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NINETEEN
SUNDAY
As usual, Kane woke at five and slipped out of bed, leaving Jenna sleeping. She’d taken the brunt of the street gang’s attack and was covered with bruises. The hot tub had helped some, but she needed to rest if she planned to hit the ground running with the case the moment she woke. He dressed in silence and, with Duke close on his heels, headed straight out to the barn to do his chores. Summer in Black Rock Falls was an exquisite mixture of warm sun and fresh clean air. He inhaled deeply as he walked toward the barn, recognizing the scents of the various wildflowers spread out in colorful patches turning the lowlands into an exceptionally beautiful quilt. A grunting noise coming from the barn slowed his stride, but when he peeked inside, he found Carter making short work of the mucking out. A wheelbarrow set to one side was already filled with hay and manure. Never far from his side, Carter’s Doberman, Zorro, was sitting like a statue at the back door. He strolled inside. “You’re an early riser. Not many people beat me to the chores in the morning.”
“Well, as it’s still technically your honeymoon,” Carter smiled at him around his toothpick, “I figured it was the neighborly thing to do.”
More than happy not to be ankle deep in horse dung, Kane tipped back his hat and smiled. “Well, thank you kindly.”
“You’re welcome.” Carter picked up the wheelbarrow and headed for the manure pile out back of the barn. “Warrior is acting a little skittish this morning, so I’ll leave him to you.”
Kane opened the stall that contained his black stallion. “He doesn’t like critters in his stall. It was probably a mouse.” He ran one hand down the sleek black coat. “He seems fine to me.”
After giving his horse a thorough grooming, he took him by the halter, led him out into the brilliant sunshine, and over to the corral. The other two horses whinnied in greeting, and he opened the gate to let the horse run free. He watched it frolicking for a few moments before turning back to the barn. “Come on, Duke. We have chores to do.”
“I’m just about done here.” Carter walked back into the barn, brushing his hands together. “I figure after wrestling with a hurricane yesterday the last thing you’d need to do is work out this morning, so if it’s okay with you, Jo will drop by to cook breakfast… unless you’d rather be alone?”
Kane slapped him on the back. “We’re good and we’d like that just fine. I know Jenna is anxious to break down the case with Jo. She’s been discussing it with me all night.”
“Okay.” Carter whistled to his dog. “I’ll grab a shower and we’ll meet you at the house.”
After breakfast the team made their way to the family room. Kane scanned the notes Carter had made about similar cases, but he needed more information. “You mentioned the Michelangelo Killer used skewers. What else do we know about him?”
“Bruno Vito, the Michelangelo Killer, murdered sixteen women. All were prostitutes of various races but around the same age.” Carter paused for a beat and then cleared his throat. “He liked them between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-six. The strange thing is that Vito was married to a very attractive wife and has six kids. He worked as a baker and his wife had a job in the school canteen. His wife had no idea he spent his spare time killing people. From what Jo says, he represents a classic case of double-life psychopathy.”
“It says here he’s on death row in a state pen.” Jenna leaned forward in her chair looking interested. “Have you interviewed him, Jo?”
“No, I haven’t, but he’s on my list. If I can get to him before he’s executed. I believe he is at the end of his appeals. So, his time may be limited, although what he has to say would be invaluable for my research on psychopathic behavior. The problem is, if he’s been appealing the charges against him, getting him to admit killing people will be difficult. Right now, I have no reason to believe that this current killer is a copycat of the Michelangelo Killer.”
“I’m not so sure.” Jenna scanned her iPad. “I see many similarities between the two of them. Both of them keep the women captive prior to their deaths. I’ve made a quick comparison. Both get enjoyment out of inflicting pain. Both used skewers to represent something in their fantasies. If we can’t get any hard evidence to hunt down suspects, would you consider interviewing the Michelangelo Killer? It would be interesting to see what information he could give us that might help us with this case.”
As Jenna’s suggestion made sound sense, Kane nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that would be a good idea. I recall reading a paper from an FBI agent who went to the source to obtain information about a certain type of behavioral pattern. He straight out asked the psychopath for his help with his current case. The prisoner got a kick out of being asked by the FBI. It gave him bragging rights in jail and gave the FBI investigator a valuable insight into the behavior of the killer they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. If our guy is on the same wavelength as the Michelangelo Killer, we might be able to discover what makes him tick.”
“That sounds feasible, but in practice it might be a little more difficult.” Jo ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “We might be lucky if he’s a talker. Some of them enjoy reminiscing about their murders as it gives them a chance to relive the thrill of the kill. Others deny everything and refuse to say a word. As he’s had so many appeals, there’s a chance he might figure by talking he’s admitting guilt.”
“He’s got nothing to lose.” Jenna smiled at Jo. “Your powers of persuasion are incredible. If anyone can get him to talk, you can.”
Kane looked from one to the other. He agreed with Jenna. If the killer they were chasing had been influenced by the Michelangelo Killer and was just a copycat, it would mean an entirely different line of inquiry was necessary. If they could get Vito to divulge his innermost feelings, they could use the information to more accurately profile the man responsible for the recent murders. At the moment, they had no hard evidence to point them to a group of possible suspects. “I figure it’s worth a try. How long would it take you to arrange an interview?”
“Not long at all, providing the prisoner agrees to the meeting.” Jo raised both eyebrows. “We’ll have to assume he won’t be willing to cooperate for nothing. We’ll have to come up with something to make it worth his while.”
After reading so many papers on psychopaths, Kane understood that a majority of them enjoyed notoriety. Being the top dog in prison was a big deal to them and they loved to read about themselves or watch any newspaper or TV documentaries on their murders. “The fact that he’s on death row will help. I figure he’ll want everyone to remember him. You could offer to feature him in your book, and if he wants to be one of the ten most notorious serial killers in history, he might well enjoy telling all.”
“Well, it worked with James Stone, didn’t it?” Jenna drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair. “Unless we have some hard evidence real soon, we’ll need something to give us a clue to the identity of this killer.”
Not having the information on the Michelangelo Killer in front of him, Kane looked at Carter. “What’s the MO in the Michelangelo case?”
“From what I recall, the Michelangelo Killer’s motive was firmly based in a radical religious upbringing. He believed by murdering the prostitutes, dressing them up like angels and adding a halo, he rescued them from their sins.” Carter scratched his cheek. “That’s all I have on the case, but if you want details, I’ll have the files sent to us ASAP.”
“Thanks.” Jenna turned to Jo. “I know you haven’t gotten much information, but have you made any headway at all in profiling the killer in these homicides?”
“I do have a few thoughts on this killer.” Jo’s expression was serious as she looked at Jenna. “I think it’s pretty obvious he has a problem with women for some reason or whatever. We’ve had so many serial killers who’ve had manipulative mothers. As you know, often the trigger comes from childhood abuse. Abuse happens in many different ways and it doesn’t have to be physical. If a child is exposed to violent behavior from one or both of their parents against each other, they might develop psychosis against both parents. In this case it’s obvious the police were involved. The use of the Halloween mask is a significant feature of this man’s fantasy.”
All the cases that Kane had read about percolated into his mind as he listened to Jo discuss the profile of the killer. He leaned forward in his chair. “I believe the skewers used in the same pattern on each of the victims represent something from his childhood. I’ve been racking my brain trying to think where people use skewers apart from in cooking. Do you figure the killer’s parents argued or fought in front of him, and then, for instance, the wife or husband cooked a special makeup meal using skewers each time, it would impact to this extent on the child?”
“It all comes down to what he associates with his trigger memories. People associate smells or actions with memories good and bad, so it makes sense that they also trigger a psychotic episode in a psychopathic killer.” Jo’s eyebrows met together in a frown. “You have a very good profiling mind, Dave. I would assume our killer has more than one trigger, or he requires both the mask and the skewers to complete his fantasy. As we have no idea how many women he’s murdered, but if our Jane Does are numbers twenty and twenty-one, then he could have had breaks in between, or he simply decided to start on number twenty.”
“No way.” Carter shook his head. “From the crime scenes, there is no way in hell that these murders are his first dance. In all the cases I’ve been involved with, the first kills are messy, rushed, and the killer makes mistakes. There would be more evidence at the scene. I’m seeing a well-organized killer here and one with experience. He takes his time and enjoys it. It’s going to be hard to catch him.”
“Okay, taking that into consideration”—Jo stared at her notes and then looked back at Jenna—“if he hasn’t being released from jail recently, we have to assume he doesn’t live alone. He’d need people around him to use as alibis. I would say he is a Caucasian male between the ages of thirty-five and forty. He has a job that allows him to move around without constriction over a wide area.”
“He can’t possibly be married. How could a married man possibly hide a bunch of women from his wife over a sustained period?” Jenna raised both eyebrows in question. “Most women would notice if her husband came home smelling of a woman. We notice these things and if he is, as you say, someone who is away from home frequently and comes home smelling of perfume or whatever, I would imagine that would be very difficult to hide from his wife.”
“I don’t think so.” Carter looked amused. “We know this guy can hide his DNA and any trace evidence from the bodies, so it’s pretty obvious he wouldn’t be going home stinking of perfume. He’s too smart for that, but I agree he moves around frequently. If he is living with someone or is married, he’d need an excuse to be away from home at regular intervals. I figure he is either a truck driver or in sales, and I would go with the latter because sales representatives are usually well dressed and presented. They’d have a better chance of attracting a woman. They would look safer than a roughneck. If we’re talking about prostitutes, they’d be looking for a guy with plenty of spare cash.”
“You have a point.” Jenna nodded an agreement. “As the victims haven’t been reported missing, we have to assume that they’re either street people or prostitutes, but they don’t look like they’ve been living on the streets. Their hair and teeth are in good condition and if they lived on the street, they wouldn’t have the money to go to the dentist. Wolfe hasn’t established if they are drug users, but I would assume they’re high-end prostitutes, and if you’re theory is correct, then our killer is picking them up in bars or off the streets.”
Listening intently to the conversation, Kane nodded. “Then he’d need a vehicle to transport his victims. So, we can strike a truck driver from our list of occupations because, as sure as hell, he wouldn’t risk using an eighteen-wheeler to pick up prostitutes.”
“Okay, so we’re looking for a sales representative or some type of executive who moves throughout the state, maybe in a managerial position with a decent vehicle and who deals in a manufacturing process that involves formaldehyde.” Carter leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. “That narrows it down to about one or two thousand people. This state has so many different industries and I have no idea how we can pinpoint this killer to any one of them.”
“Really? That’s a defeatist attitude coming from you, Carter. We haven’t even scraped the surface of the evidence yet. Wolfe will find something. He always does.” Jenna shook her head. “We’ve had tougher cases to solve than this one and we’re just getting started. I’m darn sure I’m not giving up just yet.”
