AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Welcome to the post-modern world, Ripley. Boundaries are blurring everywhere. Look,’ she pointed at her notes, ‘many of these movies follow a specific pattern. And if our killer is following them too, it's going to help us predict his next move.’
Mia moved closer, scanning Ella's writings. ‘Okay, so walk me through this. How do these tropes connect to our victims?’
Ella started to explain, ‘Well, for instance, there's the Past Sin trope. Often in these movies, the killer's motivation is rooted in some past wrongdoing. The victims might've bullied him, or they share a traumatic event. Maybe something they all did in their youth?’
‘Interesting. So, maybe something in the past links these women?’
Ella continued, 'Then there's the Revenge angle. Sometimes, the killer targets people close to an individual they think has wronged them. Could one of the victims have someone obsessed with crushing them?'
Ripley fell silent for a second. It took Ella a few seconds to realize why. She was inadvertently referring to her own past.
‘Sounds familiar.’
Ella brushed off the intrusive memory because that story was long over. Thoughts of Logan Nash replaced them, but again she sidelined the oncoming words and images and worries. One battle at a time, she told herself.
‘And then we’ve got the Love Angle,’ Ella said. ‘The name implies that the killings might be sexual in nature, but they never do. Love Angle killers act out of rage, not primal gratification. Any sexual assault would be a power move, not a lust move.’
Ripley paused. ‘I’ve been trying to look into Kathleen Carter's life, but there's a lot to get through. The woman has lived a transient life since she was about sixteen. Worked as a nurse, hitchhiked through California, finally took up training as a teacher last year.'
Ella pressed her knuckles against her lips, another connection on the horizon. ‘Ripley, that’s it.’
‘What’s it?’
‘Jessica was a student. Kathleen was a nurse, hitchhiker, teacher. The exact kind of victims in horror films.’
Ripley looked unconvinced. ‘Students and hitchhikers sure, but nurses and teachers?’
‘Sympathetic professions,’ Ella said. ‘Makes the monster more monstrous when they call someone you care about.’
‘Right, so what does that mean here?’
Ella rushed around to Ripley’s side of the desk and began rifling through her papers. ‘It means our killer knew the intimate details of these victims’ lives. They weren’t just in the wrong place at the wrong time. A stranger isn’t going to know that someone is a teacher in training.’
Her fingers danced across the cluttered files, finding a driving license, bank records, tax returns, dating site profiles. Nothing substantial.
‘Ripley, give me something that tells me who Kathleen was. She doesn’t have any family or friends or colleagues?’
‘Few. She was a nomad. The closest thing I’ve got is…’ Ripley joined in Ella’s search, four hands ransacking a mountain of printed files. ‘This.’
Ella took it. Kathleen’s employment record at Coalbrook Elementary School. Six pages long, covering everything from Kathleen’s previous addresses to any criminal history. The former was long, the latter was empty.
But it was a single entry that caught Ella's attention.
‘Ripley, look.’ She held the paper to her partner’s nose.
‘Emergency contact, Mark Brewer,’ Ripley said.
‘Mark. Remember what Jessica Owen’s roommate told us? Jessica had dated a guy named Mark and he’d been hanging around outside her place.’
Ripley took the document and re-read it. Ella could feel her energy coming to life. ‘Could be a coincidence, but I don’t believe in those. We need more intel on this guy.’
Ella jumped back to her desk, her fingers moving swiftly across the keyboard. She first went to the Maywood Police Database and searched for the name.
‘Three Mark Brewers with criminal records in Los Angeles,’ she said.
‘Any of them nearby?’
Ella scanned the details. ‘One. About ten miles from here.’
