"All three victims appeared in the same issue ofI Love Duluth," Isla confirmed."Winter edition, published four months ago.Monica Hayes was featured in an article about hair trends, Amanda Pierce in a Teacher of the Year profile, Sarah Ramsey in a paid advertisement for her accounting practice."
Kate absorbed this, her eyes moving to the whiteboard where Isla had begun mapping the new connections."So he's using the magazine as a catalog.Selecting victims based on their photographs."
"That's our working theory.But there has to be more to it than that.This issue would have featured dozens of women—business owners, community leaders, people photographed at events.Why these three specifically?"
"The physical type," James said."They all match the profile.Light hair, mid-thirties, similar builds."
"That narrows the field," Isla agreed."But it doesn't narrow it to three.There would still be multiple women in any given issue who fit that description."She turned back to her laptop, frustration building beneath the excitement of the breakthrough."We need to see the full magazine.Every page, every photograph, every—"
She stopped.
The thought that had been forming at the edge of her awareness suddenly crystallized, sharp and clear and terrible.
"The killer isn't just looking for women who fit his type," she said slowly."He's looking for something specific.Something that makes these three women stand out from all the others who appeared in that issue."
"Like what?"
"I don't know yet."Isla's eyes moved across the photographs of the three victims, searching for the thread that connected them."But if we can figure out why he chose them, we might be able to figure out who he is."
Kate moved to the whiteboard, studying the web of connections Isla had built over the past three days."What do we know about the magazine itself?The staff, the publication process?"
"Not much yet.It's a small local operation—probably a handful of employees at most.We'll need to talk to them, find out who has access to the subscriber list, the mailing addresses—"
"And who might have a reason to target women featured in their pages," Kate finished."I'll get Fritz on it.In the meantime, I want you two focused on that magazine.Find me the connection between these three victims."
She was gone before either of them could respond, the door clicking shut behind her with the particular finality of someone who expected results and expected them quickly.
Isla turned back to her laptop, pulling up the digital archive forI Love Duluth.The Winter edition wasn't available online in full—they'd need the physical copy for that—but the website offered a table of contents, a preview of featured articles, a glimpse of what the issue contained.
She scrolled through the preview, noting the sections: Local Business Spotlight, Community Events, Restaurant Reviews, Profiles in Excellence.Amanda Pierce's Teacher of the Year article appeared under the last heading, sandwiched between a piece about a retiring firefighter and one about a local artist whose work had been featured in a gallery show.
Monica Hayes's hair trends article was in the Style section, accompanied by photographs of other local stylists and their work.Sarah Ramsey's advertisement appeared in the Business Directory at the back of the magazine, one of perhaps two dozen similar ads from accountants and lawyers and real estate agents seeking clients.
Three different sections.Three different contexts.The only obvious connection was the magazine itself—and the fact that all three women were blonde, attractive, in their thirties.
But that couldn't be all.Isla was certain of it.The killer was too careful, too deliberate, too precise in his victim selection to be choosing at random from a pool of women who happened to fit his physical preferences.There was something else, some criterion she hadn't yet identified, some reason these three women had caught his attention while others had been passed over.
She needed the physical magazine.Needed to see the pages the way the killer had seen them, to flip through and understand what had drawn his eye, what had marked these three women for death.
"Rivers."
James's voice pulled her from her thoughts.He was holding his phone, his expression caught somewhere between triumph and concern.
"Library has the issue," he said."Reference desk is holding a copy for us.But there's something else."
"What?"
"I had them look up who checked out the magazine before us.Physical copies, from the local collection."James's jaw tightened."Someone checked it out three times in the past four months.Same person each time.They used a library card registered to a—" He glanced at his phone."—Jamie Thornton."
The name meant nothing to Isla, but the frequency of checkouts sent ice through her veins.Three times in four months.The same issue, over and over, as if someone were studying it.Memorizing it.Using it for something.
"Who is Jamie Thornton?"
"I don't know yet.But I think we should find out."
Isla was already typing the name into her search engine, her exhaustion forgotten in the surge of adrenaline that came with a lead that actually led somewhere.Jamie Thornton.The search results populated quickly—too quickly for someone who was trying to stay hidden, which was either encouraging or concerning depending on what she found.
The first hit was a bio page on theI Love Duluthwebsite itself.
