"Not just overkill, but a killer who degrades his victims.
All were left in demeaning positions. The latest unidentified woman was found hanging naked from a tree in a public park. The men were found at home, but they were also nude and positioned on the floor in such a way that their bloody body was the first thing you'd see when you walked in the door. And they both had foreign objects inserted in their rectums:'
Kessler scoffed. "Foreign objects? Are you trying to say the knives were made in China?"
Wile glanced at Andie as if she were his daughter. "Yes, there were knives."
Victoria said, "You don't have to soft-pedal things in front of Agent Henning. She looks young, but she's seen a lot worse than you'd imagine."
Andie wasn't sure if she was supposed to thank Victoria for coming to her defense, or perhaps belch and spit on the floor to show she was one of the boys.
Victoria asked, "Were you able to tell if the killer had brought his own knives with him to the crime scene, or if he just grabbed whatever was available?"
"He didn't bring any knives. He took them from the kitchen."
"Interesting." She made another notation, as if that was significant. "Go on."
"Speaking of the crime scenes, we have similarities there, too. It's bizarre, because with the men, you have a scene where, at first blush, it looks like a madman cut loose, repeatedly stabbing his victims long after they were dead. But in every other respect the place is completely sanitized. Not a single fingerprint."
Victoria made a note in the margin that Andie read as "staging." She underlined it twice. "Go on "
Wile continued, "The most compelling common thread is that the rope used in all three strangulations was the same. Triple-braided yellow synthetic. Three-quarter inch. Like water ski rope."
"Have any of the newspapers mentioned what kind of rope was involved?"
"No. Fortunately, we've kept that quiet. That's the main reason we think all three are victims of the same killer. Too close for coincidence. And a copycat wouldn't know what kind of rope to use."
Victoria quickly, reviewed her notes, then flipped the page on her legal pad. "What about dissimilarities?" she asked. "I don't mean the obvious things, like the sex and age of the victims. Any subtleties you've focused on?"
"One thing in the autopsy report caught my eye," said Wile.
"What's that?"
"The throats were crushed to varying degrees. Even though he used the same rope, different pressure was applied for different lengths of time."
"And why does that surprise you?"
"In a case like this with signs of overkill, I'd expect the guy to lose his cool and hold the rope as tight as he can, for as long as he can. That would be a fairly constant level of pressure for a fairly constant length of time. But that's not what he did."
"Timing and opportunity could explain that. He could have stalked the woman for ten days, stalked the man for ten minutes. He could have been drunk or on drugs. All these things affect a killer's strength."
Andie spoke up. "Or maybe he simply applies whatever amount of pressure is necessary to strangle each particular victim."
Wile answered, "But that's not consistent with a killer who engages in overkill. He's not going to stop when the job is done. He's going to stop only after his rage subsides."
"Or when his victim stops suffering," said Andie. Victoria glanced at her approvingly. "What are you saying, Andie?"
Butterflies churned. It was the first time a supervisory special agent had actually offered Andie the floor. "You start with the fact that strangulation is a method of homicide that shows a lot of personal anger. A person kills in that way to inflict suffering. That's especially true here, where the guy brings his own rope to the crime scene. If you're going to bring a weapon, why not bring a gun? Only one reason: you want your victim to suffer."
Victoria said, "You're saying his signature is torture, then. He wants to inflict pain."
"Yes."
Kessler asked, "Then why all the stabbing? If he's into torture, why mutilate a dead body?"
"Possibly to confuse us," said Victoria. She flipped back to the notation she'd made about "staging" on the previous page of her notepad. "I obviously need to study this before coming up with a profile, but from what I've heard so far, we have a mixed bag."