CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ella was alone in her office. While she waited for the tech team to work their magic on the CCTV footage, she immersed herself in research.
But the problem was that there was no manual for what she needed to research: the psychopathology of a serial killer who apparently collected collectors. So, in lieu of textbooks, she opted for the next best thing – the depths of her brain. She picked up a marker and attacked the whiteboard in a stream-of-conscious frenzy.
The first thing that Ella had to remind herself was that there was always a why. People didn't just wake up one day and decide to start garrotting women and dressing their corpses as dolls. The compulsion to create such scenes spoke to a trauma or a yearning that had been festering subconsciously for years. Sure, people sometimes snapped, grabbed the nearest revolver and gunned down people outside the DMV, but no serial killer ever nailed a man to a wall on impulse. Her unsub had come prepared on both occasions. He'd brought makeup, glue, a frilly dress, industrial spikes and possibly power tools along with him. This organization suggested a very capable offender and someone with one foot in reality despite the chaos in their heads.
Then there was the jarring nature of the killing methods and trophy capture. Eleanor Calloway and Alfred Finch’s crime scenes had both been staged for maximum impact upon discovery, and theatricality meant a desire for power and ownership. However, historical reflection told Ella that it was mostly lust killers that took trophies for their victims, because they wanted to relive the sexual high once the memories had faded. Lust killings always had an element of sexual gratification, but neither Eleanor’s nor Alfred’s did. Power-hungry killers took nothing and left behind everything, as though trophies were beneath them.
Therefore, this killer was utilizing elements from opposite ends of the serial killing spectrum. It was almost as if there were two minds at work.
But two minds didn’t always mean two perps, although it was a possibility. However, scenes this specific could not be part of a shared psychosis. This was one man’s fantasy brought to life, and Ella doubted that someone this determined would share that fantasy with another living soul.
For a moment, Ella wished Mia Ripley was beside her. Her old partner had retired three months ago and hadn’t been heard from since. Ripley had a way of cutting through the fog and seeing patterns that Ella sometimes missed when she got too deep in the research weeds. Luca, for all his profiling skills, didn’t quite hit the same notes. Ripley could have probably figured out what toothpaste this killer used just by looking at the crime scene photos.
But no. Ripley was gone. Probably somewhere in Hawaii, far away from casefiles and doll-making serial murderers.
Ella stared at the mess she’d made on the whiteboard. It was probably unreadable to outsiders, but it made sense to her.
She collapsed into her chair, turned to her laptop and clicked through the tabs she had open. They’d multiplied like bacteria when she’d dug into the world of collectors after getting back from Alfred Finch’s house, and she’d discovered that Chesapeake was indeed something of a collector’s paradise, much to her surprise.
Several major auction houses had branches here. The naval base had attracted officers who collected maritime memorabilia. Even a famous medical museum had once operated in town, housing one of the largest collections of anatomical specimens on the East Coast. Ella had kept the tab open on her browser:
HISTORIC CHESAPEAKE MEDICAL MUSEUM OWNER CONVICTED OF INSURANCE FRAUD.
The Chesapeake Herald - December 15, 2023.
Former owner of the St. Andrews Museum of Medical History, Dr. Karl Barker, was sentenced to six years in prison yesterday for insurance fraud related to the suspicious fire that destroyed the historic institution last December.
The museum, which housed one of the East Coast's largest collections of anatomical specimens and medical artifacts, had closed its doors in late 2020 due to financial difficulties. The collection, valued at over $3 million, remained in storage on-site while Barker sought new funding.
However, on December 12, 2022, a fire ravaged the building, destroying approximately 60% of the collection. Initial investigations suggested arson, leading prosecutors to uncover evidence that Barker had orchestrated the fire to claim a $5 million insurance payout.
‘It's a tragic end to a vital piece of medical history,’ said Miss Blackburn, owner of the Curated Value Group. ‘Many of these specimens were one-of-a-kind. Their loss represents an incalculable blow to medical education and research.’
Something about the information pinged the base of Ella’s skull, but before she could entertain it, Luca burst through the door.
‘Ell! You want the good news or bad news?’
She glanced up, startled. ‘Bad.’
‘Well, CSIs are still processing Alfred Finch’s house. Our guy's a real neat freak. Not a hair or fiber out of place.’
‘Why am I not surprised? And the good news?’
‘Hang on, I wasn’t done with the bad yet. We’ve also got the CCTV from Chesapeake Library and there’s no sign of Eleanor leaving with a mystery man. Tech guy went back two, three months. The cameras don’t even point to the parking lot. So, no luck there.’
‘Ugh,’ Ella grunted. ‘Please say the good news makes up for that.’
Luca held up a USB stick. ‘Let’s find out, because we’ve got 48 hours of footage from Alfred Finch’s creepy crawly room.’