Crush - Alan Jacobson [52]
Dixon tilted her head and asked, “So you mean he meant to stop the fire at the one building?”
Gordon nodded. “That’s what it looks like. And no, nothing special about the chemical used. We’re still looking at it in the lab, but I think it’s widely available Class A foam, from fire extinguishers. It’s used to contain small brush and grass fires by creating a fire break.”
“So,” Rooney said, “armed with that knowledge, let’s talk about what we know about the people who start these fires. We classify them according to their motives: vandalism, excitement, revenge, crime concealment, profit, and extremist. All are self-explanatory.”
“Excitement?” Dixon asked.
“They get off on setting fire. They’re seeking thrills, attention, recognition, even sexual gratification—but the sexual component is pretty rare.”
Dixon said, “So are you saying we need to investigate each of these potential motives so we can eliminate them as possibilities, then narrow our suspect pool to those who are likely to have the remaining motive?”
“That’s one approach,” Vail said. “But rather than running in six different directions while still trying to zero in on this wine cave killer, I think we can logically eliminate crime concealment and extremist. There was no other crime he could’ve been trying to hide. Unless someone is aware of something, I don’t see a social, religious, or political conflict. Is there anything you know of I’m not seeing?”
“Nothing I’m aware of,” Brix said. He looked around. No one offered up anything.
Ray Lugo said, “If there was a profit motive, why just burn down the one structure?”
“Doesn’t make sense, I agree,” Rooney said. “Still, be worth looking into the owners, see if they’re in financial distress. Do they have a business partner with a beef? Have there been offers to buy the property that’ve been rebuffed by the owner? Anyone who’d stand to benefit by burning down the structure? An architect or contractor who was talking with the owner about a remodel the owner didn’t want to do? All this needs to be ruled out. Remember, the offender doesn’t think he’s going to get caught. He doesn’t think he’s leaving any clues for us.”
“Yeah, but . . .” Vail stopped, then shook her head. “Why would he go to such efforts to ensure the other structures wouldn’t also get destroyed?”
“An important question, for sure, but one we can’t answer right now,” Rooney said. “We’ll eventually know the answer, but for now it’s another thing to stick up on the whiteboard.” He turned and wrote “Arson,” then, below it, listed the question Vail had asked. “Another thing to keep in mind is that I’ve given you a very basic primer on arson—a number of those categories we discussed have subcategories. And then you have mixed motive offenders, too. But let’s keep it simple for now and expand as you gather more information and eliminate other factors.”
Fuller leaned forward, both forearms on the table. “Since you’re a profiler and your job is to profile, how about telling us who we should be looking for?”
“That’s really putting him on the spot, Scott,” Vail said.
Rooney held up a hand. “No, no. That’s a fair question, Detective.” He folded his arms across his chest and thought about it a moment. “If we go with the percentages, we’re looking for a younger white male, between eighteen and thirty, with a generally poor marital history. That suggests this UNSUB has a history of unstable interpersonal relationships. And a guy like this will have average or higher intelligence, and between a tenth- and twelfth-grade education level. There’s a fifty-fifty chance he’ll have one or more tattoos.”
“Will this guy have a sheet?” Brix asked.
“Highly probable. You’re looking at about a 90 percent chance he’s had a felony arrest and better than 60 percent chance he’s had multiple felony arrests. So, yeah, that’d be a good place to start: known offenders with potential motives for wanting that structure