Chapter 56
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
“What do you mean it’s you?” Walker demands.
“The object of his obsession. Mason, pull up those dates again, will you?” I get up and shakily walk toward the screen.
“When Karlie Voss was murdered? That’s the same week I officially joined this task force.
Monica Jackson’s attack and Jennifer Johnson’s murder both happened on my birthday—two years apart. ”
“Okay, that’s not nothing, but it still doesn’t put the focus solely on you. What about Lisa Brown’s murder three years ago?” Tara asks.
“I might have something,” Mason adds. “A few days before Lisa Brown’s murder, Harlow was featured in mainstream media for the first time in her career after consulting on a high-profile case in Philadelphia. It looks like it largely focused on Harlow’s career success thus far at such a young age.”
Walker hums. “Mason, can you run the other dates and see if anything else pings in regard to Harlow specifically and the dates of the murders?”
“Evangeline Lewis’s murder was just after our task force arrested The Susurro, but Harlow wasn’t named specifically in the news for that one.”
“So, it’s someone that knew I was working that case.
They were close enough to have inside knowledge.
” I move away from the screen and start to flex my hands.
I am trying my hardest to stay as mentally on task as possible, but the beads of sweat that are lining my hairline are a clear physical clue that I am freaking out.
I just can’t freak out. Not yet.
Because all of this feels familiar still, and I need to press the final piece into the puzzle before I am allowed to freak out or break.
“Harlow, can you pull up your calendar and see if anything stands out for you four years ago in late April into early May?” Kelly asks as he watches Mason write some kind of code.
I walk over and pick up my cell phone—no missed calls or messages from Ryan yet—and pull up my calendar. “Nothing high profile, I attended a conference in Boston where I was finishing up my fellowship. But in May, I started FBI training after being recruited for the BAU track.”
“That feels like a significant professional accomplishment, though, and apparently a trigger then for whoever the unsub is that’s obsessed with you,” Tara gently says as she reaches over and squeezes my hand.
I shake my head. “But no one has fixated on me or my career. There are no scorned ex lovers. I haven’t even been in a serious relationship until last fall.”
“I’d say that ring on your finger is pretty serious,” Kelly adds.
“Yes, of course it is, but this killer has been active much longer than I was in a relationship with Ryan. We had assumed the killer was replacing a romantic relationship, unless…”
I get out of my chair and start to pace again.
The logic was there. We assumed the unsub was staging these murders to recreate a romantic relationship, but it is possible that we overlooked the very close—but very different—scenario of the unsub trying to recreate a specific scene or event in their own personal life, but through a different form of love.
Or hate.
But it’s a woman. It’s definitely all been geared toward a woman in the unsub’s life or history that has had a profound effect on their ability to function within the typical constraints of society.
He doesn’t see these kills as acting outside of the acceptable norm because he thinks he is above the norm.
For a figure to have this much impact and influence on a man’s life, it has to be a bond that lasted through a traumatic event or over a long-established period.
“Can you share with the class where your thoughts are leading you, Harlow?” Walker breaks into my thoughts, pulling me back into the room.
“I think we need to consider he isn’t trying to recreate a relationship with a romantic interest. It’s why there is never any sign of sexual assault or physical release in the sexual nature even near the scenes.
It’s not about sex for him; it’s about control and having the final say.
” I am rambling but my team keeps up with me as I move along the table.
“So, could it be a maternal figure?” Mason supplies.
I nod. “I think we need to explore that very real possibility. The unsub is trying to replicate something that either happened in the past, or he wished would happen with his mother in the future. Although the positioning of the bodies, and the placing of the carnation, I think we are looking for someone whose mother died.”
“Okay, Harlow. Take a breath. Take a step back and think—who fits that profile in your life?” Tara calmly redirects my thought process.
“Bring up the DNA profile again, please.” Mason has it on the screen before I even finish my request.
“It’s going to be someone that’s invested in your career in some capacity. Maybe a colleague, a teacher, a mentor?” Walker offers.
“It’s … I think it’s…” A chill goes down my spine. “It’s Dr. Graham Tremblay.” Despite my instincts telling me the theory is true, my stomach clenches.
“And who is he to you?” Kelly asks.
“I met Graham when I was getting my bachelor’s at Harvard. I was twelve, and he was a PhD candidate—a teaching assistant for one of my intro to psych classes. Over the years, our paths would cross. He … he was consulted on the structure of the CPM grid.”
I’m going to be sick.
He was right in front of me all this time.
Was he watching me?
“Hold on. He met you when you were twelve? Was he ever inappropriate with you?” Kelly is ready to flip the table.
“No, not at all. I was a child prodigy, and most people didn’t quite know what to make of me, so even social interactions were limited.
Graham was just a TA. I don’t think we even interacted that much until our residencies overlapped for a little bit at MGH in Boston, but that was almost a decade later. ”
I can’t recall him ever being inappropriate with me, not then, not ever.
“Did he ever ask you out, or make any kind of implication that he was interested in you as more than friends?” Mason asks.
“No, he … wait. Yes, he did ask me out once, but I hadn’t seen him in three or four years?
There was no spark for me beyond professional colleagues, so I respectfully declined.
I didn’t want to lead him on or confuse our professional connection.
He’s a brilliant man.” Did I misread that?
Did I miss something? I had to have missed something with him.
But just because he is brilliant does not mean he is good.
Graham? Tweed-sweater-vest-wearing Graham is a serial killer? This doesn’t make sense with what I know about him, but when I look at what we know about the killer, then overlay it mentally with what I know about Graham, it … it does fit.
In both my personal and professional life, I’ve witnessed how assumptions can easily mislabel someone.
If someone is wealthy, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are a good or bad person, but people tend to bring their own personal biases, trying to create a connection between an individual’s wealth and their character.
But the two are not related.
And in this case, just because an individual is brilliant, it does not mean they are a good person.
“Do you remember when he asked you out?” Tara asks as she pulls her long curly hair into a high pony—a signature move she does when things are getting intense.
“It was at a conference right before…” I’m going to be sick. My eyes widen at the realization of the dates, and my voice is barely above a whisper. “Before I joined the BAU.”
Tara’s eyes soften empathetically. “That timeline matches our first victim Vanessa Anderson, and it was in Boston where you said you were at that time, right?”
I nod. “The conference I saw him at was in Boston as well. I think he’s been in Boston the entire time. He travels a little for work, speaking, guest lecturing, just like most of us in the field do.”
“Is that why he could have been in California and Nevada?” Kelly points at the dates of those kills.
“I’m not sure about the Nevada killing three years ago, but … I know he was in California in January around the time the victim in Escondido was found.”
“How would you know that?” Walker asks.
“I was supposed to be there. It was the Annual Forensic Psychology Symposium in San Diego that I was scheduled to speak at and why I couldn’t be at Savannah and Theo’s wedding.
” I feel the blush on my cheeks from talking about my personal life like this in front of my team in a meeting.
“But then I had to cancel my appearance because I got pulled for a case that needed me in Phoenix.”
“And there’s the trigger for him to kill again. He thought he was going to see you in person, and when you didn’t show up, it sent him spiraling,” Kelly says it as Walker glares at him. “What? I’m not saying it’s her fault. It’s not her fault! Harlow, look at me. It is NOT your fault!”
I slowly nod. “I know that logically, but I still … how was he right in front of me all of this time, and I didn’t see this?”
“That’s not on you, Harlow. That’s on him. And now, we have a very solid suspect for The Carnation Killer. Mason, how’s that background looking?” Walker is in full-command mode, and I think it’s what I need right now.
I can’t lead us in analyzing Graham—I thought we were friendly acquaintances. I never suspected him, not once, of anything other than being a little socially awkward, which in my world is beyond typical.
“His … his mother is dead,” I say as the memory comes rushing back.
“Are you sure?” Tara asks as I nod.
“Yes, I was there when he found out. We were in the doctors’ lounge when his attending came with police officers.”
“What happened?” Walker chimes in.
“Let me think. This was almost ten years ago, so I don’t remember the specifics, but the police officers were notifying him of his mother’s death.
I can’t remember how she died, but he was distraught, and I’m sure I comforted him in some way?
I honestly don’t recall. I just remember thinking it was so sad to find out that way. ”
“According to police reports, his mother was found deceased at the bottom of the stairs in her residence, with a shattered vase of flowers that they assumed she was carrying down the stairs when she fell. It was ruled an accidental death,” Mason reads from his screen as memories clarify at the mention.
“That’s right. I remember them saying she fell and was found but likely died upon impact of the fall.” Graham had been so stoic when they told him. I read his lack of reaction as shock, but looking back at it, I don’t know if it was shock or something else.
“And you were there when he found out?” Tara asks and I nod. “Could that have, like, twisted something for him in that moment because you were there?”
I try to think of the situation as a doctor and not as the person involved.
“In times of stress like significant loss, it is possible to have a transference of emotional attachment that otherwise would not have occurred. He could have also misunderstood my intention of being supportive as something else, like it was fate that I was the one there with him instead of coincidence.”
“How does that fit the profile?” Walker asks.
“It … it fits. The need for control, the desire to replicate the relationship that he lost, but then somehow transferred the obsession to, well, me.”
“Where the hell is this guy right now?” Kelly bellows.
“He was due at the hospital for rounds this morning and called in sick,” Mason replies, typing away at his computer without looking up. “I have his credit card activity—he flew out of Boston. Hold on, let me confirm the flight’s destination.”
“Is he on the run?” Walker asks Mason.
“Well, technically, but we aren’t going to have to go far. He landed in Nashville two days ago.”