Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
After a trip to the hospital to check on Dale, who was doing great, Adrian drove by Erin’s cabin.
Everything looked good. No signs that anyone had tried to access the house again.
He parked and got out of the Jeep. After circling the property, he was convinced Eddie Pilcher had finally taken off.
Tim had gone over all the evidence they’d collected, but there weren’t any fingerprints in the house that didn’t belong.
Pilcher must have worn gloves. He was thankful for the blood that had allowed them to tie Pilcher to Dale’s shooting.
He’d just climbed back into his Jeep when his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number. “Chief Nightengale,” he said.
“Chief, this is Noah Hunter. I’m Kaely Hunter’s husband?”
“Sure, I know who you are,” Adrian said. “Is Erin all right?”
“She’s fine. How is Officer Robinson doing?”
“He’s doing well,” Adrian said. “Thankfully, he’ll make a full recovery.”
“That’s great. I just wanted to tell you about an arrest our local sheriff made last night.”
Adrian listened while Noah explained the plan hatched by Lee Johnson, Christine Dell, and Eddie Pilcher.
“You’re telling me that Dale almost died over some stupid scheme to make some money from Erin’s publisher?” Adrian had to take a deep breath in an attempt to calm the anger that rose inside of him. What was wrong with people?
“Sad to say, it’s the truth. Pilcher, the guy who broke into Erin’s place and shot your officer, was looking for either her laptop or a copy of the manuscript she’s working on now.
He found a notebook with some outlines and story ideas from the first concept Erin had for her current novel.
She changed it later. That information was in a different notebook that Pilcher never saw.
He, Eddie, and Christine thought they had everything they needed to blackmail Erin and her publisher.
Once he was arrested, Johnson was willing to make a deal.
Lying to me and coming up with this scam isn’t as serious as shooting a police officer.
Don’t get me wrong, Johnson’s going to prison because of his previous convictions, but I felt it was more important to catch the man who shot your officer than it is to put this slimebag away. ”
“I agree. How did Pilcher get past Erin’s alarm system?”
“He was already watching her before she left town,” Noah said. “I guess she has some glass doors at the back of the cabin that lead to the patio?”
“Yeah, she does,” Adrian said.
“It was simple. He saw her enter the code. He just reset it after he was done. Johnson says he might have paid someone off at the alarm company to look the other way if anything went wrong. He didn’t have a name, though. Might be something you could follow up on.”
“Thanks, I will.”
“I’m sending you some information we have on Pilcher, including a photo.
I can’t explain why he doesn’t have a more extensive record, but according to his ex-friend, Johnson, he’s done a lot of bad things he was never convicted for.
If he had been, he wouldn’t be walking around as a free man now.
We plan to change that. He’ll be going away for good once we find him. ”
“I’d love to help,” Adrian said.
“Johnson says he’s not in your area any longer.
I think law enforcement here may have a better chance of bringing him down, but I’ll pass your offer along to the police.
They’re hoping he’s on his way here because he doesn’t know that his partner in crime has been arrested.
They’re watching for him. Whatever happens, I’ll ask whoever’s working the case to keep you updated. ”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Happy to do it,” Noah said. “Call anytime if you have questions or additional information.”
“I will. Thanks, Noah.”
When Noah hung up, Adrian sat in the Jeep for a while.
He took his phone out and called Erin. Hearing her voice made him feel better.
She assured him that she was okay, but she wasn’t certain when she’d come home.
After hanging up, he expected to feel relieved, but instead, he felt unsettled.
Concerned. After praying, he made a decision.
He phoned Lisa to tell her about it, and then he went home and packed a bag.
Erin sat quietly in her chair as Kaely prepared to profile the Novel Killer.
It was true that she’d been a little frightened the first time she’d watched Kaely do this, but now she was just interested.
Expectant. She’d never considered that it was God helping her to create these profiles.
She prayed Kaely would see something important.
Something that would lead to this cold-blooded killer’s capture—and to finding Pat.
As time went on, the likelihood of finding her alive, if she’d been kidnapped, was getting less and less.
She looked over at Kaely, who was smiling at her. “Are you ready?” she asked.
Erin nodded. She opened the notebook Kaely had given her and picked up the pen.
Kaely closed her eyes for a moment, probably to pray. Then she opened them and looked at the chair on the other side of the table. She took a deep breath and let it out.
“You’re using books as a road map for murder,” she said softly.
“For a while, I thought it might be because you lacked creativity. That you had to use other people’s ideas to pull off your killing spree.
But that’s not true, is it? You’re very creative.
Smart. Patient. And very, very angry. You have an agenda, but what is it? ”
That was the question she and Kaely had been asking for a while. The Novel Killer wasn’t using plots from novels because he had to. He had a specific purpose in mind. But what was it?
“I’m not sure why you picked the novels you did, but there’s a reason.
” She frowned at the empty chair. After a rather lengthy pause, she continued.
“One of the books you chose is the most important. It wasn’t the first one.
Was your target always Patricia Long? I think you knew she was in Virginia, and you took her.
She must be the most important author. The reason for your killing spree.
You’re very methodical. You haven’t left any evidence behind at any of your murder scenes.
And now, Patricia has disappeared without a trace.
I think you picked her up yesterday, when she was out of the hotel camera’s view.
But why? What is it about her that’s so significant ?
And why would she go with you . . . ?” She paused again, but this time she smiled slowly.
“You took Patricia because her daughter is in Virginia. You threatened to hurt her daughter.” Kaely looked at Erin.
“We need to tell investigators to look for some kind of threatening message sent to Patricia. He may have made a threat against her daughter. That’s the only reason Patricia would have gone willingly with him. ”
Erin nodded and added that to her notes. Surely the police were already checking this, but it didn’t hurt to make certain. She silently chided herself for not thinking of this already. Pat was the only author with family here. That had to be connected to her disappearance.
Kaely stared at the empty chair for several seconds while Erin sat with her pen poised over the notebook. Again, Kaely frowned. Erin thought she looked a little confused.
“It still doesn’t make any sense. Kidnapping Patricia doesn’t follow your pattern at all.
” Kaely crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.
“You took several chances you didn’t need to.
You murdered three people before getting to your goal?
” Kaely frowned at the empty chair. “You killed people in Virginia because you wanted Patricia? You killed at least two of them before Patricia even came to Virginia. You couldn’t have known about that ahead of time.
You also knew the state police and the FBI would probably join forces to find you.
That’s quite a risk. This can’t possibly be about Patricia.
” She paused for a moment and then cleared her throat.
“Okay, let’s put Patricia Long on the back burner.
Let’s just talk about location. Why Virigina?
What is in Virginia that made you carry out your plan here? Where it was riskier?”
Erin wrote her question in the notebook.
Kaely was right. Why kill people here? Near Quantico?
Where the BAU . . . Something occurred to Erin.
Was it the BAU that was targeted? The FBI?
The state police? CIRG was here. Was the Novel Killer targeting them?
Or was he trying to pit himself against them?
Like a master chess player taking on a champion in an attempt to prove he was better? She wrote this down as well.
“Read me what you just wrote,” Kaely said, catching Erin off guard.
She read it back.
Kaely closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.
It was obvious that she was confused. “That’s a good point,” she said finally.
She looked back toward the chair. “Are you trying to show how smart you are?” She stared at the chair and cocked her head to the side as if she were listening to someone.
A chill ran up Erin’s back. “You have a reason for what you’re doing,” Kaely repeated.
“And it’s really important to you, but it’s hidden among the murders you’ve committed.
This was very well-planned and executed.
Just trying to show how intelligent you are is beneath you.
You’d never do that because you don’t think you have to. ”
Erin was still concerned about Pat even if Kaely had dismissed her disappearance for now.
Had the Novel Killer really threatened her daughter?
Why? It didn’t make sense to her. She shook her head.
Again, it didn’t feel right. They’d already discussed the possibility that Pat was hiding and that her daughter knew where she was, but again, that didn’t feel right either.
“Let’s talk about the toys,” Kaely said. “There’s some obvious connection to your childhood. What happened? Did Mommy ignore you? Did Daddy spank you?”
The look on Kaely’s face startled Erin. It was as if someone had slapped her. It was at that moment that Erin felt something change in the room. It was as if something evil had suddenly entered.
“No!” Kaely said with force. “In the name of Jesus, you stay out of my house.”
The atmosphere transformed immediately. Erin had never experienced anything like that before. She’d have to ask Kaely about it after she was finished. Did being a Christian mean she could do things like that? What was that dark presence?
Kaely took a deep breath and started again.
“Those toys are at least twenty years old. The only younger person connected to the case is Pat’s daughter.
She’s in college. Unless she collects vintage toys, they have nothing to do with her.
” She stopped for a moment. “Do they have something to do with Pat?” She shook her head.
“Pat’s around forty. She wasn’t playing with toys when she was twenty.
So, once again, let’s move Pat out of the equation.
” She looked over at Erin. “What do you think?”
Erin gulped. She wasn’t expecting Kaely to talk to her. “You’re right about the toys. They don’t fit with Pat’s disappearance. So, they have to be something connected to the killer. But . . .” She hesitated, not certain she should say anything else.
“Go on, Erin. I respect your opinion. Tell me what you think.”
“You talked about the UNSUB’s mother or father. But these are primarily toys for girls. Could it have something to do with a girlfriend or sister?”
Kaely rolled her eyes. “Of course. You’re right.
I should have thought of that. Usually, it’s not a girlfriend .
. . but it could be a sister. I worked a case years ago where the killer watched his sister die.
It sent him over the edge.” She chewed on her lip for a few seconds.
“But that’s not the way he killed. What is this UNSUB trying to say?
I doubt he’s giving the victims toys because he’s trying to make something up to his sister. ”
She looked back toward the empty chair and sighed.
“Maybe this thing with Lee has me distracted. I’ve said all along that this case is different.
” She swung her gaze toward Erin. “Let’s try again later, okay?
I need time to think about this for a while.
I feel like I’m almost seeing it, but it’s just out of my grasp.
Frankly, it’s Patricia’s disappearance that confuses me the most. It doesn’t fit anywhere.
I just can’t find a way to link it to the other murders.
If he took her, it breaks his carefully constructed pattern.
” She leaned back in her chair. “If the Novel Killer kidnapped Patricia Long . . . maybe it’s just so he can prove to the world he can. ”
“Or maybe she knows something that puts him in danger? She might not even realize she’s a threat to him.”
Kaely nodded. “You could be right, but unless we figure this out, I’m afraid she’s going to be his next victim.”