Chapter 18
Eighteen
Kane’s phone buzzed. He smiled when he looked at the caller ID. “Hi, Ty, what’s happening?”
“I dropped my bird into your ranch about twenty minutes ago. We’ve stowed our bags in the cottage and settled Jaime with Raya. Do you want me to leave the bird here and take Jenna’s cruiser into the office?” Carter chuckled. “I hear you’re having problems with ghosts.”
Smiling, Kane leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, take Jenna’s ride, but not the Mustang.
She’s a little protective about that vehicle.
We’re at Aunt Betty’s. Do you want me to grab some takeout for you?
I’m taking some back for Rowley. We’ve been at a crime scene all morning.
” He sighed. “It’s real nasty. Maybe you should eat before we show you the crime scene photos. ”
“Man, nothing upsets my stomach. Grab us whatever is on special and we’ll see you at the office. Oh, and Kalo is with us. We couldn’t leave him alone over Halloween.” Carter disconnected.
Kane looked at Jenna. “The FBI have arrived and Bobby Kalo too. Once you’ve finished your meal, we’ll head back to the office. I figure we leave Wolfe to do his thing and wait for the report. What do you say?”
“I believe having Jo’s insight into the killer will be very useful and Kalo will make our lives easier running searches.” Jenna bit into her bagel and cream cheese. “If Wolfe finds anything interesting, he’ll call us to drop by and take a look. We need to push on with the investigation.”
Jenna’s vehicle was parked outside the office when Kane slid the Beast into their usual space.
He took Duke from the back seat, negotiating him through the door with the massive beef bone he insisted on bringing with him.
He’d eaten a bowl filled with meat leftovers, as had Ben, but the fresh bones Susie had offered them would take a good deal of licking and Duke and Ben had refused to leave without them.
It seemed to Kane that Duke was teaching Ben bad habits, although Raven seemed to be okay with it, saying that dogs, like humans, needed some downtime.
So Kane had taken a bone wrapped in plastic back to the office for Zorro, Carter’s Doberman—it only seemed fair.
They met Carter, Jo, and Kalo at the front counter chatting with Maggie and Rowley. Kane handed Rowley a takeout bag and looked at Carter. “Raven is right behind me with your meal. I do have a nice juicy bone for Zorro.” He held out the packet.
“You’re not trying to bribe my dog, are you?” Carter grinned around the toothpick in his mouth and took the bone. “You don’t mind him chewing on this in the conference room?”
“No, we don’t, and as Ben and Duke have one as well, it’s only fair Zorro has some downtime too.” Jenna smiled at him. “Don’t you agree?”
“It’s nice to see you again, Jenna.” Carter smiled at her. “Although, I don’t believe Zorro enjoys downtime, he likes people to believe he’s mean. Although he does let his hair down with Duke at the ranch.”
“Hi, Jenna, Kane.” Jo turned away from the counter. “I can’t wait to get my teeth into this case.”
“Yeah, put me to work. I’m bored stupid.” Kalo pushed his laptop under one arm and smiled at them.
Kane waved them all up the stairs to the conference room. “Maybe you’ll change your mind when you see what it involves. This one is tricky.”
In the conference room, as Rio went to the whiteboard to list everything that they’d discovered about the two separate homicides, Kane brought everyone up to date.
For now, they had positive identifications on the first two young victims found in the vehicle in Stanton Forest. The wallets found on the two men earlier in the day would be used to contact next of kin and try and establish their identification.
In the meantime, Rio had listed all the information that they’d gathered from the crime scenes in two separate sections on the whiteboard.
As Kane and Jenna answered the FBI’s questions on both crimes, Raven attached the crime scene photographs he’d just printed alongside the notes that Rio had made.
Kane waited until Jo and Carter had finished their meal before going into the forensics that he’d witnessed personally at the latest crime scene.
He also gave details of his encounter with the Axman in the forest. “Something about this guy isn’t right.
He doesn’t act like a normal serial killer.
I was a threat to him. I turned things around and I became the predator and he just melted into the forest as if he didn’t want to face me.
Agreed, I had my weapon and he may have been carrying an ax, but I doubt it.
As he had removed all evidence of his projected images from the scene, I would say he had already stowed his ax and come back to the forest to watch our reaction to the murders. ”
“I’ve been dealing with serial killers for the last seven years, and in my experience, if they’re confronted, they kill.” Jenna frowned. “I agree with Dave. This guy doesn’t fit the mold.”
“Okay.” Jo got to her feet and stood in front of the whiteboard, arms folded as she scanned the photos.
Kane had watched her processing crime scenes many a time. She usually went very quiet as if calculating the patterns of a disturbed mind.
“We all agree that the murders are connected and it will be interesting to see if Wolfe decides if the killer is the same person.” Jo tapped her chin with the tip of her finger, her gaze never leaving the whiteboard.
“I believe the murders were committed by the same person, but they’re not connected in the way you think. ”
Raising both eyebrows, Kane leaned forward in his chair looking at her. “It looks ritualistic to me. The killer decapitated the victims, staged each murder, and used candles in the same way. I figure the only reason he didn’t try and kill me is because I didn’t fit into his ritual.”
“I believe this killer is trying to outwit us. He wants you to figure his murders are ritualistic.” Jo stared at the images again. “I’m convinced he’s covering his true intent.”
“Can you explain?” Jenna leaned back in her chair twirling a pen in her fingers.
“The photos tell a story.” Jo moved the photos around on the whiteboard, lining up the different murders for comparison.
“The thing is ritual killers are consistent and predictable. The staging in both these crime scenes is inconsistent. Can you see the way he places the candles in the first murder? Then look at the second murder, the candle placement is rushed and sloppy. From what I can see, and I’m sure after the autopsy we will have a clearer picture, the wounds vary in precision.
” She turned slowly and looked at them, placing both hands flat on the table.
“Then we look at the choice of victims. They’re random—a couple in the car and then two men responding to a girl in distress.
A ritualistic killer would hunt down the same type of person, sometimes right down to hair color and size, age, or whatever.
They repeat patterns because that’s part of the ritual they must observe—it’s an obsession. ”
“So, if this killer is so different and not following this pattern, what are we looking at here?” Jenna glanced at Kane. “Do you agree?”
Nodding slowly, Kane always appreciated Jo’s insights to the psychopathic mind. “Yeah, it makes sense but doesn’t give us a profile of who we need to hunt down.”
“That’s because I need more time to analyze the information in front of me.
” Jo stared at Kane and then turned and tapped the description of the girl in the illusion that Jenna had seen.
“This is what is confusing me at the moment. He’s gone to the trouble of creating an illusion of a girl in a bloodstained nightgown to lure his victims into the forest.”
Kane scratched his head. “Yeah, well we figured that was pretty obvious but the reason he’s doing it isn’t though. Why is he using myths? Don’t they carry the risk of people not believing what they’re seeing?”
“I believe he’s using stories, urban legends, and folklore to play on people’s fear, especially in the woods at night.
Those tales told around campfires to scare people.
” Jo shrugged. “To me, he appears theatrical but not symbolic. I don’t believe he is worshiping anything.
In my opinion, he is manipulating his victims’ perception as a lure. ”
“For what reason?” Jenna took a cup of coffee Raven handed her and sipped. “That sounds spooky.”
“Right now, I’m not sure—apart from killing them.
” Jo stared at the crime scene photographs again.
“The answers are here. I just need to dig them out. I can tell you he’s intelligent, patient, and not killing for the reasons you expect.
I need to strip away the illusion and discover what is behind the reason for his killing spree. ”
Kane added sugar and creamer to his coffee and stirred slowly. “Can you determine what type of psychopathic profile he fits into?”
“A batshit-crazy one, if you ask me.” Carter removed his toothpick and tossed it into the garbage. “What next? Is he planning on riding into town like the Headless Horseman and decapitating anyone he rides by?”
“Unlikely.” Jo shot him an annoyed look.
“I believe he’s on a mission but right now the mission is hidden.
Nothing I’ve seen in these crime scenes tells me he’s killing for pleasure.
It’s too well planned for it to be driven by rage and we’re not seeing any signs of sexual gratification.
I figure he is killing to achieve something—but what that is right now is beyond my expertise. ”
Mind racing, Kane placed his cup of coffee on the desk and looked at her. “Are you saying you believe he is using the murders as a camouflage to cover his true intent?”
“Yes.” Jo pointed to the candles placed deliberately inside the mouths of the victims. “This makes no sense at all. It’s not in any occult ritual I know about, so the only reason I can give you is he is using the black candles to mislead you.”
“What else can you tell us about him?” Jenna sipped her coffee and peered at Jo over the rim.
“He could easily be either a hunter or a military person by the way Kane described how he moved through the forest quietly. Blood obviously doesn’t worry him, nor do dismembered human body parts.
I might add here that decapitation murders are rare—they are very personal, in the way you see strangulation.
Removing a head is like cutting the head off a snake—or removing a threat. ”
Kane stared into space, thinking for a beat.
“The only similar murders I can recall, the killer wanted to make the victims stop talking. It came from his mother constantly berating him and he needed to shut her up. When he finally murdered her, he stopped killing. Are we looking for the same type of suspect?”
“I’ll need more details before I can narrow it down but that’s possible.” Jo pushed a pen behind one ear and shrugged. “The only problem I have is the variety of victims. I’m sure the killer you are referring to killed only women because they were the facsimile of his mother?”
Kane nodded. “Yeah, they were all women.”
“Okay, then getting back to profiling him. A woodsman is possible because of the use of the ax. He is very comfortable in the woods, probably prefers isolation.” Jo took a deep breath and turned to face them again.
“He understands how people react to fear. He is a planner but not a perfectionist. He has the ability to improvise and adapts to each situation as it presents itself. Nothing in the crime scene photographs tells me that he is obsessive. I would say he is more practical.”
Kane listened and then shook his head. “You’re describing someone who is almost normal. Don’t you believe we are dealing with a psychopath?”
“I’m seeing emotionally detached.” Jo sat down at the table and smiled at Raven as he pushed a cup of coffee in front of her.
“Both crime scenes tell a story. They tell me he’s not impulsive or chaotic.
He’s very organized. It’s as if he’s following a path to make a point. It’s as if he has purpose.”
“We’ve had many psychopathic killers who are organized.” Jenna turned to look at Kane. “You have very good instincts, Dave. What did you get from him when you were in the forest?”
Turning his cup in circles with his fingertips, Kane mulled over the few minutes he’d been alone with the killer.
“I didn’t fit into his wheelhouse of victims and I didn’t feel any fear from him at all.
It was as if he was just watching to see what I was doing.
I don’t think I frightened him away. I believe he chose to leave rather than confront me because that wasn’t in his plan.
I figure he’s killing people who fit into the scenario he needs.
All these theatrics are leading to something. ”
“I agree.” Jo nodded and breathed out a long sigh.
“I would imagine he’s trying to re-create something from his past. I don’t know what it is yet but it likely comes from his childhood, hence the old stories.
Everything that’s happened so far is just practice.
He is honing his skills and he’s not finished yet. ”