“How convinced are you that your estimate of the killer is correct?”
Luke scratched his chin. “Reasonably convinced. You know as well as I do that profiling is more like the weather forecast than basic mathematics, where two plus two doesn’t always equal four, but the whole pattern is a textbook classic, down to the statistical deviation in victim selection and the tweaks in the MO, namely switching from the belt to the rope. We can’t be sure of his motivation, but he’s an escalating serial killer, most probably a psychopath, though it could be he’s a man on a mission, some religious zealot or the like. I’m still leaning toward psychopath because the methodical way in which he kills makes it unlikely for him to have any feelings.”
“You read up on that?” It wasn’t a dig; George was glad Luke was taking the case so seriously. The IA agent seemed to get it.
“Yes. I wanted to be sure. This is not something I want to make a mistake on.”
“If you’re convinced the killer has to be a psychopath, then LeClerk is out. He was clearly shaken by Kesha’s death. He told us she was worried about something going on in House Cusabo and that she wanted to protect him.”
“And she didn’t tell him from what.” Geena sounded so dejected, George felt the urge to pat her on the back. He could relate to her misery. He felt it too.
“No, she didn’t. How do you know?”
“Because I read her file and saw myself in her. I wouldn’t have involved somebody I perceived as vulnerable either.”
“Vulnerable as in civilian?” Andi took a sip from his tea, his eyes trained on Geena.
“Yes, why do you ask?”
“Because I’ve been wondering why she didn’t go to the director of House Cusabo. We know she knew something, yet she decided to go into hiding and not drag anybody else into it. LeClerk says she was perfectly medicated, that her coping strategies worked, that she was of sound mind, and that he trusted her instincts. None of this sounds like a terrified victim to me. She was ready for a fight.”
George turned toward the whiteboard. “Tina said her sister knew something as well. She was just a teenager, though. She probably was frightened.”
“And they both ended up dead, just like the other victims.” Geena huffed. “It’s an interesting thought but doesn’t really help at this point.”
“It tells us something about the killer.” Andi had a ballpen in his hands, and the tea stood next to his keyboard, an accident waiting to happen.
“What?” Geena was confused, but George thought he knew what Andi was hinting at. He made the three steps to Andi’s desk and placed the tea far from the keyboard. Crisis averted.
“Kesha might have lost a leg, but she was a trained member of the Air Force, battle hardened, secure in her abilities and mentally stable. How did the killer manage to subdue her? And Izzy. She was a frightened teenager, seeing ghosts everywhere.”
George froze for a moment, afraid either Geena or Gelman would pick up on Andi not meaning this as a figure of speech. Luckily for him, both were too intrigued where Andi’s reasoning was going to look too closely at his words.
“Same question, how did the killer subdue her? Both would have been highly suspicious of anybody coming close to them. So how did he do it? We know he uses tranquilizers, and we deduced from his entire MO that he likely drugs his victims before he kidnaps them. Assuming neither Kesha nor Izzy knew who the killer was, just that something deadly was going on, who would have had the opportunity to get close enough to them to drug them, aside from the staff at House Cusabo or another patient?”
“Which brings us right back to LeClerk, who you say is unlikely to be the killer.” Geena tugged at her short hair. “I hate this case!”
“We met another beekeeper at House Cusabo yesterday, Bruce Sprenger, one of the facility managers. He started working there the same year Izzy Whitewall was killed.” George took one of the pens to write the name on the whiteboard, a little to the side. He wasn’t sure what to make of Sprenger yet.
“Is he a potential candidate?” Geena stared at the name with burning intensity.
“He’s tall and strong enough. He tends bees. He fits the bill just like every other male over five eight with more than a hundred and sixty pounds who keeps bees. Plus, he told us a few of the members of his beekeeper club help him with the bees at House Cusabo. I thought to ask Tobias and Sandra to look into this club, see if there are any other likely candidates.” George sighed.
“A good idea. We haven’t looked at all the staff from House Cusabo because we assumed it had to be somebody who was already there when the first kills happened.” Gelman stared at the whiteboard. “Which is a logical and necessary step to get a starting point in the investigation. But now that we’ve ruled out the suspects who had been there and who could have had a motive, I think we need to change the parameters. Do we know how long Sprenger has lived in the area? Or any of the other staff who have come to House Cusabo after TJ Ross and Celia Murdoch were killed? What about the other beekeepers? Who helped to start the bees at House Cusabo?”
“We’ll have to ask Shireen to find out.” Geena was already turning. “I’ll go talk to her. And I’ll tell her to give the lists to Sandra.”
“And ask her if she can find anything about Kesha after she left House Cusabo. I know she already looked, but perhaps there’s something she didn’t find….” George saw the look Geena threw him and winced. It was nothing compared to what Shireen would do when he doubted her like that. “We will—”
“Hayes, Donovan, my office.” Chief Norris’s voice was like a bucket of ice water to George’s discomfort under Geena’s glare. This time she turned and left in a hurry, the traitor. Andi got up from behind his PC. Gelman made a motion to follow, but George stopped him with a shake of his head. Whatever fresh hell this was, Luke would probably be useless, again.
They made it into her office where this time she slammed the door behind George with so much force, the glass in the upper part clinked dangerously, before she stormed to her desk and thumped her fist on the gleaming surface.
“You’ve gone too far!” she barked. “It’s one thing that you defy me at every step, try to undermine my standing in this precinct, but to involve my son is such a low point. I’m not going to stand for it a second longer!”
George glanced at Andi, who was standing right next to him, his posture more relaxed than George suspected he was. “What do you mean, involving Tyler?”
“Don’t say his name! You don’t get to say my son’s name after the hell you brought on my family’s head!”
