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“Which is why it was stupid to rule out a female killer based on the fact these were all fit men who were taken down physically. My sister has been in twenty different competitions and has won several of them. She could easily overpower any of these guys,” he says thoughtfully. “If a woman knew what she was going up against and had the forethought to prepare counter forensics, she’d know our profile would be sexist enough to rule out a female.”
My lips purse. I’d argue this if it wasn’t for the fact I saw our small unsub. I heard her feminine laughter.
“Lindy May Wheeler was in her kindergarten classes during some of the kill times,” he goes on. “I checked last night.”
Lindy May was too timid to be a calculated killer. I never even considered her.
“If someone had ever hurt Caroline like this, and she never saw justice, I don’t know that I’d be any better than the killer we’re trying to catch,” he says quietly. “Albert Rawlings let himself be killed when he’d finished. His gun was empty when he pointed it at the police who’d cornered him. He was done. He never planned on killing anyone else. And he forced the police to kill him because he had nothing left to do or live for.”
Blowing out a weary breath, I think back to that case. It was a rare instance where there was no massacre.
“Caroline learned how to use her smaller frame and weight to her advantage against a larger opponent, as well as all the weaknesses on a body she could exploit. She also learned a lot of control when learning various forms of martial arts,” Leonard goes on. “It’s not just a strengthening of the body; it’s also a strengthening of the mind. This unsub could have been training her body for the fight, but she might have also been training her mind against the impending psychotic break. It’s obvious she did all her research, so it makes sense.”
If that’s the case, this unsub is ten times more organized than we assumed.
“The two people missing right now—Kevin and Anthony—are probably already dead if the unsub is here with us,” he continues. “She started sprinting through the kills so she could be here with us when the time came.”
“Even left one alive to return to,” I add.
“So she has enough control to put a pin in her agenda just to join us in this town, possibly even watch over us.”
Watch over us…
“Which is another confliction with the profile,” I say on a long sigh.
“Exactly. Revenge is more important and the primary focus for revenge killers, yet our girl comes to make sure we don’t get caught unawares by a town she knew was corrupt enough to try and kill an agent of the FBI.”
“So the truth is more important than the revenge,” I say aloud as we bounce theories off each other.
“Or the unsub is firmly grounded in reality and doesn’t want to let anyone else innocent die by the hands of this town.”
His words speak to a mentality the unsub would be incapable of if this is revenge. Again, nothing but conflictions no matter how we profile.
“Let’s focus on what we have. The unsub has been in town for as long as we have, yet has only killed once,” Leonard says as I drive. “And that was to save you.”
“And Donny,” I remind him.
He clears his throat. “The unsub has enough control to let us find out what we need to know, and hold off on killing more,” he adds.
“Only because Kyle is possibly next, and he has around-the-clock protection. He hasn’t even left his home since this started.”
He nods slowly.
“Our unsub is leaving messages to taunt the town, and using the voice of Jasmine Evans to remind them of how the corruption started.”
I take a turn, and he continues.
“I spoke to Lindy May last night,” he says, surprising me. “When I told her what we’d learned about the past, she told me that I only knew about three of Kyle Davenport’s victims. That he was a serial rapist and possibly a sociopath.”
I pull up at the curb and shut off the engine as I turn to face him.
“He’s the sheriff’s son, and they’ve kept us from getting an interview.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “We’re profilers who could see through him. If he’s someone who gets off on raping women…”
He lets the words trail off.
“Then he could be the original killer,” I groan, then curse before punching the steering wheel.
