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“He never talks about it. I only know because it turned up on his background check.” Griffin looked between Kendra and Lynch. “I felt it only fair that I let you know what we found out about Suber since you’ve been pushing us to check video, Lynch. But I don’t recall asking you to join us here.”
“An oversight, I’m sure.” Lynch smiled. “No offense taken.”
Kendra watched as four crime scene techs approached the open front door. “Any sign of Trey?”
Griffin shook his head. “No, he isn’t answering his phone. We’ve just started gathering information here.”
“Have you really put his car at those crime scenes?”
Griffin lowered his voice. “Yes. And there in the days before each one. Suber would be the first to tell you that serial killers commonly stalk their victims in the days or weeks prior to their murders. We never imagined that he might have firsthand knowledge.”
“And do the traffic and surveillance cams show us his face?” Lynch asked.
“Not definitively. But we’re gathering video from other feeds, and some are from better-lit areas. And his cell phone pings line up with each location on the videos.”
“Still no sign of him?” Lynch asked.
“He’s vanished. And it looks like his phone has been turned off. It appears he doesn’t want to be found.”
Kendra nodded. Exactly as Metcalf told her. She gestured toward the open front door. “May we?”
“Sure. But I’m warning you, it’s not going to make you feel better about him.”
“What doesthatmean?”
“Take a look. If anything in there speaks to you, let me know.”
Kendra and Lynch walked up the driveway to Suber’s house. At first it appeared that the interior lights were off, but as they entered, she realized the walls were charcoal gray and absorbed what little light emanated from the art-deco-styled wall sconces. The walls were decorated with framed black-and-white posters and photographs, each illuminated with a ceiling-mounted spotlight.
“What are these?” Kendra asked.
“One guess,” Lynch said.
“Serial killers.”
He nodded. “I recognized Jeffrey Dahmer as we walked through the foyer, and if I’m not mistaken, that’s Son of Sam over by the kitchen.”
“Wow. I wonder what kind of reaction he gets when he brings his dates back here.”
“Probably not unlike what we’re seeing from his colleagues right now.”
Kendra glanced around to see the grimaces and outright disgust on the faces of Suber’s fellow agents as they searched the house. “This is what Griffin was talking about.”
An FBI photographer moved around the room, snapping shots of the various serial killer prints.
Lynch shook his head. “Just wait until Discovery ID andDatelineget hold of those shots.”
Kendra stepped around the living room coffee table, which was covered on all sides with Suber’s serial killer trading cards and coated with clear lacquer.
From there they moved to the bedrooms, which were the only rooms remotely resembling normal decorating taste. Even there, the charcoal-gray wall color gave the appearance of a cave. “At least he doesn’t sleep with killers’ faces looking down on him,” she said.
Kendra opened the master bedroom closet, glanced inside, then moved to the bathroom. After a quick look, she turned back to Lynch. “He left in a hurry. He took six shirts and four pairs of pants. He took a razor and toothbrush with him, but he didn’t plan to be gone more than a few days.”
“How do you get all that?”
Two FBI investigators stopped to listen. They obviously wanted to know, too.
She pointed across the room. “The closet is packed tight, but his clothes are neatly organized and hung. There are six empty hangers sticking up and out among the shirts, which would be the case if you grabbed each article of clothing and quickly pulled it out. Four other hangers are sticking out among his slacks. There’s an impression in the closet’s carpeted floor of a small rolling suitcase, which there’s no sign of around here. He obviously took it with him.”
