Chapter 9
NINE
She made her way inside to the forensic division.
It was quiet—much more so than normal. Everyone was gone.
John at the conference. McGaven on personal time.
And Eva headed back to the crime scene. She paused at the door to their office, not too sure why, but she needed to gather her thoughts.
When she finally went inside, a clean space with neatly stacked files on the table greeted her.
The murder wall was empty, just as she had left it last night.
“Okay… time to start.”
Katie retrieved her small notebook and began transcribing her notes, locations, and observations from the scene, including any behavioral evidence. Then she noted the physical evidence they’d found:
Severed woman’s index finger neatly tucked into a white box (a box usually used for jewelry) left in Katie’s Jeep. (Katie discovered it.)
Dismembered right arm missing its index finger found on Heritage Road, strategically balanced on an old fence post. (Found by Arson Investigator Luke Ames.)
The napkin.
The footprint impression.
Possible tampering of the lights in the police parking lot—cameras didn’t show any unusual activities.
Katie had several county road maps in the office, and she taped one to the wall.
She designated the crime scene areas with pins, using different colors to indicate specific areas, forensic evidence, and distances between locations.
Next, she wrote down a list of potential reasons a killer or perpetrator would leave body parts to be found.
It wasn't much, but it gave her a place to start.
Identification. (Assuming the parts belonged to one body, one victim.)
Sending a message.
Taunting the police.
Covering other crimes or hiding/destroying the body for various reasons.
Usually this type of psychology and behavior shows a disorganized offender, but these seemed to be strategic and planned, showing organization.
Specific psychological factors: sexual gratification, dehumanization, power and control, obsessions.
She stepped back and reread her notes and lists. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. And, as much as she hated to admit it, there were going to be more pieces turning up—which at least would be more evidence. It made her shiver not knowing when another dismembered appendage would be found—or where.
Katie sat down and opened her work laptop.
Usually, McGaven would have already started researching anything that pertained to the current case, going through police records and scouring the internet for information.
Now Katie herself started looking up articles pertaining to dismemberment and similar investigations to this new one.
She searched for about an hour without much luck.
Most articles referred to famous serial killers like Dahmer, Kemper, and Jack the Ripper, none of which were helpful in this case.
Katie leaned back in her chair, looking at her list and wondering. Pinned up on the wall next to the door was an old quote from the FBI Behavioral Science Unit that defined a serial killer:
“The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events.”
She went back to her searches and found a police file about the discovery of several dismembered human body parts during a barricade SWAT negotiation in the nearby city of Rockview.
“What?” she said softly, hearing about the incident for the first time.
About two months ago a barricade was dismantled and the perpetrator safely taken into custody.
The man had locked himself in his home after committing an armed robbery.
The report also said that once they started searching the residence, body parts were found in a hidden area under the floor.
Pine Valley SWAT had been involved, but the jurisdiction was in the neighboring city of Rockview.
She read further that the incident response team was led by the primary police negotiator, Jack Devlin.
Katie didn’t know Devlin, but she sent him an email to request a meeting about the findings of that day.
Katie realized that she needed to study a report in regard to the human body parts that were discovered from the SWAT deployment in Rockview. It could explain some things in their investigation if they were connected in any way.
She hadn’t heard anything new from the scene, and it was going to take a while for DNA and evidence to be analyzed. Her energy was fading and she decided to go home.
As she walked out to her car, the dismemberment puzzle was still on her mind.