The 7th Victim - Alan Jacobson [105]
“I’ll make sure you get a receipt. For tax purposes.”
He bent over and lifted her off her feet, carrying her in his arms into the family room, where they kissed again. They fell onto the couch, tongues probing, hands exploring—
Suddenly, Vail stopped. She rested her head on Robby’s chest, a hand on his shoulder.
“What’s the matter?”
“I don’t want anything to ruin the moment. Can we just lie here for a few minutes?”
“Of course.”
Seconds passed. She asked, “Do you mind if we slow it down a bit? I just need some time. I’m not sure what I want. I mean, I know what I want. It’s just that with so much going on right now, maybe it’s best to wait—”
Robby pressed fingers to her lips. “You want to wait, we’ll wait. I think I can withstand a few more cold showers.” They smiled.
“Thanks.”
“We’ll grab some dinner. A movie, too, while we’re out. I think we could both use a good escape.”
She nodded against his chest. “In a little while. For the moment, I just want to stay right where I am.”
forty-four
“So teach me more.” Robby grabbed his rolled burrito and held an end of it in front of his mouth. “About profiling.”
Vail unwrapped the foil that cocooned her food. “Not exactly the sort of conversation made for dinner. But if it doesn’t bother you, I’m game.” She sighed, eyes down, searching the table between them but seeing nothing. “Typing the offender is an important consideration. With Dead Eyes, it’s a question I’ve grappled with over and over again. What type of offender is this guy?”
“I thought he was organized.”
“He is, yes. But there’s more to it than just organized or disorganized. Kim Rossmo—the guy who I asked to do a geographic profile, talks about classifying offenders by the way they search for their victims, and the way they go about attacking them. He classifies them as hunters, poachers, trollers, and trappers. I’m fairly sure Dead Eyes is either a hunter or poacher. A hunter uses his home as a focal point and goes out in search of a victim. A poacher also goes in search of a victim but chooses a different place as his focal point. Could be where he works or some other place he’s comfortable around—even if he has to travel to get there.”
“Okay, so he’s an organized hunter or poacher.”
She held up a hand. “It’s not quite that simple.”
“Somehow I knew it wouldn’t be.”
Vail smiled. “If it was simple, you guys wouldn’t need people like us.” She took a sip of her ice tea, then continued: “There are three victim attack methods. A raptor attacks a victim as soon as he sees her. A stalker finds his victim, then follows her for a while before attacking her. An ambusher behaves like a spider, luring her to his safe place, where he can be in total control, and then attacks. Based on the fact that Dead Eyes attacks them in their own home, and appears to be of high intelligence, I’d think he spends some amount of time casing out the house and the neighborhood before going in for the kill. That’s why he only chooses front doors that are hidden from the street.”
Robby swallowed. “Then he’s an organized hunting or poaching stalker. How does this help us?”
“First of all, it’s another tool in establishing linkage. Linkage is an issue for vic three—we know that—but also with Linwood. At first glance, she appears to be the work of the same offender, but in some respects not. Aside from linkage, a geographic profile uses the search and attack classifications to create a distribution of where the offender has already struck, and where he might strike next. If we overlay this analysis on top of a map, we can make certain inferences. And if he’s not a poacher, it might even give us an idea where he lives.”
“When will this geographic profile be done?”
“Hopefully soon.”
Robby took another bite of his burrito, then nodded.
THE CLOUDS HAD RETURNED. Gray skies and the threat of rain hovered like salt in sea air. After dinner, Robby and Vail went to a movie and made out like pimply-faced high school kids. Their next stop was Davina’s Creamery for dessert, before ending up at Robby’s place. They fell asleep on the couch