Killing Hour - Lisa Gardner [56]
Rainie slid her arms around his shoulder. She leaned her head against Quincy’s chest. Then, because there were no words to comfort him, she went to the one topic that was always safe. Work. Dead bodies. A good, intriguing homicide case.
“Do you think the Georgian hunk is right?” she asked.
“The Georgian hunk?”
“I’m only thinking of Kimberly. I’m very altruistic that way. So, you grabbed the case file first. What do you think of his allegation that the Georgian Eco-Killer is now hunting Virginian prey?”
“I don’t know yet,” Quincy said reluctantly. His hand came up and rested on the back of her neck. After another moment, he stroked her hair. She closed her eyes, and thought for a moment that things might be all right.
“The Eco-Killer is an interesting case, remarkable almost more for what the investigators don’t know about the killer than for what they do. For example, seven homicides later, the investigators have recovered no murder weapon, identified no primary murder scene, and not recovered a single bit of trace evidence such as hair, fiber, blood, or semen. In fact, the killer seems to have spent only the barest amount of time with each of the victims, limiting the opportunity for evidence transfer. He simply strikes, kills, and runs.”
“An efficiency freak.”
Quincy shrugged. “Most killers are driven by blood lust. They don’t just want to kill, they want to savor their victim’s pain and suffering. In contrast, this is the coldest string of murders I’ve ever seen. The UNSUB has little apparent interest in violence and yet, he is extraordinarily deadly.”
“He’s into gamesmanship,” Rainie thought out loud. “For him the sport isn’t the kill, but setting up the bodies, and establishing his riddles. Then he writes his notes, ensuring he’ll receive credit for his crime.”
“He writes the notes,” Quincy agreed. “Giving his game an environmental slant. Now, do we believe this man really cares about the environment, or is this yet another aspect of his game? I don’t know enough yet, but I’m fairly certain that even the notes are just another type of prop. The man is setting a stage. He is like the great Oz, hiding behind a curtain and pulling all the strings. But to what end? What does he really want—and what does he really get—out of doing all this? I don’t have that answer yet.”
“So what are the similarities between the Georgia case and this one?” Rainie prodded.
“Cause of death,” Quincy said promptly. “There aren’t too many serial predators who kill using prescription tranquilizers. At least not male killers.”
“Women love poison,” Rainie said knowingly.
“Exactly. Your dear friend Watson, however, also raised some good points. First, the Georgian Eco-Killer always dumped the first victim near a major road, where his ‘map’ per se could be easily found. Following that pattern, the victim could still be left on the Marine base, but should be near such roads as MCB-4 or MCB-3. A dirt jogging path isn’t quite the same. Second, the stitched-up mouth bothers me. It shows an increased need for violence, postmortem mutilation of the victim, let alone the very obvious symbol of the victim keeping her mouth shut.”
“Or the killer is engaging in a more dangerous game, as Special Agent McCormack theorizes.”
“True. The new location, however, bothers me as well. I’ve only just glanced at the Georgia profile, but one of the main assumptions is that the man is local. His knowledge of certain areas is too intimate to be an outsider’s. In fact, the very nature of his game is that of someone who lives in and loves his surroundings. That’s not the kind of person who simply shifts to a whole new state.”
“Maybe he felt the police were getting too close.”
“It’s possible. For his game to work in Virginia, however, he’d have to do his homework.”
“What about the phone calls?” Rainie switched gears. “It seems more than coincidental that McCormack