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“He could have doubled back once he reached the trees,” Faith pointed out.
“Yes, but the library security cameras show that there were no cars in the lot when Lorraine Hayes left, and still no cars when she was killed.”
“He could have parked on the side of the road.”
“Maybe,” Michael allowed, “but I don’t find that likely. The road wasn’t empty. I feel like someone would have reported a stalled car. Maybe I don’t have empirical proof, but the most logical conclusion is that he walked there.”
“Okay,” Faith said. “Let’s say he walked there. That means he either lives close, or he uses public transportation.”
“I’m going to say public transportation,” Michael said. “The three crime scenes are spread out around the metro area. I suppose he could walk there, but we’re talking three to five hours one way between each site.”
“Call Hilary and have him start looking through camera footage from the buses and trains,” Faith said. “Specifically, all of the buses that stopped near the crime scenes near the times the murders were committed. If we find the same person in all three locales, then we’ll have a suspect.”
“Will do.”
Michael called Hilary, enthused by the possibility that they’d actually found a lead. Faith was slightly encouraged, but not so much as Michael. This was something to do, but she wasn’t as optimistic as Michael was. Somehow, it seemed too easy to find the killer this way. That wasn’t logical of her, though, so she dismissed her fears and tried to think of what else might be useful.
Turk had caught something at all three crime scenes. Something he recognized as being present in all three places, but not strong enough that he could follow it. With the powder being the same powder one could find everywhere that sold art supplies and no bodily fluid of any kind left on the bodies or anywhere else at the crime scenes, Faith didn’t even know where to take Turk to look for a suspect.
But there was something there.
She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. This happened so often during their cases. They would put pieces of the puzzle together, but there would be a black hole in the middle of that puzzle, right where the face of their killer was. They would run in circles around the one piece of evidence that would solve the case, but it wasn't until they came across one or two more bodies that they would find what they needed to put the case to bed.
Faith very much didn’t want to come across another body. She didn’t want the killer to have the satisfaction of killing the final victim and completing the Magnum Opus, even if all that waited for him upon that completion was the crushing disappointment that came from realizing that no eternal life waited for him on the other side.
Practically speaking, letting him kill his final victim was bad because it would mean that he might disappear. He might never act again, and he might never be found.
So it would be better for him to keep killing so you can find him faster?
She frowned and sipped her coffee.I’m trying, Gordon, but damn, it’s hard to stay positive.
“Okay, he’s going to look at the footage,” Michael said.
“Good,” Faith said absently.
“Everything okay?” Michael asked.
She gave him a dry look. “Guess.”
He chuckled softly. “Yeah, fair enough.”
She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Let’s say he’s using public transportation. Why is he roaming so far? The Botanic Gardens are forty minutes from the library by car, and Samantha’s apartment is ten minutes away. Figure double that time if he’s taking the bus, plus the time spent waiting for the bus. That’s another thing too. He’s just waiting at the bus stop with a bag of a murder victim’s clothes?”
“I believe that,” Michael said. “If he’s cool enough to stage two bodies in public, one of them at a Botanic Garden with security patrols, then he’s cool enough to wait at a bus stop with a backpack.”
“Fair enough,” she replied. “Still, even if he’s central to all three locations, he’s ranging far for his victims.”
“Maybe he wanted them specifically. Maybe it had to be these women.”
“Maybe,” she said. “Or maybe it had to be those locations. Maybe he chose his victims because they happened to be near where he planned to stage the bodies.”
Michael frowned. “But why them as opposed to any number of other women? And why would Samantha Reynard’s loft apartment be important?”
Faith sighed. “Good point.”
“So if it’s these women in particular, then why them? No sign of sexual deviancy at all, and so far, no indication that he knew any of the victims well. Except that he knew where Samantha Reynard lived, which suggests to me that he knew her, at least.”
“So maybe one of her students,” Faith suggested. “Maybe she was intentional, and the other two were victims of opportunity.”
