"How was your flight?" Vic asked as they began walking toward the airport's main concourse.
"Fine. Quick. I spent most of it reviewing the case files Hayes sent me." Miles shifted his laptop case to his other hand as they navigated around a group of travelers studying a terminal map. "The crime scene photos are... remarkable."
"That's one word for it," Vic said dryly. "I was thinking more along the lines of bizarre or deeply disturbing, butremarkableworks, too."
They moved through the terminal's central corridor, past shops selling everything from tech gadgets to San Francisco souvenirs. The afternoon crowd was particularly heavy, with delayed flights creating bottlenecks around gate areas and food courts. Miles found himself impressed by the way Vic moved through the chaos, automatically choosing the most efficient path while maintaining awareness of the people around them—all while carrying on a conversation.
"So Hayes tells me you have a theory about these murders," Vic said. "Something about the periodic table?"
"I do," Miles replied. "But it's probably better discussed somewhere other than an airport terminal."
Vic nodded approvingly. "So then let’s grab some lunch and I'll catch you up on what we know so far. You can walk me through your theory while we eat."
They agreed on a generic-looking Tex Mex place that didn't look too crowded. They ordered quickly—carnitas tacos for Vic, a chicken burrito for Miles—and found a table near the back where they could speak privately.
"Alright," Vic said, taking a sip of her iced tea. "Let me bring you up to speed on what we have so far."
She walked him through the three victims in chronological order, keeping her summary brief but comprehensive. Miles was good at retaining information so he didn’t feel the need to take notes—not yet. He listened intently as Vic told him about Rebecca Thornfield, the art dealer found in her gallery's storage room. She had been the first victim discovered though possibly not the first killed. Then there was Nelson DeWalt, a small-time investor of several online start-ups. And lastly, Patricia Vance, the real estate mogul, who was the most recent victim, discovered at a construction site in the Financial District.
"All three were wealthy, all had questionable business practices, and all were found coated in gold leaf applied with professional precision," Vic concluded. "The killer has access to specialized equipment and knows how to use it. We're dealing with someone who has serious technical skillsandpatience."
Miles absorbed this information while mentally comparing it to the cases he'd been tracking across the country. The methodology was consistent with the pattern he'd identified, but the sophistication level was higher than some of the earlier murders he'd studied.
"Now tell me about this periodic table theory," Vic said as their food arrived. "Hayes was pretty vague about the details."
Miles organized his thoughts while taking a bite of his burrito, aware that this was his opportunity to make his case to someone who'd actually worked these types of cases in the field. Vic's experience with violent crime investigations could provide insights his laboratory analysis had missed.
"I've been tracking what I believe are connected murders across the country for the past three years," he began. "Each death involves a method that corresponds to an element on the periodic table, starting with hydrogen and moving through thesequence. I can completely understand how, when looking at it from a bird’s eye view, they seem not connected or related at all. But there are deeper, more intricate details that I do believe connects them."
He outlined the cases he'd identified, explaining how each murder used a different element as both weapon and signature. He could recite it easily now, especially since he had walked through every detail of it twice in the past eighteen hours—first to Elena, and then to Assistant Director Hayes. He walked her through the precision of the chemical applications, the sophisticated delivery methods, the staging of crime scenes to misdirect local investigations. He explained how it all pointed to a coordinated effort by people with advanced scientific training.
"So you think someone is systematically working through the elements," Vic said, pausing between bites of her tacos. "Using them as some kind of murder template."
"More than someone," Miles said. "The geographical spread and timing suggest multiple perpetrators working together. Possibly a group or cult with a shared ideology about chemistry and its relationship to society."
Vic considered this while chewing thoughtfully. Miles was pretty sure she was at least interested and that she would not shoot his theory down as easily as Hayes had suggested. "It's not a bad theory," she admitted. "Actually, it's pretty intriguing. But there's a practical problem; these cases you're talking about span multiple years and multiple states. They can't all have been done by the same person, and I don't see how this helps me catch whoever's killing people here in San Francisco."
Miles had anticipated this objection and had spent the flight developing his response. "That's exactly why I think you're dealing with a coordinated group. But here's where it gets interesting for your case specifically."
He leaned forward, his excitement building as he articulated the connection he'd been developing. "We know that gold is the method of operation, but what if gold was also the motive?"
"Meaning what?"
Miles had pondered this part during the plane ride and knew he was taking a calculated risk. He was supposed to be simply helping, consulting, assisting, not trying to guide the direction of the entire case. "Look at your victims. All wealthy, all involved in what could be considered predatory financial practices. What if the killer isn't just using gold as a murder weapon, but as a statement about their relationship with wealth and greed?"
Vic set down her taco and looked at him with renewed interest. "You're talking about motive beyond just having money."
"Exactly. What had these people done that might have inspired the killer's wrath? Thornfield manipulated art markets, Vance displaced low-income families with her development projects, and it seems DeWalt was making what, somehow, people might assume is easy, lazy money. They weren't just wealthy—they were people who used their wealth in ways that could be seen as corrupt or exploitative."
"So the gold coating isn't just a murder method," Vic said slowly. "It's symbolic. The killer is literally covering them in the thing they valued most."
"Right. And if that's true for the gold murders, it might be true for the other elements I've been tracking. In fact, I’m becoming more and more sure of it. Each element has been chosen not just for its chemical properties, but for its symbolic relationship to the victim's life or crimes."
Vic finished her lunch while considering this angle. Miles could see her mind working through the implications, applying her field experience to his analytical framework. This wasexactly the kind of collaborative thinking he'd hoped for when Hayes had assigned him to work with her.
"That's actually a really good approach," she said finally. "Instead of just looking at who had enough money to be a target, we start looking at what they did with that money. How they earned it, how they used it, who they might have hurt in the process."
"It gives us a way to predict potential victims," Miles added. "If the killer is selecting targets based on specific types of financial corruption, we can identify people who fit the pattern."
