Those serial killers, two of the most famous in American history, were famous in part for being opportunistic killers who lacked defined victim profiles and just killed whoever they happened to find and have the opportunity to kill.While many of their confessions were later deemed to be false and given in exchange for amenities, the killings that were confirmed fit the MO of two people who just killed when the fancy struck them, rather than adhering to a particular type.
“I don’t think so,” Faith said.“Those two didn’t have any form of organization.They didn’t favor a particular method or a particular location the way our killer does.”
“It’s possible that he only chooses the location and picks an opportunistic victim at each location,” Jessica offered.“His MO already carries a lot of risk.He might get a thrill out of taking risk, but he obviously wants to control that risk.”
“Yes,” Faith admitted reluctantly.“It’s possible.Dog parks could just be an easy place to spot people without standing out himself.”
“The last one wasn’t a dog park, though.”
“It was close enough to a dog park that I feel comfortable saying he spotted her there, then followed her until she was alone.Or maybe he spotted her earlier and memorized her habits.”
“He couldn’t have spotted her that much earlier unless he just decided to kill Iris and Mark first.”
Faith sighed and got to her feet to make more coffee.At the rate she consumed caffeine and avoided sleep when she was working, she was going to die in her fifties.Hell, she might even have a heart attack and die before Turk.Then she’d never have to suffer the pain of losing him.
And with that morbid thought, she ruminated as she poured fresh grounds into the coffeemaker.“In any case, heisusing dog parks as his hunting ground.Now we have to figure out why he picked those victims.”
“You’re sticking to the idea that he had a reason for the victims he chose, huh?”
“He must have,” Faith insisted.
Jessica sighed.“I don’t want to be a bitch, but is it possible that you just really want him to have a reason because without one, it’s going to be very hard to find him?”
Faith opened her mouth to deny it, but she closed it when she thought of the way she’d fixated on Brian Meadows.Jessica was right.She wasn’t at her best right now.Something about Luna had affected her.In her last case, she had become attached to a therapy dog named Honey who had been sedated only to wake and discover that her owner was dead.That had affected her, but she had been able to separate her emotions and focus on the case.What was different about this case?
She looked at Turk.He had just the faintest trace of a scar on the left side of his face where Jethro Trammell's axe had split his skull.Most days, she didn't notice it, but she could see it now as clearly as she could the day she first met him, when it was fresh and raw and tore through his features like a rip in an oil painting.
Turk had fought to protect his handler.He had lost.Luna and Beau had fought to protect their owners.They had lost.That’s what affected Faith.Knowing that those loyal dogs had given it their all and been forced to understand that it wasn’t enough.
“You’re right,” she confessed.“I really want there to be a connection.I really want to have something concrete I can look for that will tell me who this guy is.There could be nothing.He could really just be a perfect killer who figured out a way to take lives without getting caught and is trying to see how many he can get before he slips up.
“But as long as we’re looking, I want to look at our victims.Killers like Toole and Lucas exist, but they’re rare enough to be a rounding error.The overwhelming majority of killers choose specific victims.Sometimes their logic doesn’t make sense to normal people, but thereissome sort of logic.”
Jessica absorbed this rant patiently, then leaned back in her chair and sighed.“All right.You’ve been right often enough that I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.And I really don’t have any idea what else to do, so… let’s look at the victims.”
Faith smiled gratefully at Jessica and brought two fresh cups of coffee to the table.Jessica sipped gratefully and sighed.“I am so glad that people in Quantico value a good cup of coffee.You wouldn’t believe the crap that Hozier foists on us at the D.C.office.”
“You guys don’t buy your own coffee?”
“I mean, wecould, but it’s more fun to bitch about Hozier each time we make coffee.”
Faith laughed at that.“I understand that.”
Her laughter faded quickly.The moment of lighthearted humor was a nice reprieve, but they had work to do now.
They got the easy part out of the way quickly.None of the victims appeared to know each other or to have interacted with each other at any point in their lives.They didn’t even run in adjacent circles.Mark Patterson didn’t have a family other than his fiancée, and all of his friends were fellow members of the Stafford County Parks Department.Iris Caldwell was revered by her former coworkers and her devoted family, but being retired, she rarely ventured outside of Quantico unless she was traveling far.Rebecca Hartley lived alone.Her family lived in Boston and California.She had a close-knit group of five or six people that she went on frequent camping and hiking trips with, but they were all in her age group, younger even than the youngest of Iris Caldwell’s children, none of whom appeared particularly outdoorsy.
“So there’s no floater in their social group coming after them for some perceived wrong,” Jessica summarized when their social media review didn’t turn up a lead.“That means it’s something intrinsic about them.”
“You’re probably right,” Faith said.
“But what is there?All three of them like parks?”
Faith shook her head.“Too generic.Why them and not any number of other people?”
“They were alone when the killer saw them?”
“They can’t have been the only people he’s had the opportunity to kill,” Faith said.
