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“Has this guy ever hurt children that we know of?” a detective asked.
“No. And this is where our normal profile goes against what we know about Adam Walker. We’re certain he’s obtained the virus. He’s admitted he has it, and he’s quoted The Book. I believe he’s the person we’re looking for, but I can’t explain some things. For example, according to his coworkers, he’s married and has two kids. Seems to adore his family. Left work early or begged off company parties more than once so he could be with them—or because a child was sick. He said his wife’s name is Sally and his children are Gabby and Trey. But no one has been able to find a marriage license or locate the children in any school in the area around the killings. I doubt he’s traveling far distances to make his sacrifices. Missouri is important to him. I believe he was raised in this part of the country.”
“Is it impossible for him to be from someplace else?” Grace asked, looking at Alex but then glancing at Logan.
Logan answered. “No, not impossible, but unlikely. All we can do is draw conjecture based on this guy’s actions and what we’ve learned from other serial killers. Hopefully, we’re right, and it will help you narrow the search.” He glanced up at Alex. “I agree completely with SSA Donovan. I must admit that the family thing is unusual and gives me pause, but everything else we know lines up.”
“Are his parents living?” a detective asked.
“His father, Charles Walker, died quite a few years ago,” Alex said. “We haven’t been able to locate the mother. Is that information correct, Stephen?”
Stephen nodded. “We found both their birth certificates and their wedding license, Adam’s birth certificate, and the father’s death certificate, but no death certificate for the mother, Agnes. We talked to neighbors in Independence, where Adam spent his teen years, and they said he and his father lived alone. One of them said Charles told them his wife left when Adam was two, but we know that’s not true. Adam was around seven when they moved away from their house in Kansas City, and the neighbors there said his mother was with them when they left.”
He took a deep breath. “We don’t know where the three moved to when they left Kansas City, but he was probably close to twelve when he and his father landed in Independence without the mother. That makes their whereabouts when he was between the ages of seven and twelve unknown. We’re not sure where they were living those five years, and we have no information as to what happened to the mother during that time. We’ve searched for her but found nothing.”
He went on. “The neighbors in Independence confirmed that Adam’s upbringing was strange. The father wanted nothing to do with anyone else. Never accepted invitations from the neighbors, and Adam never spent time with the other teens in the neighborhood. Father and son spent all their time together. It seemed the father homeschooled Adam. We talked to the college Adam attended.” Stephen sighed. “They had his records, but no one actually remembered him. Well, one professor recalled him, saying he was brilliant because of the work he did, but he couldn’t describe Adam. It’s like he was a ghost.”
“No other relatives?” an agent asked.
“One cousin. Adam’s family visited Agnes’s sister only once, when the boys were both around eleven. That’s another reason we know Charles was lying about Agnes leaving when Adam was two. We’re not sure why. Maybe he just didn’t want to deal with questions. The cousin, a Randall Burkhart who now lives in Michigan, remembers the visit. He said Adam was so odd it gave him the willies, so he was just as glad they never came back. Randall’s mother passed away two years ago, but he says she had no idea where Adam is. They never heard from her sister or him again.”
“So did the father stay in Independence after Adam went to college and got the lab job in Kansas City?” Harrison asked.
Stephen shrugged. “Maybe he would have, but he died. Lung cancer. We’re stuck when it comes to other relatives. Charles was an only child, and Agnes had just that one sister. The cousin is no help at all. All the grandparents are deceased.”
“This doesn’t make sense,” a detective from Wichita interjected. “Didn’t the father or mother work? Didn’t they have jobs?”
“When he and Adam lived in Independence, the father had a job with a local trucking company. But before that we can’t find any employment records for either parent. And they didn’t seem to pay taxes. That might mean they worked for people who paid cash. No way to track that. There wasn’t a checking account or a credit card. All the family’s bills in Kansas City and Independence must have been paid with money orders. Same for wherever they were in between.”
“How could Adam afford college?” Logan asked.
“He got a full ride. The guy is really smart. Aced all his classes. Went to work for the lab in Kansas City as soon as he graduated.”
“What do you think happened to the mother?” Harrison asked.
Stephen shrugged again. “When we couldn’t find a trace of her after they left Kansas City, we asked the Independence PD to check out any house where we know Adam and his father lived. They were searched from top to bottom, even checking the yards and pulling up the floors in the basements, just in case. Nothing. The people living there now weren’t too happy about it, but we needed to know that they hadn’t killed the mother and buried her somewhere on the property.”
“Nice thought,” Mike said.
“Well, she went somewhere. Frankly, I think maybe she just got tired of living off the grid and wanted a new life. Changed her name and is living a life of ease somewhere. We just don’t know.”
Alex waited to be sure Stephen was finished before saying, “Thanks. I think you can see why we believe Adam Walker is our UNSUB. I believe his adolescence was abnormal, so he was looking for an identity. We know he was aware of the Train Man nursery rhyme, and we believe he has the virus. We’re also certain that he planned this thing with Martin Kirabo.”
“So how do we stop him?” Karen asked.
“By understanding him,” Logan said. “Remember, he believes he’s fulfilling a calling. He isn’t doing this because he’s angry or wants attention. He’s committed to becoming this Destroyer that The Book talks about. Dump any investigative techniques you’ve used tracking other criminals. He’s different. Try to understand him. Try to understand The Book. It’s our best bet to get in front of him.” Logan looked at Harrison. “And talk to Jimmy Gedrose. Besides The Book, he’s the best tool you’ve got.”
When Logan finished, Harrison stood and gazed around the table. “Okay, we have our suspect. I want you to go over every word of that book. We’ll get Gedrose here as soon as possible.” He stopped for a moment and looked down. When he raised his head he said, “Anyone else have ideas of how to stop Walker before he releases that virus?”
The silence from those looking back at him spoke volumes. Would they be able to find Walker in time? Alex wasn’t so sure.
