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She nodded. “The killer wanted her found. I think he wanted Sam Reeves to be a suspect. Which raises another point. He knew about Reeves. He knew that framing him would distract us.”
Both Levinson and Navarro stilled. “How did he know about him?” Navarro asked.
Kit shrugged. “Driscoll might have mentioned Reeves to his partner. Or Driscoll’s killer might have found out that we brought Dr.Reeves in for questioning. Or both those things. There would be a record of Reeves’s arrest for resisting, even though we dropped it.”
“Find out if anyone requested access to those records,” Navarro instructed.
Kit wrote it down on her growing to-do list. “Yes, sir. But going back to Skyler Carville, it was important that she be killed—and found—this past weekend because Reeves was camping alone with no alibi.”
Levinson nodded. “Okay. But the other victims were not meant to be found. The pink handcuffs could be his signature flourish. He is into theater, after all. He was setting a scene.”
“And giving a fuck-you to the cops,” Navarro murmured.
“But they were found,” Kit said with a frown. “Again, I’m assuming the man who’s been killing for twenty years killed Driscoll and left that ‘confession’ note. He said he’d killed five young women. So he knew we’d found others.”
“He could have been watching the news all this time,” Levinson suggested. “He knows where he’s buried them. When he sees an article about a body being discovered, he would note it. Or maybe he revisits the scenes to check. It seems like someone like him would keep track of his kills. He’s arrogant and confident.”
“Hopefully too confident,” Navarro muttered.
“Well, yeah,” Kit said, “but what I meant to say was that he’s known about us finding the first four bodies all this time. He knew we’d seen the handcuffs. Why didn’t he stop using them? Then we’d just have a Jane Doe in an unmarked grave. It’s the pink cuffs that tie them together. We’ve always thought that the three victims found with metal detectors were a coincidence, because they were spaced out over so many years. But what if they weren’t a coincidence?”
“You think he wanted them to be found?” Levinson asked.
“Maybe. At least some of them. We’d have to interview the people who found the first four victims, and at least one of them is dead. But this killer is definitely taunting us. He keeps burying them with their jewelry even though he has to know we could track it. Especially the class ring Jaelyn wore on a chain around her neck. We haven’t caught him yet, so he’s gotten even bolder.”
Levinson polished his glasses, lingering over each lens. “I think you’re right. It is a taunt. But he’s not crying for help. He might want us to find a few victims, but he doesn’t want to be caught. He just doesn’t think we’re as smart as he is.”
“Then he’s going to be disappointed,” Kit said. “The other thing that the victims have in common is that none of them mentioned they were seeing a man. He would have been an older man, even when he killed the first victim twentyish years ago. Either he took them by surprise or he convinced them not to mention him to anyone. Not family, not best friends. No one.”
Levinson leaned forward. “This is new information. We’d only ID’d Ricki Emerson before Jaelyn was discovered. Her family said that she hadn’t mentioned a boyfriend, but that was a single point. This is important, Detective.” Then he frowned. “But you said that Driscoll claimed to spend time with the victims. They watched TV together. That seems to indicate a relationship with Driscoll, not with his partner.”
“He was a liar,” Navarro said. “He could have made all that up.”
“Or they could have worked together,” Kit added.
Levinson nodded. “Unfortunately, that’s true. None of the victims had any defensive wounds?”
“Nope,” Kit said. “Nothing to indicate that they’d been forcibly taken. He might have drugged them, though. Nothing was found in any of the victims before because they were found months or years after death. But Skyler was found less than forty-eight hours after she went missing. We could get lucky. Give me a minute.”
Taking out her phone, she texted Alicia Batra. Did you get tox screen back on Skyler Carville? Looking for something like Rohypnol.
She set her phone aside. “Okay, if he is drugging them, he has to get close enough to do so. The lack of defensive wounds still suggests they knew him and allowed him to get close.”
“Important,” Levinson murmured. “He’s someone they trust. Maybe someone in a position of authority.”
“Maybe someone who’s posing as an agent or producer,” Navarro said. “All of the victims expressed an interest in drama and acting.”
“Baz said the same thing,” Kit said. “That gives me another line of questioning for the victims’ close friends. If they were talking to a producer, one of them had to mention it to someone. These are sixteen-year-old girls we’re talking about, give or take a year. They tell their friends their secrets.”
“Did you?” Levinson asked, his brows lifted.
Kit shook her head. “No, but I didn’t have many friends then. The only one I would have trusted was murdered when I was fifteen.”
Levinson winced. “I’m sorry, Detective.”
“It’s fine,” she said automatically, even though it really wasn’t. “Next item. Why pink handcuffs? Is it simply because they’re girls? Or is it another swipe at the police?”
“He definitely holds us in contempt,” Levinson said. “Thinks he’s smarter than we are. He’s able to get his victims to trust him. Could he be in law enforcement?”
