“I can’t believe we just did that!” Kate whispered to him, leaning up on her toes so that he could hear and giggling. He flashed her a smile and pulled her close against him for a hug.
“Believe it, Mrs. Kane.” He kissed the top of her head and she looked down at her hand on his chest, admiring the glistening ring shining in the starlight. She was going to marry the love of her life and the sparkling glint of the moonbeams on her diamond engagement ring was the perfect ending to a perfect evening.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Detectives Liz Snow and Mike McCraig walked into the precinct and immediately went to one of the back interview rooms that they had confiscated and turned into their personal office for this case. Every surface was covered in photographs and files relating to The Photographer.
“Okay so where are Craig’s academic files and who was the witness against him during his trial that said he saw Craig date rape Holly Castel?” Liz said as Mike shuffled through some papers until she found the one that she was looking for.
“Here it is. Oh shit. Liz.” Mike looked up at her, surprised.
“What?” Liz stared at him.
“You know I speak a little German from when I had a tour in Berlin while I was in the service?” Mike asked her.
“Yeah, why?” Liz asked, crossing her arms.
“Francis Bild. That’s the name of the witness who put Craig away. Bild is picture in German. This is our guy, Liz. Holy fuck, this is our guy!” Mike shoved the file at her and she grabbed it, scanning quickly.
“Picture? The Photographer? That can’t be a coincidence. This has to be him. But where is he now and what does he have to do with Kate? There has to be a connection between him and Kate.” Liz said rushing out of the interview room towards their desks to search for him on the computer.
The duo furiously tapped their keyboards and stared at the screens, trying to find an answer. Nothing was coming up, the guy had wiped himself clear off every electronic record.
“Well his academics confirm it. Look at this, he was a non-degree student and all he took were art classes. Look what he was taking at the time Craig got arrested.” Mike said to her, pointing to his screen. She came around to look.
“Photography 301. Looks like this is our guy. Holy crap. Well then what happened? What’s his record say?” Liz peered over his shoulder.
“Looks like he dropped out halfway through that semester. His address is, holy shit, Eldersburg, Maryland. That’s where Clara McConnelly’s family lived. They lived in the same town and went to the same school. She must have been his first kill, the obsession. Once he got a taste of it, he couldn’t stop. That’s where all these cases then came into play.” He tapped a stack of files.
“So, maybe he went home after he dropped out?” Liz asked him, picking up some files.
“Where is Tracy Glen’s file? They are brothers, there must be something that links them that will lead us to who Francis Bild is now and where he is.” Mike asked her. She pushed some papers and files around until she found one with a giant label on the top saying Tracy GLEN-HOMICIDE.
“Eldersburg, Maryland. Again, how the fuck did we not pick up on this? Grew up there with his half-brother, mother, and grandmother. Looks like a social worker took the boys from the house when the grandmother died because the grandmother was doing all the care. The mother was apparently a junkie and wasn’t taking care of them after the grandmother died. It doesn’t say much about the father, just that he had a criminal past and killed himself when Francis and Tracy were in high school. He is two years younger than Tracy.” Liz read off the report to Mike.
“So, they go into the system, no parents or role models. Tracy ends up in jail and Francis ends up a serial killer. Sounds like the right formula for a screwed up family. Does it say why Tracy was in jail?” Mike asked her, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on his desk.
“Yeah, robbery. Armed with a knife. Was serving a sentence of ten years, but looking at getting out on good behavior after seven if he was lucky. He had only been locked up for four and a half years. Do you think he knew what his brother was doing?” Liz spoke to Mike as she thumbed through the pages of the file.
“Well, Francis killed him so he either knew something or he would have led us to Francis. There really is no way to know that until we can find the son of a bitch and talk to him ourselves.” Mike told her as he stood up and stretched.
“Alright, let’s look up anything remotely similar to a “Francis Bild” near NYU, near Eldersburg, or near Washington DC. There has to be something in the motor vehicle database or real estate listing, something!” Mike said as he walked away to go make a fresh pot of coffee.
“I feel like it sounds familiar. I think we have everything here,” Liz said pointing to the pile of papers and files.
“I just think we have no idea how to put it together.” Liz finished.
“Yeah, but Francis is the glue.” Mike said, nodding at her in confidence as he fiddled with the coffee machine.