Chapter 44
“Yes, young lady in the front.” Governor Duback pointed to the reporter.
“How certain are you that the Jersey Devil Killer is the man in custody?”
“One hundred percent,” Duback said sharply. “He confessed to all nine murders and eight more, with details and location information that no one else had or could fake. You there.” He pointed at an older male journalist.
“The FBI found this man and obtained a full confession just hours after assuming the case?”
“The FBI’s Triple Threat Task Force found him. Special group, no?”
“How, sir?” the reporter quickly followed up.
“Agent Steele, perhaps you should handle this,” the governor said, waving the agent forward.
“We analyzed the case notes and investigation details, found a potential thread, and when we yanked on it, the whole thing unraveled,” Steele said.
Another reporter, a middle-aged woman, jumped in quickly with “In just a few hours?” She made her tone incredulous.
Steele smiled a quick, almost flat smile. “Fresh eyes.”
“Don’t you mean young eyes, or was Cassandra Blake not involved?” the woman followed up.
“Miss Blake’s skill set excels in reviewing vast amount of data and finding patterns,” Steele answered.
“Much like AI would?”
“Well, even Miss Blake isn’t as fast as AI, but she can make intuitive connections and human-based hunches much better than any AI.
Essentially, she noticed a vehicle mentioned twice in the missing girl investigations, intuited that many serial killers become fascinated by the police investigations of their crimes, and found a similar car in a media video.
We scanned that plate and used AI to check all the media coverage.
It showed up at multiple crime scenes, including the crowd outside our temporary headquarters. ”
“And he just confessed?” another reporter yelled out.
“He was very excited we were investigating him.”
“Would that Include a fixation on Miss Blake?” another reporter asked.
“You could say he is a fan of Miss Blake.”
“Governor, why didn’t state law enforcement see this lead?” the first female reporter asked. “Two years seems like a long time for it to go unseen.”
“I’ll have to defer to the attorney general’s office on that one,” he said with a grimace.
Mary Wells stepped up to the microphone. “It seems that the Triple Threat Task Force has investigative talent beyond what any state enforcement agency currently employs, and likely most federal agencies as well.”
“My understanding is that Cassandra Blake processes information and makes connections faster than most people, but given time, those connections should be visible to normal investigators. Two years seems like plenty of time,” the lady journalist said.
“Hard to know,” Mary Wells answered.
“The lead NJSP detective, Rex Pressman, graduated the police academy second to last in his class, and barely passed both the sergeant and detective examinations. Shouldn’t these murders have had a better investigator from the start?”
“Personnel assignments are the purview of the Superintendent of the State Police, Colonel Jessup,” Mary said, looking back at an older man in a fancy police uniform.
He gave her a flat look before moving forward to the microphone. “The agency is reviewing the assignment orders for this investigation,” he said. “Until we’ve completed that, it is too early to cast aspersions.”
“Assistant AG Wells, how solid is this confession?” a male reporter asked.
“Steven Oakland, in the presence of legal representation, has agreed to plead guilty before the judge. There will not be a trial,” she said.
“What did the state have to concede for that plea? Lesser sentence?” the reporter followed.
“No. He has requested concessions of a more personal nature.”
“You mean he wants a meet and greet with Cassandra Blake?” the reporter asked eyebrow arched.
“You seem curiously well informed,” AAG Wells noted. “You have an inside source?”
“Has Miss Blake agreed?” the reporter pressed, ignoring the AAG’s question.
“She has. She is very interested in Steven Oakland being incarcerated and she is a very brave young lady.”
“What’s there to be brave about? He’ll be secured, won’t he?”
“Have you ever sat down across from a serial killer who professes a singular interest in everything about you? By his own admission, Oakland is an accomplished killer of women Miss Blake’s age. He is seven inches taller and seventy pounds heavier. You do the math.”
“I think we’ve covered about everything for now,” the governor suddenly said, almost pushing Mary Wells aside. “Thank you all for coming.”
And the press conference was over.
The governor held a quick chat with the superintendent of state police and Mary Wells, his back turned to Steele. Agent Steele allowed himself a quick smirk as he moved to the federal SUV where Agent Kessler waited.
“Duback seems peeved,” Kessler noted innocently.
“We just made an enemy. Or enemies, I should say. The whole state government looks pretty bad right now.”
“Doesn’t help that NYPD is crowing about how it was their contribution that solved the case,” Kessler said.
“True,” Steele said. “Listen, we need to warn the team not to rub noses in this. The director’s very happy with how we handled this, but he doesn’t want us to make this a war.
Cramer clearly moved Duback to request our involvement, and it backfired.
If we leave it alone, Duback will turn his anger on his own people.
Now, it’s getting late and we need to get back to the inn.
We spend the night and leave first thing in the morning. ”
“Sir, Cassie thinks we will see an attack tonight. She has a sixty-nine percent confidence level.”
“And are we prepared?”
“Oh, we’re ready.”