Jenna poured cream into her coffee. “How so?”
“Oh come on, Jenna, you coerced all of them into giving you permission to search their homes and vehicles. One look at those tapes and Cross will be screaming foul.” Kane sat down and added sugar to his cup. “Then we held them overnight, after we’d conducted the searches and found zip.” He frowned. “They’ll walk free the moment he speaks to them.”
Jenna opened her mouth to insist she followed the book when Kane’s cellphone chimed. It was Wolfe and he put him on speaker.
“I’ve conducted an autopsy on Sara Nelson.” Wolfe’s voice came through the speaker in his usual professional calmness. “It’s not good.”
Jenna stared at the cellphone, willing it to give her some evidence she could use against the Shadow Man. “I don’t need a blow-by-blow tonight, Wolfe, just give me an outline. I’ll read your report later.”
“Sure but with these cases, Kane should take a look at the bodies of Amanda and Sara before they’re released to the families.”
“Okay.” Kane exchanged a puzzled look with Jenna. “Why me?”
“Because you’re trained to kill.” Wolfe sounded exhausted. “I’ve examined the necks in the three victims and they’re all too neat, if that’s the correct word, for someone who hasn’t been trained to kill. I had reservations when I examined Lindy Rosen – her injuries are consistent with her attacker coming from behind but, after careful consideration, I’m convinced he looped the tourniquet around her neck then turned his back on her and bent to lift her with the cord over one shoulder. I’ve seen the move. It’s effective and uses less strength.”
“Yeah, but the tourniquet usually slides up under the chin, so it cuts higher than, say, by using the cord as a garrote.” Kane turned his cup in his hands. “Did you find evidence of that type of injury?”
“Yeah, the injuries were consistent. Then we go to the second victim, Amanda Braxton. She had her neck broken in a chokehold. Clean, easy and effective. The classic chokehold is taught in basic training by the police as a restraining method; the twist is added in the military as an effective and silent way to kill.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “So we’ve two victims, with no apparent motive to kill them. Although a psychopath doesn’t need a reason to kill, it’s as if he kidnapped and murdered these girls to prove a point. I found nothing, no trace evidence. The buttons on their clothes had their fingerprints on them. He scared them, we know that from the video files, but apart from that, he killed them without the usual raging violence and discarded them like trash. The brutality, agreed, was in the strangulation but what he aimed at Jenna was far worse.” He sighed. “Until he killed Sara Nelson.”
Jenna sipped her coffee, listening with interest. “So what’s changed? He set up a slingshot to kill anyone trying to save her. In my opinion, she died by virtually the same method.”
“I’ll agree to some point, Jenna. Yes, ultimately, they all died from neck trauma but he raped Sara. Her clothes were torn as if he ripped them open, then he dressed her before he set her on the boulder. I don’t believe she was fully conscious when it happened.”
“Strangulation is personal.” Kane frowned. “Up close, feeling the life leave the body – and it’s not a quick death. Yet he depersonalized it by using different techniques.”
“Why rape an unconscious girl?” Wolfe’s agitation was obvious. “In my understanding, rape is a punishment and from what we’ve seen, this killer feeds on fear. What do you make of this, Kane?”
“I figure he’s changed direction from revenge against women in authority to enjoying scaring young women. The killing was to hide his identity so he could continue the game, but now he’s discovered a new thrill. Scaring the victims is feeding his ego – he now has control and the ultimate domination of a woman is rape. The kill is a form of disposal. It means nothing to him.”
The memory of Sara’s neck breaking as she shot into the air had replayed in Jenna’s mind so many times, making a constant flow of bile rush up the back of her throat. She stared at Kane across the table. “I gather the spear-throwing slingshot is something you’re familiar with, Kane?”
“Yeah, but it’s not necessarily military.” Kane met her gaze. “I’ve seen it used to kill game. They bend and tie down a sapling, so when released it springs back with force. To release it you attach a slipknot to a tripwire. Once tripped the tree propels the attached arrow or small spear into the target. It’s a method used since the Stone Age.” He frowned, staring down into his cup. “The killer wanted to enhance the shock value by hanging Sara in front of you. He used the same principle to construct a snare to hoist Sara into the air, and then used the same tripwire to trigger both of them. He planned the whole thing. I found a pulley tangled in the rope.”
Jenna rubbed her temples. “So how the hell did he subdue the girl then drag her and a long rope deep into the forest without anyone seeing or hearing him?” She lifted her gaze to Kane. “It was hard enough getting out of the forest alone over that narrow track.”
“He could’ve had a weapon and made her walk to her death. I know how he subdued her long enough to collect the things he needed. I found a pair of panties stuffed in her mouth soaked in diethyl ether. She would’ve been close to death by the time you found her and certainly not capable at any time of being able to call for help. The panties didn’t belong to her, or any of the other girls. I figure they’re from another kill.” He cleared his throat. “Agent Martin asked to be kept in the loop and he’s offered to help. I’ll text him the images.”
Jenna nodded as if Wolfe was in the room. “Thanks. If this is a previous kill, forget the teenagers and tell Martin to narrow down the search by using the same parameters of the killer’s previous victims – ages and occupation. I figure he’s showing me what he’s capable of doing if he c
atches me.”
Fifty-Three
Friday
Jenna’s week was on a downward slide. She arrived at the office to find the media crammed into the waiting area and Maggie doing her best to keep order. To make things worse, Rowley had arrived early as usual and was on a callout to a traffic accident. The Blackwater deputies had left after spending the night watching the suspects and Walters had called in sick. With Kane clearing the way, Jenna slipped behind the counter and glared at the microphones waving in front of her. “We found the body of missing teenager Sara Nelson yesterday afternoon. As of this moment investigations into the killer of Sara Nelson, Lindy Rosen and Amanda Braxton are ongoing. When I have an update, I’ll contact you through the normal channels. Now will you leave so I can find their killer?” She turned and, with Kane at her back, walked into her office to come face to face with Sam Cross, looking like he’d just walked off a dude ranch. What next? “Mr. Cross, I was just about to call you.”
“No need. Maggie informed me I’d gained three new clients.” Cross gripped the back of the chair and stared at her. “Have you charged my clients?”
Jenna sat at her desk and looked up at him. “Only Kittredge. He came in for questioning and decided to throw a chair at me.”
“Okay, and what about the others? You’ve had them locked up overnight for what reason?”
“We believe they could be involved in three homicides.” Jenna got up, went to the file cabinet and pulled out the murder books. “All the men we detained waived their rights but we also obtained signed agreements to search their property. As is their right under the law, they decided they wanted representation the moment they hit the cells. We haven’t spoken to them since. As I’m sure you’re aware, we’ve a killer on the loose, and these men are of interest. I’d be putting the community at risk if I’d released them before we’d searched their properties. This was explained to them during the interview and they didn’t object.”
“Ah-huh, so no coercion on your part? I’ll require copies of any statements they signed and I want to view the interview tapes.” Cross waved a hand absently toward the whiteboard. “You’re gonna have to come up with a better case than that load of baloney if you’re planning on keeping them here.” He glanced at Kane, and then moved his attention back to her. “Not having an alibi overnight if you live alone gives me reasonable doubt. And we’ve already established the truck seen in the vicinity of two of the three abductions belonged to Miller, so the fact all of these men drive pickups is irrelevant.” He shook his head. “See, Jenna, I’ve created reasonable doubt already. You don’t have a case on any of them.”
Angry with him treating her like a student who hadn’t completed her assignment, Jenna cleared her throat. “Have you taken into account the girls at school are attracted to him? It wouldn’t take much to convince them to go with him willingly. He knows all the victims and has no alibi for the nights they went missing, then he conveniently has his car detailed the morning after – it’s a little more than circumstantial, Mr. Cross.”