Catherine nodded. “I was skeptical at first, because it’s rare for a woman to be the dominant in a male-female partnership. But in this case, while I won’t say that she is the leader, she’s certainly his equal. Based on his clear narcissism, I don’t see him as subservient to her. They are partners in every sense of the word. They’ve worked together to con individuals or couples, using sex as the weapon. We don’t have any unsolved homicides that fit our parameters in the cities where Reid has worked, which suggests that either they recently started killing, or their victim profile changed. I am inclined to think recent because victim type rarely changes.”
“They,” Jim repeated flatly. “They’re working together because they enjoy killing. That’s messed up.”
Catherine had been refining her profile, but doubts still lingered. She couldn’t afford to be uncertain. “Garrett has a romantic relationship with his partner. He’s been with her for at least two years, likely longer. He trusts her. He gave no hint that he had a girlfriend during his interrogation. No one on staff suspected he was in a relationship, but confirmed that he didn’t date staff or guests. This is a strong bond, one that will be hard to fracture. They believe they are in love, and that their crimes are a sign of devotion.”
She slid a one-pager across the table with details of the sixvictims laid out in two columns. “The male victims died from blunt force trauma or blood loss, but also sustained other, nonfatal injuries—such as the first male victim had a broken ankle. The female victims survived for up to three days longer than their husbands, enduring multiple injuries—cuts, bruises, extreme dehydration, broken bones—though not the same bones. The women were the primary victims in a cat-and-mouse game. Reid and his partner toyed with them before they grew tired of the game and killed them. Each woman died in a unique way: one was impaled with a wooden stick, but we haven’t yet identified the wood. One died from internal bleeding. One drowned.”
She paused, watching her team absorb the information. “I believe the women were targeted out of jealousy.”
“Hold on,” Sloane said, “you’re saying that the female partner is jealous of these women, and that’s how she picked them? Did Garrett have a relationship with any of them? Or express an interest in them?”
“Doubtful,” Catherine said. “I think they were targeted because of their type—blonde, attractive, successful, and married. The female partner feels inadequate compared to the victims. Perhaps she feels she’s not ‘good enough’ for Garrett, or that Garrett has a type that she doesn’t fit into. My guess, when we find Garrett’s first girlfriend—Becca McCarthy, his high school sweetheart—she will be a classic girl next door type, at least in her appearance. She will be successful and intelligent, like our female victims. And that success is likely the primary trigger.”
Catherine took a sip of water, continued. “All three victims had advanced degrees and personal success—a lawyer, a doctor, a CFO who was also a tax attorney. They were all thirty-five or younger. That was why we made Kara’s undercover background a lawyer. That, even more than their physical looks, tells me why they were specifically targeted. Reid’s partner may be a natural blonde; if not, she will dye her hair. She is attractive withoutward confidence, but also jealous of attractive and successful women. She hasn’t accomplished what she wanted in life—academically or professionally—and she hates women who have succeeded. That is theprimaryreason they were targeted. There could be secondary reasons we can’t know without identifying Reid’s partner. Likely, their appearance is a factor in who was targeted, but whether the appearance was because of Reid’s attraction or his partner’s jealousy, I can’t say.”
“We need to comb through all of Matt and Kara’s notes and see when and to whom Kara mentioned her fictional background,” Ryder said. “If anyone asked questions or seemed unduly interested in Kara’s life.”
Michael added, “And you think the partner works here?”
“Yes,” Catherine replied. “She likely started within three months of Garrett Reid, before or after. She’s older than him, but not middle-aged. I’d guess between thirty-five and forty—but that’s a guess. I wouldn’t limit our pool of suspects based on age.”
“Reid worked here, his partner works here,” Jim said. “They could have accessed Kara’s registration and the false address we used that would lead them easily to her fake employment.”
Catherine conceded the point, but also knew accessing guest registration was limited to the front desk and management. Possible to access, but they had flags on Matt and Kara’s fake backgrounds. If anyone looked them up—address, employer—it would have triggered an alert.
“We’ll look again at those staff members,” Catherine said.
Ryder looked up from his laptop. “I found Blanche Richardson. She moved from Pasadena to Fort Myers over seven years ago.”
Catherine considered the distance from Flagler County to Fort Myers. “It’s a long drive for a face-to-face. I’ll call her in the morning.”
“I’m a pilot,” Sloane reminded them. “If we can get accessto a small plane, I could be there and back in four hours, interview included.”
“No one works alone,” Michael said. “We can’t make an exception just because you’re flying out of the area, Sloane. But I agree it’s important to talk to her. Catherine, can you ask Bianca or Brian to go with Sloane?”
Catherine nodded. “But we still would need a plane. I’m sure Tony would approve it, and, Sloane, you don’t need to fly if we get a charter.”
Jim raised an eyebrow. “Is it really that important to meet her in person?”
“It’s about body language and how people react in person,” Catherine replied. “A phone call won’t give us that. I can’t risk missing something important.”
Sloane thought for a moment. “What if we involve the local FBI? I could direct the interview over the phone, over FaceTime or on speaker, but another agent would be in the room to assess Richardson’s reaction. It would save time, as well.”
Catherine considered, then nodded. “That works. You lead the interview.”
Sloane made a note, and Michael said, “We need to reinterview every woman who fits the profile.”
“She’ll be single,” Catherine added. “She may or may not have a boyfriend, but she won’t live with him, and he’d be a pawn to her, part of her game. She believes that Garrett Reid is her true love.”
Ryder said, “I just skimmed through Matt and Kara’s reports again. Kara’s law background came up three times: once in the hotel bar, once in the gym, and once when Matt was talking to a guest the morning before the abduction attempt.”
“I remember the gym incident,” Sloane said. “Bridget Thomas. She kept showing up wherever Matt and Kara were and chatting them up. She lost her husband last year and is lonely. This is her first trip without him.”
“She’s currently still a guest,” Ryder confirmed, “but is scheduled to check out tomorrow.”
“She might have seen something,” Catherine said. “We need to talk to her.”
Sloane raised an eyebrow. “You think a sixty-year-old is working with Reid?”
