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He chuckled. “Well, that’s something, I guess.”
They followed the detectives to their police cruiser. Faith was grateful to see it was an SUV and not an old Crown Vic or the godawful Fusion-based car that many departments had replaced the Crown Vic with. She loved driving her Crown Vic, but she hated riding in the back seat.
Derek drove, pulling smoothly into airport traffic and hitting his lights so he could accelerate past the traffic.
“You a runner, Derek?” Faith asked.
He glanced appreciatively at her in the rearview mirror. “Why yes,” he said, “how could you tell?”
“You have the look,” Faith said. “What have you guys learned so far?”
Derek glanced at Travis, who cast an irritated look of his own in reply. “You’re allowed to answer questions, Detective Chapman.”
Derek reddened, and Travis glanced over his shoulder at Michael, to whom he seemed to have taken a liking. “Picked this kid out of a group of twenty hopefuls because he looked like the most decisive of the bunch. Now he won’t take a shit without raising his hand.”
“I guess you read the evidence wrong,” Derek quipped.
“There’s still time to send you to Records,” Travis said.
“The case?” Faith reminded them.
“Other than what we’ve sent you,” Derek said, “we learned today that both victims were missing their wedding rings.”
“You just learned that today?” Michael asked.
“The assumption was that they lost them,” Derek said, “or that they took them off intentionally.”
“Did they live near each other?” Faith asked.
Travis lifted an eyebrow. “Do you think that’s a connection?”
“It could be,” Faith said. “In our last case, the killer turned out to be murdering people he felt lacking in moral fiber. He believed they were damaging the beauty of his neighborhood.”
“Well, the neighborhood’s not a connection between these victims,” Derek said. “Mrs. Montgomery lived in Marana. It’s a bedroom community a few minutes north of Tucson.”
“And Katherine Navarro lived in Tucson,” Michael said.
“Yes,” Derek replied. “Verde Catalina. It’s the wealthiest neighborhood in the city.”
“The neighborhood might not be a connection, but the moral connection could still be there,” Faith said. “We’ll reserve judgment on that until we review more of the facts, though. Do you believe the serial killer is keeping these rings as trophies?”
“That’s our hypothesis at the moment.”
“And you’ve had no luck with fingerprints?”
“None. The killer left some behind, but whoever he is, he’s not registered.”
“But you know it’s a he,” Faith said, “that’s something.”
“Well, we know it’s a male,” Derek said. “We don’t know if he identifies as a man. We’re just using he/him for now.”
“Do you have any reason to believe the killer might identify as female?” Michael asked.
“No, but we’re leaving open the possibility that he’s keeping the rings as trophies so he can fantasize about himself as a bride. You know, like that guy from the movie about the cannibal.”
“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Travis said. “Neither of the victim’s clothing was disturbed.”
“True,” Derek said. “I didn’t say it was a strong possibility.”
