May felt glad she'd managed to straighten things out with him, and that it no longer felt as if she and her boss were at war. She could imagine how the emotional stress of dealing with a family death skewed things.
And it was clear that Jack had put his daughter on a very high pedestal. She truly was the light of his life, and as a result, Molly had pretended her marriage was a perfect relationship when it wasn't. It just showed, May thought as she headed through to the back office, that people were full of surprises.
Now to find out if they could profile this killer based on the information they had.
"We're going to have to act on the assumption that at some stage in the past two years, he was in trouble with the law. Perhaps shortly after the last incident," May said. "Otherwise, he could also have been out of state. But there has to be a reason for the two-year pause."
"So, what are we looking for?" Owen asked.
"We're looking for someone who was in the firefighting or security field a couple of years ago. Who fits the physical parameters. Who may have been in trouble with the law, or else, who went out of state for unexplained reasons. But there had to have been some trouble.”
As cops, that trouble would have blipped their radar.
"We have to search for a number of parameters and find someone who fits them all." Owen said, sounding intent. "The trouble with the law, the employment at a security or fire department, the physical parameters."
"Well, let’s compare them to our databases and see if anything does come up."
May opened up the massive online file of previous cases. In the meantime, Owen was searching for the firefighter and security personnel in the area. Those people required police clearance to get a job, so they were all on record.
Now, it was simply a case of hard work, sifting through the databases and comparing all aspects.
"I have a few here, with old arrest records, that fit the physical parameters," Owen said. "But so far, they weren’t on our police clearance list before the arrests."
"We need to dig deeper," May said. "Let's see if we can find out who checks all the boxes. Meanwhile, I'm sifting through the records of previous cases."
"I'll get digging," Owen said. He was always eager to get to work.
"Me too," May said.
They got to work, going through the reports of previous crimes and the records of those who had been arrested and charged. Case after case came up and flashed in front of May’s eyes.
And there, she thought in triumph as she found the report, was a match.
"I've got something!" she said.
"You have?" Owen sounded amped.
"Yes, I think we have a strong suspect. His name is Joseph Keenan. He's worked as a fireman, and he's worked in security at times. He was arrested for assault, twenty months ago, but charges were dropped. Since then, he's lain low, and he's gone off the radar. He doesn't seem to be working in the fire department anymore."
"Can we get an address for him?" Owen asked.
"I hope we can, because we need to find him and talk to him, pronto."
May tapped keys, hoping something would come up.
And, after what seemed like an interminable wait, it did.
“Yes. I’ve got what looks like a current address for him. He’s working, and living, at the boat dock in Chestnut Hill. I think he’s part of the private security team there.” May glanced outside. The sun was setting, but the boat dock would still be open. Now was the time to find him.
“Let’s go there,” Owen said. “If we’re lucky, we might have this case closed tonight.”
May didn’t want to think about what would happen if they weren’t lucky, as she rushed for the door.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The marina at Chestnut Hill was one of the biggest and busiest in the whole of Tamarack County. Despite the onset of evening, and the temperatures which were now dropping sharply, it was still active when May and Owen arrived. She hoped it wouldn't be too difficult to find this man.
They'd gotten a brief description, and a photo, from the records. He fit the height parameters at only five-five. He looked like a slightly built guy. He was definitely within the physical limits that Andy Baker had described.
