CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Derek marched back into the room with Alison hot on his heels. He walked straight to the table and placed his hands down on it, opting to stand before Raymond instead of sitting. Raymond looked up at him defiantly, but swallowed hard as he maintained the illusion of confidence.
"Patricia Montgomery?" Derek asked. "Is that why you ran from us?"
"I don't know what you’re talking about," Raymond said.
"You mentioned her right before we left the room," Derek said. "She’s one of the women you are sure is in the wrong, right?"
"Yeah, she is," he stated.
"And something should be done about her, right?" Derek continued.
"You can't put words in my mouth like that," Raymond replied. "If I think she should face some punishment for her part in the system, then yes, she should, but only within the confines of the law. I don't ever advocate for violence; I told you that already."
"So, you didn't kill her?" Derek asked.
That quieted Raymond. He took a second before he said one word. "No."
"Three women," Derek said. "We can connect you to three dead women, and you mentioned one of them by name with no prompting."
"I can mention the names of a lot of women with no prompting," Raymond spat. "I know what the system’s like." He spoke through his teeth. "I wouldn’t risk putting myself in a situation where people can testify against me. Three dead women and I’m a man? It’s open and shut, right?"
"You tell me," Derek said. "I have an agent who’s going to look after you while we go look at the dead body of another woman. How about you have a little think about things, and when we come back, you can have something convincing for us instead of your tirades and crusades. How does that sound?"
Raymond breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling. "You can't pin this on me because you think I did it. You spoke about facts, didn't you?" He looked directly at Alison. "You can't convict me without facts."
"And we won’t," Alison said. "If there’s nothing to prove you did it or if you gave us something to prove you didn't, I won't let you go to jail. I believe in the justice system, and I believe you are innocent until proven guilty. Give us anything, Raymond, and I’ll make sure you go free, no matter how much you hate me. "
She could see the anger in his eyes and the confrontational way he held his body tensed. He nodded in response to her, and some of the tension left his body.
***
Derek and Alison sat in Derek’s car outside the luxury apartment building and the most recent crime scene. An officer stood at the entrance and held it open as the forensic team went inside.
"I appreciate that you were fair with Nichols back there, but what do you make of him? Could he have done it?" Derek asked.
"Yeah, I think he could have," Alison admitted. "He speaks about being against violence, but he knows the power of his words. Maybe he’s not capable of violence, but he’s capable of manipulating people into violence, which makes it more likely that he manipulates someone into doing the killing for him. That makes it far trickier for us. If he comes back with an airtight alibi for any or all of the murders, he might still be responsible, but it’ll be almost impossible to prove that or arrest him on any charges. "
"I could see it in his eyes that he wants them to hurt," Derek said. "I still don't get how he can protest against hundreds of women and cases. He must know he’s in the wrong."
"He might eventually figure that out, but he has too much rage surrounding his brother," Alison said. "If I had to guess, I would say that he blames himself. He feels guilty over his brother and how he couldn’t help him, and he’s transferred that guilt and rage, so he can blame other people for his problems."
"And that guilt encompasses him until he finally cracks or snaps and lashes out," Derek said.
"It would fit," Alison said. "Special Agent Loxley said there was a message left this time, but he didn't know what the message was. That can only be beneficial for us. The more the killer gives us, the more insight we gain into them, even if they think they’re not revealing anything."
"Then let’s get in there and see if it makes a difference," Derek said.
Alison got out of the vehicle with a little more hope that the killer had messed up by leaving them a note, but her heart was still heavy and weary as they walked into another crime scene.
She’d rather have no extra help and no message, but that wasn’t her choice.
All she could do was work with what she was given.
And what she was given was another woman who’d testified against a violent criminal, one she’d also coached before the trial.
Three women, and I’m connected to all three.
Derek gestured with his head toward the CCTV camera above the door.
Alison also saw the small entry pad for a fob.
They would check who had come and gone on the camera and if there were any records of entry with fobs, but she knew they wouldn’t get anything with that.
Two homes had been entered without triggering alarms. The killer had chosen to leave them a note; they wouldn’t be so kind as to leave them footage, too.
They were directed into the building and up to the fourth floor. They took the stairs to leave the elevator free for any equipment that needed to be brought up or down. They were met at the apartment by a familiar face.
"Detective Moore," Alison said.
"I hoped they would send for you," Samantha said to Alison. She quickly turned to Derek and added, "You, too, Special Agent Sullivan. I’m glad you’re both here."
"Your partner is not with you?" Alison asked.
"No. He had a family thing to go to, but I can handle it."
"The killer left us a note this time?" Alison asked.
"They did," Samantha replied, "but that’s not all. There was an anonymous 911 call made about a shot being fired within this apartment. When the officers arrived, there was no response when they knocked, so they forced their way in. That’s when they found the body."
"She wasn’t shot, was she?" Derek asked.
"No, suffocated just like the other two," Samantha said.
"So, we have to assume the killer made the call," Alison said. "They wanted or needed the body to be found, and found quickly. But why?"
"Maybe they were worried about the smell?" Samantha suggested.
"Or, they want to give themselves an alibi," Derek said. "Nichols could have arranged for someone to make the call while he was in custody, so we wouldn’t think it was him."
"Do they have a recording of the call?" Alison asked.
"They’re getting it to me," Samantha said. "I had them play it over the phone, and it was a male voice, calm, straight to the point. They said what they needed to say, then got off the line quickly enough that it couldn’t be traced if we were tracing it."
"Maybe it would have taken too long," Alison said. "We know Patricia Montgomery is a social worker. I assume she lives alone?"
Samantha nodded.
"When she didn't turn up for work, they would call her. They wouldn’t send someone around straight away, but they would eventually request a wellness check, and then she’s found, but what?
Two days later? Three? Four? The killer wants the body to be found now, and I can only assume they want us to see it.
They need their message to be out there, and they don't want to wait. That tells me that the next one is coming sooner rather than later. We need to find them soon. Three dead bodies in just under a week. I don’t want to think about how many more are coming and how quickly. "
"This way," Detective Moore said, leading the way into the apartment.
That was the main difference when compared to the first two murders, and it worried Alison as much as the 911 call. It was one thing to bypass a security system and enter a private residence, but quite another to walk into an apartment building and walk out again without being noticed.
Derek stopped in the hallway just inside the door. "The door was locked when the officers got here?"
"Yes," Samantha replied. "The officers tried the door and found it locked, so they had to break it down. Two deadbolts. It took them some time to get through."
"There’s a security chain and a metal rod. I’m assuming they weren’t in place when the officers entered."
"I can check, but I don't think so," Samantha replied.
"Okay," Derek said. "We know the killer is tech savvy, but they have more skills than that. They know how to pick locks and do it well. They got in and out without damaging the door by the looks of it."
"They must have gained entry before she got home," Alison pointed out.
"If the metal rod was in the slot when the killer arrived, they couldn’t pick that.
They waited until Patricia was out, picked the locks, waited inside, then attacked her.
When they left, they could only lock the deadbolts again. "
Detective Moore led them through to the bedroom where the dead body lay.
They didn’t have to study the body. You could replace any of the three dead women with each other, and it would be the same.
The body lay on the floor, legs and arms spread out, scratches on the neck, plastic under the fingernails, the same bluish tint on the skin.
The bag was bagged, ready to join the collection back in the evidence locker.
"Was the closet door open when you arrived?" Derek asked.
"Yeah, we think that’s where the killer hid in wait for her," Samantha said. "We won't know that for sure, but it makes the most sense."
A cat mewed as it entered the room. It wandered over to Alison and rubbed its body against her before walking away.
"One witness," Samantha commented dryly. "Not much use, I’m afraid."
"All right, so the killer gains access to the building," Alison said.
"Maybe they slip in when someone is going out, but that lets them be seen. I would bet on them programming a fob to gain entry, and if they hacked two security systems previously, they shouldn’t have a problem taking over the CCTV cameras and maybe playing the footage on a loop for the security guard. I saw a security office on the way in."
"We’ve spoken to the security guard already, and he didn't see anything," Samantha said.
"The killer goes up to the fourth floor, picks the locks, re-locks the door, and hides in wait. Patricia comes home, they surprise and kill her. When the killer leaves, they’re able to lock the door behind them. But, before leaving, they leave a message for us, and that message is…"
"Right through here," Samantha said.
She led them through to the small bathroom. There, on the mirror, was a handwritten message written in lipstick. The lipstick lay open on the edge of the sink.
Justice is blind, but I see everything.
Derek took out his phone and took some pictures. "I'll send this to digital forensics and see if they get anything from it or can match the handwriting."
It doesn’t mention me, and that’s some relief.
"It does fit with Nichols’s messaging," Alison noted.
"Still, it doesn’t give us much to work with.
We already knew they were targeting women testifying against violent criminals.
They know we know that. This is just for show.
The killer is growing more confident. We don't know where they might strike next. "
Derek’s phone rang and he stepped out of the bathroom to take it.
"It's amazing just to hear you think this through," Samantha said. "If Karter and I were on the case by ourselves, we wouldn’t be close to finding their killer, but I believe in you. I know you’ll catch them."
"Let's hope you’re right," Alison said.
"We need to go," Derek said. "Raymond Nichols has something to say, and he’ll only speak to us.