“Of course you can match DNA to DNA. But there is no way I can push the New Mexico state lab to make a match between someone in Berkeley and someone in River Remez. Right now, the lab is tied up with the Demon and now with Katie Doogan.”
Ben took out his computer. A few keystrokes later he said, “There are crime labs in Berkeley, Oakland, Contra Costa County—”
“Okay, you’re right. Maybe they’ll want to do some DNA matching. Great. But I repeat. Let me do my homework first.” Shanks started doing math. “Okay. Here we go. From Ellen’s murder to Katie’s murder was nine months. From Katie to Julia was nine months, and from Julia to Jamey was nine months.”
“Three years, four girls, four seasons. Ro and I—” Ben stopped himself.
“What? Don’t go mute on me now.”
“We were thinking that the guy completed the cycle—all four seasons. Maybe that’s what he had in mind to do. Four murders, and because he completed a cycle, maybe he’d just stop.”
“If it’s a true serial killer, he isn’t going to stop,” Shanks said. “But four murders in three years that are almost to the day nine months apart: that’s pretty meticulous. He also buries his victims in neat, rectangular graves. He inters them deep beneath the ground. He’s very, very organized.”
“Exactly. That’s why I think he’s going to repeat the cycle, this time being precise with the dates.”
“If you are correct, then we should add nine months to Jamey and that would put us at the summer solstice of next year.”
“Right where he started with Ellen.”
“Of course, he could accelerate the process. Winter solstice is around the corner.”
“I thought about that,” Ben told him. “But like you said, this guy is meticulous. Maybe he needs a full nine months to plan things out.”
“Do you have any idea why he picked these cities?” Shanks opened his computer again. “After all, you’ve been sitting on this longer than I have.”
“I don’t know why he chose the places he did.” Shanks didn’t respond and was busy clicking on his keyboard. Ben said, “Can I see what you’re doing?”
“Just sit tight and keep your own computer open. I might have a few questions for you to look up.” Then Shanks noticed the grin on the kid’s face. He said, “I’m feeding your addiction. I am an enabler.”
Ben laughed. “What are you looking up?”
“Transcontinental highways,” Shanks said. “Three major ones: Interstate 90 and Interstate 80 go north of here. Interstate 40 goes through Albuquerque.” A few more clicks. “Here we are. Forty also goes through Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis, Tennessee. Albuquerque and Knoxville are linked by the highway. River Remez is a straight shot north on the 25, only a little over an hour away. What about Berkeley? Where does Interstate 40 start in California?”
“Barstow,” Ben said.
“How far is Barstow from Berkeley?”
“There are two Barstows in California. One is in San Bernardino, the other is in Fresno. The one in San Bernardino is three hundred and forty-eight miles from Berkeley as the crow flies. The one in Fresno is only one hundred and forty-seven miles.”
“I’m looking at the one near the Mojave Desert.”
“That’s the one in San Bernardino—farther from Berkeley.”
Shanks turned off his computer first. “Okay. So, three out of the four cities make sense. The other is off the pattern.”
“Let me do some poking around on my computer,” Ben said.
“No,” Shanks told him. “As helpful as you’ve been, you’ve got to stop playing cop and start living your life.”
“I am living my life. I’m perfectly capable of living my life and looking into my sister’s death. They are orthogonal events.”
Shanks said, “I’m picking up all your files tonight. Every single one of them. I’m sure they will keep me busy for days. If you keep sleuthing on your own, you’ll piss me off. I’ll confiscate your computer.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Don’t test me.” Shanks tried to make a stern face, but fell short. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll be the first one to tell you if we get a DNA match between Ellen and anyone. In the meantime, you stay out of it.”
“Are you going to call Berkeley?”
“I’m going to run Ellen’s DNA through CODIS tomorrow, just to make sure I didn’t miss something. If nothing pops up, I’ll think about calling up Berkeley. I still might wait until we see what happens with Katie Doogan.”
Ben’s face was the picture of impatience. “What if Katie Doogan doesn’t match my sister? Will you still call up Berkeley?”
“One way or the other, I’ll call up Berkeley. You could be wrong about Katie but still right about Julia. But if you’re right about Katie, I will go to Berkeley with a lot more confidence. Let’s go grab some dinner.”
“So you’re still speaking to me?” Ben asked.
“Of course I’m speaking to you. I like you . . . sometimes.” Shanks stood up. “Let’s go to Rani’s. They have a dinner buffet. Do you like Indian Indian?”
“I do like Indian Indian. And I love buffets.”
“Never know it by looking at you.” Shanks stuffed the files that Ben gave him into his desk. He locked the drawers. “Your pants are falling off. Must be all that hiking and biking.”
“And being seventeen.”
“Yeah, that too. Don’t rub it in.”
Chapter 25
The ride to the memorial service for Katie Doogan was silent. Once there, Ben and Ro were swallowed up in a crowd of over five hundred community members showing their support, among them his family, somewhere. Ben knew that murderers often come to these gatherings for a sick thrill, but it was impossible to pick anyone out—from the service to the funeral and then to the house to pay final respects. On the ride home, Ben had dozens of thoughts racing through his head. Radio provided background noise and that was good. A half hour before the off-ramp to River Remez, Ro spoke up.
“How’d the session go with Shanks?”
“He told me to stop.”
“Are you going to listen?”
“I haven’t decided. I asked him to call up Berkeley to get information about Julia Rehnquist. But I think he wants to wait until he’s got something like DNA linking up Katie Doogan with my sister.”
“Makes sense. He needs time to absorb everything you’ve given him. It’s a lot of information.”
“I think he’s on board with me. But he wants me out.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want you involved because you might be getting close.”
“But I’m not close. I don’t have a name and I don’t have the next city. All I have is maybe a pattern.”
“Why don’t you step back for a little bit? Get some perspective.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” When Ro seemed nervous, Ben said, “What’s on your mind?”
She fidgeted. “I think I’m gonna break up with JD.”
It took a moment to absorb her words. It was so out of place—trivial given all that they had gone through. But maybe it was the gravity of what happened that had given her the impetus to change.
“Okay.” A beat. “Can I ask why?”
“It’s been a while coming.”