CHAPTER SIX
"Thanks for joining us," Alison told Derek once she and Detective Moore were back at the FBI offices.
"Don't thank me yet," Derek said. "I think I'm doing this for the same reason you are. I have more access to the investigation into Mills's whereabouts, but I still can't be a part of it. I need something to take my mind off of it."
"Anything?" Alison asked, pushing down the same hope that she’d pushed down over the last twenty-two years, more so recently.
Derek shook his head, his mouth tightening.
"Just a regular guy," Alison moaned. "That’s what they said. I mean, that’s who he is. He’s just a regular guy, but he can outwit all of us? Two weeks!"
"I know," Derek soothed, standing up from his desk. "It’s not as simple as that, and you know it. I know it, too, but I still feel the same as you do. He must be holed up somewhere, and if that’s the case, then we can only wait for him to make a move. They will get him, I promise you that."
"Don’t!" Alison warned. "I’ve been guilty of making promises to people in the past, and we can't always follow through on them. Don't you dare tell me we’ll get him until we have him."
"Okay." Derek reached out and placed a hand on her upper arm.
What she wouldn’t give to collapse into his arms at that moment, but they were at work, and it was not something she wanted to see, let alone be complicit in.
"You remember Detective Moore," Alison said to distract herself.
"It’s good to see you again," Derek said, shaking her hand. "Although it’s never under the best of circumstances, is it?"
"Part of the job, I guess," Moore said.
"So, double homicide?" Derek asked.
Alison looked into his eyes and saw her own emotions reflected back. He was eager to dive into the case for no other reason than not to think about the other case. Not to think about Mills.
"Yes," Moore confirmed. "We’re sure we’re looking at the same killer in both instances. Both victims were killed with what might be the same knife. The first was killed at their office late last night, and the other was killed in their home, most likely after that. Even later last night or through the night. The first one was stabbed repeatedly, and the second was slashed repeatedly. Both had notes left on them, talking about lying. There’s a chance the victims knew their killer, or trusted them enough to let them into their home or entertain them in their office. "
Derek nodded, then turned to Alison. He’d heard the what, and he wanted to know the why.
"An officer at the second crime scene described it as a bloodbath, and that’s exactly what it was in both cases.
The killer went into a frenzy when killing them, and that’s why I think they didn't remain constant. At Langford’s office, they leaped up onto the desk and then must have come down onto him, stabbing him repeatedly.
At Holland’s home, they gained entry and then slashed her numerous times.
At both crime scenes, the killer must have been covered in blood. "
"What does that give us?" Derek asked as he sat back down at his desk.
"Coffee," Moore said, not talking about what the crime scenes gave them but what they needed. She left the office.
"I think the killer literally saw red," Alison replied.
"When the time came to kill them, they just went for it, stabbing or slashing until the victim was dead.
I don't think it was planned that way. I mean, the killer wanted to kill them, and they took a knife to both crime scenes, but they just let loose.
Almost as if they were overcome with bloodlust."
"So, they know who they want to kill, and they confront them, and then the emotion? The anger? Takes over?"
"It’s what fits at the moment," Alison said. "The two victims were targeted, and we need to find the link between them. They must have multiple cases that connect them over the years. I want to know who has the most reason to be upset by them."
"I can get started on that," Derek said. "I’ll get a list of cases or assessments or anything else that links them together, and look for any where there was a mistake made, a controversial decision, anything like that. And let’s see if anyone has been released from prison recently who might want revenge. "
"Thank you," Alison said. "It’s good having you here. Both for the help and to have someone else around who understands."
Derek threw himself into his work, looking for a link between the two victims, while Alison attacked the problem from the other side, looking at those who might be targeted by the killer.
Was there a third person connected to the original two victims?
Was there a fourth or a fifth? If the killer wasn’t connected to the two victims, then was this about something bigger?
Both victims dealt with mental health assessments. Was that what the killer was targeting?
No more lies. No more excuses.
Victoria had told her that Richard was the target of activists.
He was very passionate about diagnosing those who were not in control of themselves when they were committing crimes.
Was there an activist who had taken things further and killed Langford?
Then did the same to Holland? If there was no connection between the two victims that they could follow, then they might be looking at a pool of professionals who could be targeted. They couldn’t protect them all.
Moore returned with the coffee, and she set about organizing the concrete details. Compiling interviews with neighbors, family, and friends. Interpreting the autopsy reports as they came in. And looking through the crime scene reports that might point them toward a suspect.
The main things she found were that there was no forced entry at either crime scene, no sign of a struggle, and nothing had been taken.
The victims displayed no injuries pre-mortem that showed they fought with the attacker (except for some cuts on Patricia Holland’s hands where she had tried to fend off her attacker) or post-mortem; the killer had stabbed and slashed, and then was done.
Nothing was taken at either crime scene, and nothing, except for the notes, was left.
Both notes had been sent for analysis, but there was little chance they would get anything back that would help them to crack the case.
Alison still believed it was personal. The rage the killer showed in stabbing both victims made it feel more personal than someone killing them because they don't agree with a plea of insanity that would send someone to a facility instead of a prison, unless that person was affected by that.
Perhaps the family member or friend of a victim.
Alison told Derek that, at one point, he outsourced the compilation of anyone connected to the victims in each case, pinpointing a connection between the two victims.
Derek sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He leaned forward and picked up his cup to find it empty before replacing it on the desk.
"There are a lot of connections," he told them. "They both worked directly or indirectly on a number of cases together. That gives us over a dozen people that they helped to incarcerate, and that number is growing. That also gives us over seventeen victims, which makes for a lot of family members and friends who might have a grudge against the two. I’ve worked cases like this long enough to know that we’re not necessarily looking for something that was done wrong, but something that the killer might perceive as wrong.
Which, again, expands the list. However, I do think I have something here. "
Derek tapped the desk before him as if there were a file there.
"What did you find?" Alison asked.
"Thomas Vaughan," Derek said. "Among everyone I’ve found so far, he stands out to me. His sister was murdered five years ago by someone who was treated after being found not guilty on the grounds of temporary insanity. The man was released, and five days later, he was found with Vaughan’s sister—a murder-suicide. "
"Any connection to the sister?" Moore asked.
"Not that they found. It looks like the released Brian Cooper was out for three months, bouncing from job to job, and grabbed someone off the street late one night. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the murder or the suicide. It was an open-and-shut case."
"And Vaughan?" Moore asked.
"Inconsolable after being told the news," Derek said. "No history of violence, no criminal record, a mini-breakdown after his sister was killed, but he went back to his job afterward. He has a wife and two kids. A house, a car, a dog, and all of that. However, he has been very vocal since his sister’s death, and has joined multiple protests and is a member of a number of activist groups looking for change within the criminal system. On the surface, he doesn’t seem like the type of person we’re looking for, but we don't know what’s going on beneath that, right? "
"Why now?" Alison asked. "He might not seem like he fits the profile, but if there’s something that happened recently, a catalyst, then he would be our guy. When was his sister killed?"
"Five years ago," Derek said.
"No, the exact date," Alison told him.
"August seventh."
"That was three weeks ago," Alison pointed out. "The five-year anniversary of her death. That would work as a catalyst."
"I’ll get my coat," Detective Moore said.