copycat killer, or the original murderer experienced a life change during that time, which I believe is the case in this series. Although the modification in the number of women murdered during each series still doesn’t make sense in the scenario outlined here. Why he only killed six that first year, then maintained his number at seven for the following three series is still anyone’s guess, but I feel certain there’s a reason for the change. We just have to find it.”
“So how do you know it wasn’t someone different, a copycat killer, like you said, starting in 1992?” Lou Marker asked.
“I don’t. However, with the signature remaining the same, it would appear we’ve got the same UNSUB. All victims were blonde, single and pregnant. They were all strangled until they, and their unborn children, died.” She looked at Lexie, then back to the remainder of the group.
“From the criteria I’ve already listed, three of the people within this room fit our target suspects: Deputy Chief Marker, Lieutenant Sims and Detective Tucker. Captain Pierce wasn’t living in Macon at the time the first murders were committed, and Zed Naylor is, I’m assuming, above our age range.”
Zed ran a wrinkled hand through his thin crop of stark white hair. “I’ll say I am.”
“But, if you’ll notice the item in red at the bottom of the page, none of you meet the last criterion. Our killer knew Molly Taylor, the first victim. In some way, shape, or form, a serial killer almost always selects that very first victim due to past experience with that person. From my files, and from Special Agent Carlton’s reports, none of you ever met the girl. But our killer did. And because of her death occurring on Easter, I believe the way he knew her had something to do with religion. Or non-religion.”
Lexie listened to the men at the table mumble their suspicions regarding Molly Taylor, how every lead about her killer had turned up nothing and how the potential suspects for the girl’s murder had been exhausted throughout the past twenty-eight years.
She started to keep her thoughts to herself, but one thing had been niggling the back of her mind all day, and the reporter in her couldn’t resist bringing it to light. True, she wasn’t a cop or an FBI profiler, but her dedication to reporting the news did cause her to ask pertinent questions. And since she hadn’t been involved with the case before, she had no idea whether the question had ever been answered.
“Special Agent Jackson?”
“Yes?” Angel’s green eyes studied Lexie’s face as if trying to determine the question before she asked. After the profiler’s quick analysis of the men at the table, Lexie wasn’t so sure she couldn’t. Even so, she’d ask. There was no such thing as a stupid question.
“Has the FBI considered the killings could be more religious-geared than they first realized? I’m sure you have,” she added, not wanting to insult the government, “But as I looked over the days of the week for kills in each series, I couldn’t help but notice that when the dates were definite—that is, when the body was quickly found and the coroner didn’t have to estimate the date of death—several of them also coincided with the same day of the week.”
Angel Jackson’s chair scraped against the floor as she scooted forward. “Go on.”
Lexie sifted through her notes until she found the page she needed. “In 1992, the first victim was found on Tuesday, the tenth of March. Then the second one that year was found on Easter. In 1999, the first body was found on Tuesday, February twenty-third. The second one, again, on Easter. In 2006, the first body was also found on a Tuesday, March seventh. Then another Easter for the second kill. This year, however, Cami Talton’s body wasn’t found immediately, but the coroner stated she died four to five weeks ago, which could have put the date of death on Tuesday, February nineteenth.”
“You’re saying
“So how do you know it wasn’t someone different, a copycat killer, like you said, starting in 1992?” Lou Marker asked.
“I don’t. However, with the signature remaining the same, it would appear we’ve got the same UNSUB. All victims were blonde, single and pregnant. They were all strangled until they, and their unborn children, died.” She looked at Lexie, then back to the remainder of the group.
“From the criteria I’ve already listed, three of the people within this room fit our target suspects: Deputy Chief Marker, Lieutenant Sims and Detective Tucker. Captain Pierce wasn’t living in Macon at the time the first murders were committed, and Zed Naylor is, I’m assuming, above our age range.”
Zed ran a wrinkled hand through his thin crop of stark white hair. “I’ll say I am.”
“But, if you’ll notice the item in red at the bottom of the page, none of you meet the last criterion. Our killer knew Molly Taylor, the first victim. In some way, shape, or form, a serial killer almost always selects that very first victim due to past experience with that person. From my files, and from Special Agent Carlton’s reports, none of you ever met the girl. But our killer did. And because of her death occurring on Easter, I believe the way he knew her had something to do with religion. Or non-religion.”
Lexie listened to the men at the table mumble their suspicions regarding Molly Taylor, how every lead about her killer had turned up nothing and how the potential suspects for the girl’s murder had been exhausted throughout the past twenty-eight years.
She started to keep her thoughts to herself, but one thing had been niggling the back of her mind all day, and the reporter in her couldn’t resist bringing it to light. True, she wasn’t a cop or an FBI profiler, but her dedication to reporting the news did cause her to ask pertinent questions. And since she hadn’t been involved with the case before, she had no idea whether the question had ever been answered.
“Special Agent Jackson?”
“Yes?” Angel’s green eyes studied Lexie’s face as if trying to determine the question before she asked. After the profiler’s quick analysis of the men at the table, Lexie wasn’t so sure she couldn’t. Even so, she’d ask. There was no such thing as a stupid question.
“Has the FBI considered the killings could be more religious-geared than they first realized? I’m sure you have,” she added, not wanting to insult the government, “But as I looked over the days of the week for kills in each series, I couldn’t help but notice that when the dates were definite—that is, when the body was quickly found and the coroner didn’t have to estimate the date of death—several of them also coincided with the same day of the week.”
Angel Jackson’s chair scraped against the floor as she scooted forward. “Go on.”
Lexie sifted through her notes until she found the page she needed. “In 1992, the first victim was found on Tuesday, the tenth of March. Then the second one that year was found on Easter. In 1999, the first body was found on Tuesday, February twenty-third. The second one, again, on Easter. In 2006, the first body was also found on a Tuesday, March seventh. Then another Easter for the second kill. This year, however, Cami Talton’s body wasn’t found immediately, but the coroner stated she died four to five weeks ago, which could have put the date of death on Tuesday, February nineteenth.”
“You’re saying
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