CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Alison and Detective Moore left the brick building and got into the car as soon as they had checked Linda's alibi. Alison had barely buckled herself in when Moore took off with a screech.
"She’s hurting," Alison said. "She needs help. I don't know if that means people helping her with her work or someone to be there for her as she’s there for her friend, but it must be hard for to live alone with no immediate support around."
"We can at least rule her out of the investigation for now," Moore said. "If she were in the office all morning until now, then she couldn’t have murdered him."
"And it’s definitely murder this time?" Alison asked. "There’s no chance tha—"
"No," Moore interrupted as she drove at speed to the next crime scene. "He’s a hundred percent dead."
"Do we know who the victim was?" Alison asked.
"Michael Rodriguez," Moore confirmed. "He was released from prison a year ago, and he’s not been picked up by the cops since."
"I know him," Alison said. "He was in for dealing.
I remember his case vaguely. I think he had served six years of an eight-year term, and all of the people he associated with previously were either locked up, dead, or had moved away.
His family wanted nothing to do with him, and I saw how much that hurt him.
He wanted to make it up to them. I remember he told me he never thought he would be able to, but he was going to try. "
"Now, he’s dead," Moore said.
Alison hadn’t had time to think about how a third death affected her, but she could hear how it affected the detective. There was no way to help other than to further the case.
"You wanted to know where Linda was this morning and afternoon," Alison pointed out. "That’s when the murder happened, which means it’s recent, right?"
Moore nodded as she drove.
"And the killer killed in broad daylight," Alison added. "That’s new, and it shows they are willing to take risks. Calculated risks, at least. Do we know the cause of death? A knife again?"
"Yeah," Moore replied. "What I don't get is why the killer doesn’t target those who were released and then committed more crimes. That’s what bothers them, right? If they are against early release, then they are because they don't want the criminals back on the street, and the only reason not to want that is if the killer believes them to be dangerous. Why not target repeat offenders instead of those who were trying to help? I mean, that’s what we’ve found so far with Thomas and Jennifer. "
"The evidence shows that most criminals who get early release don't reoffend, and those that do are either arrested and put back in prison, or their crimes go unnoticed. Either way, the killer doesn’t have anyone guilty to target. They’re targeting offenders, but they’ve only committed crimes in the past, and they’ve paid for that.
Whoever the killer is, their logic is extremely flawed.
We’ve shown time and time again that early release works and benefits society as a whole.
The killer might be drawing attention to the system, but they won't effect change like this.
Linda Ashford had it right in how she was doing it, even though I don't agree with what she wants to change. "
Moore turned off the main road and drove down a side street for a few minutes until the street widened and the buildings thinned, turning from residential to industrial. They passed warehouses, small factories, and other storage facilities.
Alison still didn't think about what the third murder meant. She had been waiting for it, knowing that she would blame herself for it, but she kept her mind from going there for now by imagining what the killer was trying to achieve with this kill and the threat before it.
"The first two kills make sense," she thought out loud.
"The killer picked the targets, went over my report, and wrote a new one, likely while watching the victims to get to know their routines, and then waited until they could get them alone, choosing the place of work or volunteer work for both of them, and made a move. The killer knew the bodies would be found quickly, and that’s the whole point of this.
The bodies need to be found for the message to be found and understood. "
"And you’re wondering why this one is different?" Moore asked.
"Not only this one but the last one," Alison replied. "The killer broke into Harold’s house and left a threatening note. All right, I get that. They know the person will go to the police and the note will be seen, but it’s unlikely the note will be released to the press, so how does that help the cause? "
"I have no idea," Moore shrugged.
"I’m struggling to understand it, too," Alison admitted.
"It could have been a diversionary tactic.
Have us watch Harold for a while to keep us from looking elsewhere?
Maybe the killer thinks it buys them some time?
It could just be a game to them. They create this distraction, and we try to figure out what it all means when there is no meaning behind it. "
Moore slowed and took the next corner, driving on a dusty road toward the police lights in the distance.
"We didn't have a lead to follow until he gave us Harold Jenkins. There was nothing to distract from. So, is it just a big game to them?"
"It might also be aimed at me," Alison said. "The target is the justice system, but they are doing that through me. The threat was a threat to Harold, but it could also be a threat aimed at me, at all of us. It tells us that he’s the one in control, and he chooses how we proceed."
"So, we’re looking for someone who is used to being in control?" Moore asked as they closed in on the next crime scene.
"Or someone who lost their control recently.
This is their way of gaining it back. It leads to this crime scene.
They show us they can hold back and not kill, and then display that they can kill in broad daylight in front of people.
" Alison looked around as Moore parked. "Obviously, the area is secluded even though it’s open.
They were unlikely to be discovered in the act, but it was possible.
The killer might have gotten a taste for killing, and they want to up the stakes.
The evolution might have nothing to do with the message and everything to do with them. "
"We need to stop the evolution," Moore said.
They got out of the car and walked past the other emergency vehicles to the police tape surrounding the crime scene, which looked like a car with its windows covered in red-and-white. Moore showed her badge, and she was allowed through.
"What are we looking at?" Moore asked one of the officers.
"Someone was passing in their car, and thought it looked like an abandoned car but three, but then the stuff on the windows," the officer said. "They stopped and were able to see inside. They called it in as soon as they saw the body."
"You were able to ID him when you got to the scene?" the detective asked.
"Yeah," the officer said slowly. "I’m from this side of town, and I’ve seen him around. I know that he used to run with some folks around here. I didn't remember his name, but it’s obvious that whoever killed him wanted us to know. The man’s wallet was lying open on his lap when we found him, his driver's license visible. Michael Rodriguez."
Alison noticed for the first time since arriving at the scene what was covering the windows, and had assumed at first glance that it was some sort of fabric that had been draped over the window to stop people from seeing inside.
That was not the case. The window coverings were not to hide what was inside but to be on display.
Instead of leaving the documents somewhere close to the body, they had been stuck to the windows. There was her original assessment with the usual red pen marks, and then the killer's assessments. Most of the red pen marks blended in with the other red: blood.
Alison left the detective and the officer.
She stepped closer to the car. It wasn’t just blood covering the documents; the blood had been used to adhere the printouts to the car windows.
There was a similar pattern on each of the documents.
The file as a whole hadn’t been covered in blood and seeped through.
It looked like each page had been pressed into the blood and then stuck to the glass.
Alison had to assume that it was the victim's blood, and there was a lot of it. She circled the car, looking at each page in turn, driven by a morbid curiosity to discover the killer’s message anew.
…a pattern of overlooking recidivism risk factors in favor of emotional narratives of transformation.
The phrase was repeated at least three times through the killer’s report, and Alison might have found it amusing if the crime scene were not so macabre.
She had used emotion in the way she handled cases; no one could ever remove emotion when listening to prisoners’ pleas.
However, she had never written anything emotional in the report.
Only the killer had done that in their reports.
Does that mean they know me and have worked with me?
Alison circled the car, came to the passenger side, where the door hung open, and a forensic tech was bent halfway inside.
"Do you mind if I…?" Alison asked.
The tech stepped away from the vehicle and looked at Alison. They nodded, happy to move aside. She didn't recognize the tech with their head and mouth covered, but it seemed like the tech recognized her.
When she viewed the body, she found another evolution.
A knife stuck from the man’s chest, much like one had at the Jennifer Hayes crime scene, but Michael Rodriguez had not been stabbed only one time.
He had been stabbed multiple times as if in a frenzy, the blood staining his shirt and the car seat below.
Michael’s eyes were open, staring straight ahead at the covered windscreen, his mouth partly open. The wallet that had been on his lap earlier had been bagged already. Alison noticed cuts on the man’s hands. He had tried to defend himself as he had been stabbed, but had been unsuccessful.
The knife handle was angled slightly toward the driver’s seat. Whoever had killed him had been in that seat at the time, and they must have used their right hand to stab the knife to the side and into Michael’s chest.
The killer is most likely right-handed. Does that help us at all?
Alison looked just below the steering wheel at the keys still dangling from the ignition. She leaned in as far as she could without touching the body and looked at the driver’s seat and the floor beneath it. She didn't spot anything.
"Be careful when handling the keys," Alison said to the tech as she exited the car. "The killer touched them. Maybe we get lucky this time, and we get some prints. I want to know as soon as you have anything back."
The tech nodded.
Alison left the passenger side of the car and returned to the other side, where Moore and the cop were talking.
"The killer drove him here, but why?" Alison said. "He picks Michael up and then brings him here to kill him. Did the killer know Michael? Do you know any acquaintances of his still in the area?"
The cop shook his head. "From what I knew, he was trying to make a living. I heard he had a kid before he was in jail, but I don't know if that’s true. I know he worked as a mechanic for a while, and then he was working on the Sanderson lot selling used cars."
Alison and Detective Moore looked at each other.
"A test drive," Moore stated.
"Yeah," Alison said. "We need to get down to the dealership."