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TWENTY-TWO
By the time she arrived at the office, Jenna’s mind was working overtime. She informed Maggie that the team would be working in the communications room and led the way up the stairs with everyone following close behind, including the two dogs. When everyone was settled, she turned to the expectant faces and cleared her throat. “I want everything you’ve got on the formaldehyde users in town. Have you cross-referenced any of them with recent releases from jail?”
“We have a few possible suspects lined up for you.” Rio glanced down at his iPad. “We found two hobby taxidermists in town who are currently registered. One is Joshua Salmon, who works at the meat-processing plant. He lives on Maple. The other is Tom Parsons, a long-haul trucker out on Pine.” He sighed. “We haven’t had time to interview them yet.”
Jenna made notes in her case file and then looked at Rowley. “Did you find anyone recently released from jail who might use formaldehyde?”
“Yeah, Kalo sent us a list of possibles.” Rowley scanned his iPad. “Released in the last three months we have Big John Oates, who was convicted on an assault charge after a fight at the Triple Z Roadhouse. He lives at Miners Ridge—that’s a very isolated place and forms part of the lowlands. He works at a factory where formaldehyde is used. The next person of interest is Lucas Davies, convicted of arson after setting fire to a neighbor’s vehicle. He’d discovered his wife was having an affair with the owner of the vehicle. He’s a merchandiser out of Green Tree Lane, Black Rock Falls.” He glanced up at Jenna. “Then we have Sam Bright, who was jailed for five years for indecent assault. From the records, that was the third time he was convicted of the same crime. He likes to break into houses and attack sleeping women. He’s living out of Long River, Black Rock Falls, and is a road driver.”
Considering the information Jenna nodded. “What exactly does a road driver do?”
“Road drivers usually pick up and deliver cargo trailers. They travel to various destinations, usually long distance.” Kane leaned back in his chair. “The occupations that travel from one county to another or on long distance routes would fit in perfectly with the profile of the killer. Do you agree, Jo?”
“Yes, I do.” Jo nodded and turned to Jenna. “We have Jane Does and, with no positive IDs to link them to our area, we must assume that these women are from another county or state. The killer is moving the bodies somehow without anyone noticing, so we have to assume he’s frequently traveling from one place to another and driving a vehicle that is commonplace in town.”
Listening with interest, Jenna turned to Rio. “I figure everyone you’ve mentioned is a possible suspect. Would you add them to the whiteboard so we can all keep track of their names and where they live?” She glanced back down at her notes. “I believe Sam Bright would be on the top of my list. He travels long distances and there’s also a record of indecent assault. As the victims were raped, he already has two strikes against him.”
“He definitely is a possible.” Kane leaned forward in his chair. “Do you want me to hunt him down?”
Jenna smiled at him. “Yeah, that would be a good place to start.” She turned to the others. “I suggest we split up this list, hunt down these people’s locations, and go and interview as many of them as possible. It’s a long list and we need to cut it down.” She perused her notes again and then lifted a head and looked at Rowley. “What made you add Lucas Davies in the equation? What does a merchandiser have in common with formaldehyde?”
“His company deals with all types of cleaning products, and formaldehyde is one of them.” Rio turned from the whiteboard to look at her. “He travels around and fits the profile.”
Thinking back over all the cases that she’d worked on over the last four years or so, Jenna couldn’t recall any of the people Rio mentioned. “The names you mentioned that were released from jail recently are all kind of familiar, but I can’t recall arresting anyone for those particular crimes. When was this?”
“These were before your time. You’d likely remember the names because they would be on the current list of recent parolees sent to the office each week.” Rowley looked up from his screen. “The records before you took over are very sketchy, mainly because their computer system was toast. All I could find was the information from the county jail, which is sent prior to the prisoners’ release. We could call Deputy Walters? He might recall the cases. He would’ve been in the office at the time.”
Jenna shook her head. “That would be a waste of time. All the information would still be available from the DA’s office and county would have copies. If necessary, we’ll contact them and get the files.”
“The problem I see with this list of suspects”—Kane drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair and stared at Jenna—“is we know the killer has a fixation or fantasy with policewomen. There must be some tie-in with the masks he’s using and none of these people were arrested by a woman. There weren’t any women working in law enforcement in this office before you.”
“Which would mean that something substantial happened to the killer concerning a female police officer.” Jo raised one eyebrow and looked at Jenna. “It could be something simple like a teenager’s attraction being rebuffed or the officer humiliated them in some way. She could have been the trigger that started him on his killing spree from the get-go. If they were recently released from jail, perhaps seeing you in town wearing your sheriff’s jacket might have triggered a memory. If it is one of the recently released men, it would account for the break in the killing spree, if we assume this is the same person Carter mentioned. They never arrested him, did they? For all we know, this person has been murdering women over the entire country. If this is so, it would give the impression that his killing sprees are spasmodic, but in truth, he could be killing weekly and just dumping the bodies on his travels.” Her gaze moved around the table. “You do realize that this doesn’t have to be a trucker? It could be anyone who goes fishing or hunting on the weekends or murders on vacation. We shouldn’t limit ourselves to people who move around in their profession.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Jenna split up the names of potential suspects and handed them out. “Okay, you each have the name of someone to hunt down. When you find their current whereabouts, write it up on the whiteboard and head on out to interview them. We’ll keep it to our usual teams.” She let her gaze linger on Rowley. “This killer is dangerous and I don’t want anyone playing the hero and interviewing anyone without backup. Is this clear?” When the heads around the table nodded, she smiled. “Good. Let’s get at it.”
