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Brook disconnected the call.
A part of her had wanted to request that Charlie open the package himself. Unfortunately, she couldn’t take the chance that the envelope or box was from her brother, and she would never intentionally put someone else’s life in danger.
She laid out the first part of her day as she made her way from her office to the conference room. Theo had somehow ended up with three espresso cups, which he was in the process of giving one to Sylvie. Kate shook her head to decline the offer, but Brook didn’t have any such compunction. She snagged hers on her way to her seat.
“Good morning, Bit.”
“Morning, Boss.”
Bit’s face was front and center on the 4k monitor. He was inside the tech van, sitting on one of the new stools that contained a supporting backrest. She’d seen the invoice for the three rolling seats, and they had better be as comfortable as they were promised in their advertisement.
It didn’t take her long to slide his image to one half of the screen while pulling up her profile on the other. Once she had the bullet points displayed, she finally took her seat. Sylvie had started to cough, and it took Brook a moment to realize that she’d done so in response to the espresso. She even pressed the back of her hand to her mouth.
“A little strong?” Theo asked, earning him a glare from Sylvie. He shrugged, as if to say that he’d tried his best. “I’m still working out the kinks.”
“In his defense, the espresso machine is like something out of Bit’s storage locker. I’m pretty sure the AI inside that appliance knows our names.”
“It’s been over a year,” Sylvie said wryly before shaking her head quickly. “Oh, wow. I’ll be up for at least seventy-two hours after that shot.”
Brook wasn’t opposed to a strong espresso, so she downed hers in one gulp. After managing to swallow the bitter drink, she gave him a thumb’s up. It took her a few more seconds to find her voice, though.
“Okay, let’s cover as much of the profile as we can before we divide up what ground we need to cover.” Brook sat back in her chair so that she wasn’t in the way of Sylvie and Theo’s view. “We know that Grace Willow’s old neighbor was a resident of the nursing home. Sylvie was able to discover some old photographs online. The man owned a mug that seems very close to the description that Beau Willow gave us the other day. I believe the mug that Grace kept finding in the living room was owned by that neighbor—Jonas Davies. Whoever stalked and abducted Grace was aware of the mug’s significance. And get this, the jack-o-lantern that was left on the Willows’ porch? It had the same image as the one Grace found on the porch.”
“From what I’ve gathered, Jonas Davies used to carve pumpkins with Grace every Halloween until she was about nine years old,” Sylvie shared before leaning over the table and reaching for one of the bottles of water that was kept on a tray. “I haven’t been able to verify all this information with Grace’s parents, but if it’s true, it’s the second thing that connects the nursing facility and Jonas Davies to Grace.”
“Where does that leave us?” Brook asked figuratively as she did her best to push aside her curiosity about the package waiting for her. As she’d done numerous times in the past, she put the active case first. “Moving past the previous attributes mentioned, the unsub sympathizes with the elderly. Where most serial killers don’t express empathy, this one is different in that he connects with the older generation. The unsub turns his proclivities around to blame the victim. The unsub believes that he’s ridding the world of those who he sees as disregarding the venerable. We’re still looking for a Caucasian male between the ages of twenty-five to thirty-five. He’s fully functioning, organized, and is overly cautious with his kills. In his mind those weeks that he stalks his victims is spent proving his theory that they have committed some immoral sin. He’s ridding them from society. He was likely raised by older parents, grandparents, an older aunt or uncle, or even a great grandparent. There is even a possibility that his caretaker resides in the nursing home. Bit, please narrow down residents who have been at the facility for at least three years or longer.”
“Ridgeway threw a wrench in the unsub’s plans,” Theo theorized correctly, and Brook nodded in agreement. “There was too much spotlight on the nursing facility, so the unsub stopped until the focus was gone.”
“There is a chance that the unsub didn’t know that the family of Ridgeway’s victim was still attempting to take the facility’s administration through civil court. Either that or Jenny Capshaw somehow caught the unsub’s attention to the point that he couldn’t ignored the urge to stalk her, confirm his suspicions, and then carry out his routine.” Brook turned to the screen to find that Bit was popping a few Skittles into his mouth. While she functioned on caffeine, he survived on refined sugar. “Bit, any luck connecting Jenny Capshaw to the nursing facility?”
“No, but I think I might have discovered another link. I was going to wait for confirmation, but it looks as if Jenny Capshaw’s grandmother was put into a nursing home last year.” Bit’s gaze left the screen as he checked on something, and Brook guessed he was monitoring the entrance of the nursing facility. He finally turned his attention back to the video conference. “Anyway, there’s a problem with that scenario. The nursing home where Jenny Capshaw’s grandmother resides is in Arizona.”
“Do you think that there is a chance the unsub met Jenny another way?” Sylvie asked as she typed something into her tablet. “Cody Jennings could be the connection, but he was raised by his mother. Amelia Jennings is nowhere near the age that we believe the unsub’s guardians to be. Bit, you keep looking for a connection online. I’ll see if Tiffany Fields can add any additional information regarding Jenny.”
Brook was pleased with that conclusion, because it was plausible that Codywastheir unsub. He had ties to the facility, the means of which to find out information on the residents’ family members, and he had made Tiffany Fields uncomfortable enough to seek a restraining order.
“Bit, would you please double check that Cody Jennings was raised by his mother? Maybe we’re missing a period of his life where he was taken care of by someone else.”
In all likelihood, the unsub would find it hard to establish what was considered normal relationships by society. There was a good chance that he’d overheard Jenny mention her grandmother at some point during the time that he’d been interested in Tiffany. Hell, maybe Brook was wrong about the unsub being raised by someone older. Cody Jennings might simply have a twisted view of the facts due to his mother’s position at the nursing home.
“I’ll get on curating those lists right now, Boss.” Bit flashed a smile for the camera. “Curating is my word of the day. Peace out!”
Brook turned to collect her phone and the empty espresso cup. Kate held out her hand, but Brook shook her head.
“I’ve got it, Kate. Listen, I should be back before one o’clock. Just in case I’m running late, General Elliott’s mother is stopping by the office. Would you please make sure that she’s comfortable? No need to keep her in the waiting area. You can see her into my office and make sure that she has everything that she needs.”
“Of course,” Kate said with a genuine smile. “Ms. Elizabeth Elliott. Did you know that she sits on three charity boards, oversees two of the women’s shelters in the city, and presides over the scholarship fund at two universities?”
Brook was well aware of Mrs. Elliott’s success, although she’d stepped back from some of those roles within the last few years. She traveled a lot more nowadays, according to Graham. In recent years, she’d joined some friends of hers on cruises and road trips to check off historic sites from their bucket-lists.
“You can ask Ms. Elliot about her upcoming trip to Italy,” Brook advised, figuring the topic would keep both of them comfortable just in case Brook’s morning didn’t go as planned. “Like I said, I should be back well before one o’clock. If I’m running late, I’ll let you know.”
Everyone dispersed from the table as Theo collected the other empty espresso cups. She had been going to take hers into the kitchen, but he swiped it from her before she could take a step toward the door.
“I don’t care what Bit says,” Theo muttered as he walked out of the conference room in front of her. “AI is going to take over the world someday.”
Brook didn’t need to reply, because Theo had already disappeared into the kitchen. She, in turn, made her way back to her office. She needed to pull the address of Beau Willow’s workplace, give him a courtesy call that she’d like to speak with him for a brief moment, and then walk back to her condo building to collect her vehicle. She’d stop in at the front desk to pick up the package while she was there.
