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“I got to thinking about the similarities between the cases, so I made a list.”
“We did that three victims ago.”
Gary nodded. “This time, I’m coming at it from a different angle.” He glanced at Riley. “Any news on the medical reports?”
Riley nodded. “You were right. They were all on PrEP. How’s Lewis doing with the clinics?”
“I’ll ask him when he shows up.” There’d been no sign of him.
“Why do you want to talk to Kathy?”
Gary stared at the board where he’d writtenI’m doing this for you.Under it, he’d written Anger and Guilt. “Something Dan said has got me thinking.” There was a knock at the door, and Kathy entered.
She gave Riley a bright smile. “Hey there.”
Gary pointed to an empty chair. “Take a seat.” He waited until she’d sat, then pulled up another chair and tugged it to face hers.
“You were right about the sign. Subtle, very subtle. Who was the artist?”
Gary frowned. “What artist?”
“The joker who drew a box of Cheerios lying on the ground, bleeding. Cereal killer?” Her eyes twinkled.
He hadn’t even noticed.
She stared past him to the board, and her face grew solemn. “Tell me you’re getting closer to catching him,” she murmured.
“We’re working on it.”
Kathy snapped her attention to him. “Okay. What can I do for you?”
“Let’s pretend that sign out there is for real. Serial killers. Why do they do it? What motivates them?”
She pursed her lips. “That assumes thereismotivation. The media would have us believe they kill because they simply enjoy the act of killing. There could be multiple motives. Anger, financial gain, psychosis, sexual need, exhilaration….”
“What about revenge?”
“That too.” She tilted her head. “Is that your theory?”
“That’s all it’s been until now, but I think it’s time we explored it some more.” He looked across to where Riley stood, his back against the wall. “Who’s our whiz kid when it comes to searching the net and finding a needle in a haystack?”
“Barry Davies,” he replied without hesitation. “The guy’s a genius.” He paused. “What do you want him to look for?”
Gary got up from his chair and went over to the board. “What are the constants for each of the crime scenes?” He pointed to the list and worked his way down it. “A bottle of GHB. Rope. Cuffs. Possible link to BDSM. Victims with a very active sex life. Multiple partners. And they all died from a fatal drug dose.”
“You missed out the condom. And the letters.”
Gary shook his head. “No, I deliberately left them out. Let’s assume everything I’ve listed here is important. I want Barry to look for guys who died as the result of an overdose. Then cross-referencethemwith gay men who were sexually active, gay men with established links to BDSM. Not guys who were murdered, okay?”
Kathy let out a soft sound. “Oh. I get it. You think your killer is murdering these guys in the same way someone close to him was killed, is that it? He’s replicating the way they died.”
Gary nodded. “Like I said, it’s just a theory. There’s a pattern to all this—let’s assume it’s deliberate.”
“How far back do you want Barry to look?” Riley asked. “And where?”
Gary stroked his beard. “The first victim died in March 2016. Start there and go backward. And let’s stick to Boston for now. Tell him to keep going until he’s got enough data to analyze. If nothing turns up, we’ll widen the field.”
Please, let something turn up.
