“That was my plan. I just intended to do it alone.”
“Sometimes, having a partner is not a bad thing.”
Max clearly didn’t agree. Lucy focused again on the timeline in front of her. She came back to the sedative. Was that solely to make the child compliant? Or because the killer didn’t want to make the victim suffer?
No sexual assault. Sedative. Wrapped in a blanket. Comfort. An easy death …
“The killer is a woman,” Lucy said.
Max almost spit out her wine. She swallowed and stared at Lucy. “That’s a leap.”
“It’s the manner of death. The care given to the bodies. The personal touch—the blanket. And I’ll bet my badge that there was one more thing in the graves. Likely a stuffed animal or toy that the child slept with. I would have to look at the autopsy reports to be certain, but I also think that the killer suffocated the boys after they were unconscious. That should be easy to determine based on the tox screen and physical evidence on the victim—whether they fought back or struggled. The killer didn’t want the child to know he was dying. That’s a mercy killing. Mercy killers are almost exclusively female.” She wrote a few notes on her cell phone so she’d remember to look at some specifics on these type of crimes and what she needed to learn from the reports. “We need to find out exactly what kind of sedative was used and how easy it is to purchase and administer. Why drug them? So they’re quiet, compliant, and don’t feel pain. They won’t know they’ll never wake up. She didn’t want them to be scared.”
For a minute, she almost felt Sean’s presence and it was comforting. Maybe she shouldn’t have sent him away. But she had to be sure. She had to focus on the clinical, the psychology, the forensics … not her emotions or Sean’s or the fact that Justin had been her best friend.
To solve his murder, she had to keep her emotions in check.
“With this evidence, I really think I can convince my family to help.”
“That would be ideal,” Max said, “but I already don’t like the fact that you’re jumping in. I can’t have a half-dozen people messing around with my investigation, my evidence, my organization. I simply want to talk to them. They might know something they don’t realize is important.”
It was clear Max was still angry that Lucy had insisted on being involved. Lucy continued. “You’re missing something.”
“I’m missing a lot of things. I have no proof that either John or Blair were having an affair—though I’m working on it. That’s another common thread—each of the fathers of the first three victims had been with their mistress during the murder. I know for a fact that John couldn’t have been because he had a solid alibi during his son’s death, and numerous witnesses at the party. I’m also missing details from the crime scene, because the police notoriously hold back, but I’m good at getting information. With Stanton on board, we can get that intel.”
“You’re missing the most important piece of the puzzle.”
“What?”
“I’ll tell you if you agree to keep nothing from me. I have a sense that you’re already trying to figure out how to lose me, and that won’t go over well—trust me on that. We’re full partners in this, Maxine.”
Lucy watched the reporter wage an internal battle. She didn’t want to work with Lucy, but she would … her curiosity and need for answers was greater than her lone wolf approach.
“I said I’d work with you, I keep my word,” Max said with a sigh. “What am I missing?”
She stared at her timeline. Lucy had to admit she liked the format—she usually put index cards into a vertical timeline, but this approach was more linear and everything far easier to see in one big picture.
“First, you were right to think there may be another victim between Chris Donovan and Tommy Porter.” She walked over to the desk and wrote on a Post-It note.
Unknown victim.
She stuck it between Donovan and Porter. “A serial killer can wait long stretches—even years—between murders. But there is a distinct pattern here, and I suspect five years is the longest she can go. Why five? I don’t know.” Yet.
She then wrote on another Post-it note, and stuck it at the beginning of the timeline.
Victim—0
Unknown male under ten
Max stared. “You think there’s another victim.”
“Victim might be the wrong word. But—”
“How the hell can you make that statement? You’re guessing.”
“It’s an educated guess. It goes to motive—there is no motive for any of these crimes. None. The first victim may not even have been found—he may be a missing person. But the first victim will lead directly to the killer. I’m almost certain of it.”
“It makes no sense. I’m not saying it’s not possible, only that you can’t be certain.”
Max was right, but Lucy couldn’t shake the feeling. Justin’s murder was too well-planned. No trace evidence. Though Lucy didn’t know the why, she was certain that Max was correct that adultery played a part in the motive.
“Don’t think of Victim Zero as a victim per se … think of the killer as suffering a grave loss. There was an inciting incident that started her on the road of murder. She could have killed her own son, or he was taken from her by her husband or someone else, or her son could have been a victim of another crime. Consider that there is a lawyer in each of these families—Andrew and Nelia, Mr. Porter, Mrs. Donovan, Mrs. Caldwell. It could be she lost her son to the system.”
“And she wants to spread the misery?” Max said.
Lucy had some ideas, but she needed to confirm facts before she would theorize further.
“I have a good friend with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. I’m going to write some parameters and see if he can give me a list of missing children and unsolved crimes that fit the victim profile, plus a list of crimes against boys under ten during that window that were solved. It may give us a direction.”
“I’ll have my staff work on that angle as well.”
“You don’t have access to the same database. Have your staff continue to look at similar crimes post-Justin—perhaps if we identify this victim between Chris and Tommy we’ll gain additional information and narrow our suspect pool. We’ll get more done if we focus on different parts of the whole.”
Lucy rubbed her eyes. “I need to see my family. Will you be awake around ten if I return? I’d like to bring Sean as well—I know you didn’t hit it off, but he’s sharp—he sees things other people don’t see.”
“He called me a liar.”
“He’s protective.”
Max raised her eyebrow. “I noticed.”
She wanted more information, Lucy could tell by her expression. Lucy had no intention of sharing anything about herself with the reporter.
“Ten?” she repeated.
“I’ll be awake,” Max said. “Sleep is not my friend.”
Lucy smiled. “See, we already have something in common.”
Chapter Twelve