The Price Of Justice

Chapter Seventeen

"So, how did it go?" Kyle asked as he took a sip of coffee.

I shrugged and glanced down at my latte. "Okay, I guess. They just acted like I told them I'd found their barn cat lying on the side of the road. I've seen robots show more emotion."

"Wow. You'd think hearing that your missing daughter was found dead would bother you a little more than that. If it were my kid I'd be an emotional wreck."

"Yeah, me too." I replied.

I had informed the relatives of the two latest victims their bodies had been located. Instead of bursting into tears or freezing in shock, the parents had merely shrugged it off. "At least the cops don't have to look for them anymore." They'd said. I had finished giving them details and then retreated to my truck, speechless.

Now, I sat in the breakroom at Headquarters with Kyle. I had decided to get some coffee to calm my nerves before the Rangers assigned to this case convened in the office so Anderson could hand out assignments. My shoulder ached horribly, only adding to my frustration. I sighed aloud. "I can't wait until we get this creep behind bars."

"Well, figuring out his MO would be the first step in that direction. Got any new theories?"

"I do have an idea on his emotional profile."

"Alright." Kyle leaned back his chair and nodded. "Shoot."

"Okay, so first of all we know this is a serial, right?"

"Right."

I leaned her elbows on the table. "So what are the top four reasons for serial killing?"

"Sex, money, thrill-seeking, and revenge. Taylor, where are you going with this?"

"Exactly. We can rule sex out from the get-go. Most murders done with that motive are... are much more graphic than strangulation. The victims weren't sexually assaulted."

Kyle nodded his head, but didn't speak. I went on.

"Next, money. I don't think this had anything to do with it, either. The morphine left at the first crime scene would have sold on the streets for a pretty penny. But the killer left it. One-time killer's don't leave clues, nor mass killers. Serials leave clues. So that rules greed out."

"I can see that. So now thrill-seeking. This doesn't feel like some dude with a sick hobby. Besides, the murders appear to be done by a professional. The ME didn't find the slightest trace of DNA on the victims. Not a hair fiber, not a fingerprint, nothing." Kyle paused. "If he was doing it for the thrill, he might leave clues behind."

"Maybe, but there's something wrong with that picture." I shook my head. "Thrill-seekers or killers seeking fame don't pick out their victims with this kind of precision. Just think of The Zodiac Killings. He was doing it mostly for the recognition, so he sent those letters to the press and told them if they could decipher the messages, it would reveal his name.

"But he didn't kill his victims like this guy is. Some were shot, some was stabbed, he killed men and women of various ages. Our man is painstakingly precise in every detail. The girls are the same age, they look similar, they've all had unnatural highlights in their hair. They're all practically skeletons. Plus, we haven't received any taunting notes, unless you count that text from yesterday."

"So that leaves one motive: revenge."

"Exactly." I grinned.

"Okay, so let's say he's trying to get even with someone. Why not just kill them? If I were killing for vengeance, I'd get that person and put them through unimaginable suffering, I wouldn't take it out on an innocent bystander."