooms were in shadows. Using his flashlight, he examined each room, searching for any evidence of cameras. “See if you can access the motion sensors and the robotic vacuum cleaner. The motion sensors are only in the foyer of the house overlooking the front door, so I would imagine she used them for her own peace of mind. Someone would have to be inside the house before they gave her any warning.”
“Yeah, I can get into them. Wait up.” Kalo chuckled.
At a whirring sound close by, Carter pulled his weapon and turned toward the noise as a vacuum cleaner lit up and came out of its docking station and began to move around the house heading straight for him. “Did you do that?”
“Yeah, that basic model is easy to manipulate by anyone with a few programing brain cells. They could make it follow the victim around, constantly sending a stream of video back to the person who’s watching. People don’t realize how easy it is to be under surveillance when you’re surrounded by tech. Think about it, your phone is listening to you… your TV, tablet. Well, some people even have Wi-Fi in their air conditioners. Any type of Wi-Fi can be manipulated if you have the right skill set.” Kalo snorted. “Stop aiming that weapon at me, it’s disturbing.”
Slowly sliding his pistol into his shoulder holster, he made his way into the family room and stood at the entrance, looking at the setup. It would be very easy to approach the victim from behind as she was watching TV and kill her, but what was the motive? Hitting a victim with a stun gun from behind didn’t really tick any of the thrill boxes of the psychopaths he dealt with in the past. From the many cases he’d worked on, it seemed that psychopaths got thrilled from killing. So where was the thrill here? “Has Jo worked out a profile on this guy yet?”
“Yeah, she believes he exerts some type of power over the women.” Kalo opened a candy wrapper, the sound of the plastic absurdly loud in Carter’s ear. “I mentioned I believed he must be watching them using various cameras around the houses and she believes this is part of the domination. Getting inside their houses without them knowing is another power play. She doesn’t have any doubt that he makes himself visible to them prior to their deaths, so she assumes he is carrying a weapon to keep them subdued before he murders them.”
Carter nodded and headed back to the front door. “He gets his thrill out of seeing them terrified of him, maybe? Motive?”
“I asked her the same question and she replied that psychopaths don’t need a reason to kill people.” Kalo blew out a long breath. “She suggested maybe look at something that connects the women together—their age, looks, marital status, that type of thing. Something that makes them targets to him.”
Heading out the door, Carter ducked his head against the sheets of rain and ran to his rental. He rubbed Zorro’s head and then removed his dripping hat and dropped it into the seat well. “Three women isn’t really enough to make a victims’ profile. I can see these women lived alone in remote areas. They followed a schedule, didn’t date, and more or less kept to themselves. I can’t see how their lack of actions made them targets.”
“They all worked the same type of job and came into contact with a variety of people over their day.” Kalo munched on his candy. “Maybe their customer service wasn’t good and they upset the wrong person?”
Starting the engine, Carter backed out of the driveway, not wanting to leave any tire tracks in the softer gravel around the front of the house. “I’ve met them and they were fine with me. Helpful and friendly but way too reserved for me. Had I found them attractive, I wouldn’t have asked them out to dinner or even a coffee. They had that line well and truly drawn the moment I started to make conversation. That is something common to all of them, and the fact they were single at the time of their deaths, with no men in the picture at all, according to the report Rowley filed on their backgrounds.”
