Chapter Seventeen
It was four days before the team heard any news about Dave Frederics.
Agent Bell visited the GRC in person to give them an update so they convened in the conference room.
Bryn’s ripped black jeans and scuffed boots contrasted with Emmett’s latest ensemble of navy chinos paired with a pale blue, diamond-patterned sweater-vest, blue shirt and a fancy yellow bow tie.
Gunnar had on his usual faded jeans and a checked flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
He’d forgone his bun for a loose ponytail.
Bryn found it hard to look at him without drooling.
So far, there had been no repeat of the kiss in the hospital parking lot and Bryn was on the verge of drastic action.
Maybe I should walk out of my room naked with a sign around my neck saying ‘horny and desperate’, that might work.
He held back a sigh and switched his focus to the room.
“Ooh, pastries!” Refreshments had arrived and he hadn’t noticed. He reached for a cherry Danish and Emmett circled the table pouring coffee for everyone. “You should visit more often, Bell. They’ve rolled out the good stuff for you,” Bryn said, munching happily.
“Did the crash kill him or the water?” Gunnar asked.
“He had head injuries but suspected cause of death is drowning. We’ll know for sure after the postmortem.”
“So he made a run for it,” Bryn said.
“We found his DNA all over the kill site,” Bell said.
“Though not on any weapons. There weren’t any knives there so he could have removed them.
We’ll keep looking. The only other traces were from three of the victims. Obviously, Betty-Jo was never taken there.
I would have preferred to take him to trial. ”
Bryn nodded. “On to new things then, I suppose.”
“Just the paperwork to clear on this one now.”
“It’s a bit of a letdown, isn’t it?” Bryn said. “All that work and we never actually caught him. He caught himself.”
“It happens,” Gunnar said. “At least we know he won’t be hurting anyone else. Is there any news on Everard Templeton, Bell?”
“I’m afraid not. He’s vanished into thin air. He was one step ahead of us from the start. I’m convinced he had help, possibly from inside the FBI. You didn’t hear that from me.”
“He’ll show himself eventually,” Gunnar said. “He’s too arrogant to stay hidden for long.”
“Maybe he’ll drive off a bridge too.” Bryn grabbed another pastry. “That would work for me.”
“We’ll do our best to find him, Bryn.”
“I know you will.” Doesn’t mean you’ll catch him, though.
“In the meantime, we have work to do so we’d better get back to it.” Gunnar shoved his chair back. “Nice to see you, Bell. Thanks for coming over in person.”
Once they were back in the office, Bryn found it hard to settle. “You were quiet down there, Emmett. Anything wrong?”
“Oh…no. It’s not my place to say.”
“Of course it is,” Gunnar said. “What’s on your mind?”
“Well, I’m probably being silly because I’m not a detective and I don’t have much experience with these things but…don’t you think Dave Frederics’ death was a bit too convenient?”
That piqued Bryn’s interest. “What do you mean?”
“Well, it all seems a bit easy for a killer who was so complex. All the history stuff…wouldn’t you have thought someone like that would have an escape plan if he thought the net was closing in on him?”
“Sometimes the best answers to puzzles are the simplest ones,” Gunnar said. “Don’t forget, Frederics’ DNA was found at the kill site.”
“I know. It’s just a feeling. If it’s okay with you guys, I’m going to go have lunch with Talbot.”
“Of course it is. Are you going out?”
“No, we brown-bagged it today. He wants to show me something he’s been working on that might make data links in my filing system easier to set up.”
“That sounds…fascinating,” Bryn said, pleased at managing to sound sincere.
“You’re such a liar, Bryn!” Emmett grabbed his satchel. “I’m going to go play computers and leave the detecting to you guys.”
Emmett scurried out of the office. Bryn exchanged a look with Gunnar. “You know, he has good instincts. Maybe this was too straightforward.”
“Let’s think about it. What are the reasons for believing Frederics is the killer? First is opportunity. His job gave him the perfect chances to spot people and take them without him being missed.”
Bryn nodded. “Second, he had no alibis for any of the dates that victims went missing, or the night that Betty-Jo was killed.”
“Third—he has the right build for the person you read in the checkout line.”
“True, but all of those things could equally be applied to Drake Romano.”
“They could. So consider the evidence from truth reading Romano today. We know that Frederics had an interest in the tunnels, that he found an entrance and went inside. The picture he took of the symbol on the wall proves he was in the section used as the kill site and his DNA was found all over the place down there.”
“Yeah. It’s pretty damning.” Bryn frowned. “But…it also gave Romano a reason for knowing about the tunnels and recognizing the symbol. It’s possible he went there too, if Frederics told him exactly where the entrance was, and Bell didn’t specifically ask him that question.”
“Now I think about it, Bell didn’t ask Romano anything that would incriminate him. His answers pointed everything at Frederics.” Gunnar paced the office. “You were exhausted and we stopped the questions thinking we had enough.”
“Sorry.”
“Not your fault at all. We could have kept Romano there, asked him more after you’d eaten and rested. We didn’t.”
“But the DNA…are we reaching for something that isn’t there?”
“Maybe, but you saw a bare hand on a knife and no knives have been found. Let’s have some lunch and think on it some more. How about grilled cheese and tomato soup?”
“Yes please! My housemother made that whenever anyone was sick or feeling down.”
“It’s a great American tradition, plus it involves cheese and therefore has to be good.”
Within half an hour they were sitting at the table eating. “This makes me stupidly happy,” Bryn said, scraping the last of the soup from his dish.
“Sometimes the simple things make all the difference.” Gunnar crunched the remaining crust from his second grilled cheese.
“As simple as a kiss?”
“Yeah. As simple as that.” It seemed like Gunnar might say something else but before he could, Emmett burst into the kitchen closely followed by Talbot.
“We need to tell you something!”
“I’d never have known,” Gunnar said. “Sit down both of you. Breathe.”
“This is a really nice place.” Talbot looked around, wide-eyed. “Can I smell grilled cheese?”
“You can,” Gunnar said with a grin.
“Talbot!” Emmett exclaimed. “Focus!”
Talbot blinked. “Sorry, yes…we did a thing.” He put his laptop on the table.
“A thing?” Bryn asked.
“We were messing around with code,” Emmett said.
“Talbot was showing me some of the things he’s been learning how to do and he showed me this anagram generator he made.
You put letters into it and it comes up with all possible combinations of letters.
We used all our names. Bryn Ashton can be Anny Throbs. ”
Talbot giggled. “Gunnar Ericson could be Caring Neurons.”
“That’s better than mine,” Bryn muttered.
“Yeah, anyway…we put in the Walmart manager’s name. One of the options for Drake Romano is Aaron Mordke.”
“I’m not following, Emmett. Is that supposed to be significant?”
“I recognized the name from somewhere, so we did a search. Aaron Mordke Kosminski was a Polish Jewish immigrant who lived in London and has been named as one of the primary suspects in the Jack the Ripper case.”
Talbot took up the story. “Jack the Ripper was responsible for a series of brutal murders in the Whitechapel district of London in 1888, targeting women, particularly prostitutes, and mutilating their bodies in grotesque ways.
Despite extensive investigation, the identity of the Ripper has never been proved.
“Kosminski was born in Poland in 1865 and immigrated to London with his family, settling in the Whitechapel area. He worked as a barber, and by the late 1880s, he’d developed significant mental health issues, which apparently led to his being put in an asylum in 1891.
He suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and displayed erratic behavior, including a deep mistrust of women and violent tendencies.
“Kosminski became a suspect because he was around the area and because he matched descriptions provided by witnesses. But there was no hard evidence at the time linking him to the crimes, and the police never formally charged him.”
Emmett bounced in his seat. “Recently, interest in Kosminski as a suspect reignited because in 2014, a shawl said to belong to one of the Ripper’s victims, Catherine Eddowes, was tested for DNA.
The tests allegedly found a match to Kosminski’s family line, suggesting he may have been the killer.
The evidence has been heavily disputed by experts but…
well, Jack the Ripper remains a mystery.
It can’t be a coincidence, can it? Kosminski could have gotten away with a series of brutal killings. ”
Gunnar drummed his fingers on the table. “No, it can’t. It’s an obscure enough connection to fit with a man who thinks his intellect is superior to anyone else’s.”
“He sat in that room at the FBI and didn’t as much as twitch,” Bryn said.
Gunnar got to his feet. “Emmett, call Agent Bell and tell him everything you’ve told us. Let him know we’re on our way to Walmart. This fucker needs to answer a lot more questions.”
“I’m coming too,” Bryn said. He got a hard look from Gunnar. “You’ll need me to read him, won’t you?”
“Fine. But you wear a bulletproof vest and do exactly as I tell you to.”
“Nothing new there then.”