Ethan paused.
“Pardon?”
Gene explained.
“If we take out the ritualistic undertones on this case, what could it possibly be?” he asked.
Blackhawk contemplated it.
“Money, greed, love, or someone covering something up…”
Gene narrowed it down for his profiler.
“Remember, you said keep it simple, so try now,” he stated.
Ethan didn’t have to think long.
“Most of the time, it’s all about the money, so I’ll lean into that option. Three-quarters of our cases are all about the money.”
Gene accepted that, and challenged him.
“And this place is right on the water, right?” he asked.
His partner nodded.
“What kind of crimes happen on islands?”
Ethan ticked them off.
“Gun running, drugs, trafficking, illegal entry to the US through customs…”
Gene knew what was bothering him.
Despite what Gabe said, he kept the mob angle in the back of his mind for a reason.
Intel could be wrong. What they had was a beach where three bodies all showed up in relatively the same area.
“What if this isn’t so much about Jaden Medin, as much as it is he saw something go down. What if he was working one night, saw something suspicious, and went to investigate?”
Ethan’s eyes went huge.
“So, an accidental homicide because he saw too much, and it spiraled out of control, so the killer is forced to cover it up from there on out?”
Gene nodded.
“What if this person caught Jared Medin staring at them, or they thought he knew too much. Say Gabe’s intel is wrong, and it is the mob. What would they do?”
He didn’t think long.
“They’d do what we did with the case out of Bull’s that involved Corbin. We interrogated them and…,” and that was when the lightbulb went on. “And they’d break bones in order to get the person to talk—plus cover it up to look like something so far from the truth to mess with us.”
Gene nodded.
“Yep, and then, a cop starts nosing around. He is talking about the case, and the killer overhears, never planning on playing serial killer, but thinking fast, he’s already covered victim one, so no one suspects him, and now, it’s escalating.”
Ethan considered it.
“It would make sense because this is not going well for them. We’re already sure it’s bullshit, and it’s four hours in.”
