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“Yet there are still so many outstanding questions.” Sloane leaned forward. “Were Cynthia and Tina this guy’s only victims? How did he choose them? If there were others, how many? Over what period of time? And what has he done with his victims, given that no bodies have turned up?”
“You forgot one question. Was Penelope Truman also one of his victims?”
Sloane went very still. “What are you basing that supposition on? I know Penny disappeared from a college campus, but we’re talking about a crime that happened a full year ago. In addition, she wasn’t a college student anywhere, much less at Richard Stockton, she disappeared in broad daylight when the campus was in full swing, and there was no physical evidence left behind. Plus, there’s no way her assailant could have planned that kidnapping, since Penny was a onetime visitor on the Stockton campus.”
“I realize there are inconsistencies between the Truman case and the other two we’re discussing. But that’s just it; we’re limiting our analysis to just a few cases. We might have to expand our thinking. You yourself just said that we have no idea how long these kidnappings have been going on, or if any or all his other victims are college age. This guy might just have a thing for college campuses. He also must have a thing for water, because he grabbed one girl right after she finished swim practice and the other girl at a lake on campus.”
/> “And Penny disappeared from a campus lake as well,” Sloane murmured. “Lake Fred. Which fits your water theory.” She spread her hands, palms up, in a baffled gesture. “But I still can’t get past the recklessness factor. This guy is clever. He’s also a planner. He knows when to make his move and get away with it. Penny wasn’t kidnapped during predawn hours, or spring break, or any other time when the Stockton campus would be deserted. Even if the kidnapper happened to be at Stockton, scoping out women when Penny was there; even if he spotted her, and liked what he saw, why would he grab her at midday in front of a potential sea of witnesses? Why take such a stupid, impulsive risk?”
“I don’t know,” Bob answered candidly. “I’m not an expert on the mind of a serial killer. But we can’t ignore the aspects that do fit the profile—an attractive young woman, a college campus, and a proximity to water.”
“Motive,” Derek supplied.
“Huh?” Sloane inclined her head quizzically in his direction.
“He’d take the risk if it suited his motive. Maybe he wasn’t scoping out just any woman. Maybe he was targeting Penelope.”
“Why?”
“Because of her relationship to you.”
“Derek…”
“Start with the basics Bob just laid out,” Derek instructed, cutting off Sloane’s protest. “Add to them the personal connections that link one case to another. Your longtime friendship with Penelope. Your casual friendship with Tina. The fact that the cell phone used to harass you belonged to the guy who attacked Tina. Everything ties back to you. And, on a separate note, if Bob’s supposition is right and Penelope’s disappearance is linked to the others, then our theory that the Truman case is the one our Unsub is worried about your stepping into is back on the table.”
“What theory?” Bob asked.
“That Sloane’s inside knowledge of Penelope Truman could result in a lead that the police and FBI missed, and that the Unsub is freaked out about that. Let’s say he kidnapped Penelope a year ago. He feels safe at this point, like he’s gotten away with it. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, the victim’s family retains Sloane—an ex–FBI agent, and a close childhood friend of the victim’s—to investigate their daughter’s disappearance. That would explain his harassing Sloane and sticking to her like glue. And that’s just part of the motive—the impersonal part. There’s more. There’s a pattern here, with Sloane at the center.”
“Before we go there, tell me one thing,” Sloane interceded. “Where does Cynthia Alexander fit into this idea you have that all these kidnappings tie back to me? I never even met the girl.”
“True.” Sergeant Erwin slid the file toward her. “But if Derek’s right, you wouldn’t have to. There’s more than one way for a perp to see a link between his victim and the person he’s linking her to. In the case of Cynthia Alexander, I’d say it’s a likeness to you rather than a relationship. You yourself noticed it. Cynthia sounds a lot like you must have been as a college kid. Same interests, same varsity athlete, same captain of the swim team, same wholesome, hardworking student. Plus, she’s from Cleveland, where you just left, and she’s enrolled at John Jay, where you just lectured.”
“That’s quite a reach.”
“Not if this wacko is fixated on you, it’s not,” Derek stated flatly. He turned to Bob. “I think Sloane represents more than a threat to this guy. I think he’s obsessed with her. I’m just not sure if it’s an idealization obsession or a homicidal obsession. That’s why we need to establish a profile on him. The BAU will help. But the more information we can give them, the better. We have to delve into every disappearance in the tristate area over the past few years that shares a common pattern, however vague, with these three cases. And we have to get as many details as possible from the one person we know has had contact with the Unsub.” He met Bob’s gaze head-on. “Which brings me to my other request.”
“You want to be present when I interview Tina Carroll.”
“Yes.”
“I anticipated that one.” Bob pushed back his chair. “I had a police escort drive her into the city. She should be in the waiting room by now. I’ll show her in.”
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
DATE: 7 April
TIME: 1030 hours
I thought I had Gaia under control. I don’t.
It’s snowballing way too fast.
I can’t call on Hera. I can’t call on any of my goddesses. And I can’t turn to my mother as I did when I was a child. God, I miss those days. She made everything right. When I was frightened or confused, she read me stories of the great Greek gods and their heroic feats. Apollo the sun god. Artemis the moon goddess. Their world was my escape.
I miss my youth. It was just the two of us back then. Life had yet to intrude. She taught me so wisely and so well.
