Read Online The Rainy Day Killer by Michael J. McCann - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Michael J. McCann
Ads: Link
generally secured the area with their own personnel and took over the evidence gathering and processing, shutting out other agencies. Although Roubidoux seemed to be making a genuine offer of cooperation, it was clear Turcotte didn’t believe it would be that simple.
“Thank you,” Barkley said from the other end of the table. “We appreciate your generous offer, and we’ll definitely take you up on it , if necessary.”
“I hope so.” Roubidoux smiled politely , sitting down. “That’s all I want to say, other than thanks for the coffee and pastries, which I really shouldn’t have touched, but they looked so good.” She looked at Griffin. “If there’s anything you’d like to say while we’re all still here, please go ahead. Otherwise, I think we should probably clear out and let you get to work.”
Griffin shrugged. He didn’t stand up, just swiveled his chair back and forth, looking up and down the table. “What Marie -Louise said about jurisdiction is as plain as it gets. I’m here to discover what I can about the behavior of your offender, what made him select your victim as opposed to other potential victims, and tell you what I can about him. But don’t expect me to be out there running around with my gun in the air helping you chase down suspects. It’s been a long time since I worked in the field and, believe me, that’s something that makes me very, very happy.”
As everyone laughed, he swung around to look at Barkley. “Actually, there’s something I was going to discuss later with Hank that I’ll bring up right now, if you don’t mind.”
Barkley raised one of his football-sized hands and swallowed a mouthful of coffee. “Mmm. By all means.”
Griffin looked at Montgomery. “You’re the PIO on this case, right? I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.”
“Officer First Class Eleanor Montgomery,” she replied. She was the only person in the room wearing a uniform.
Griffin nodded. “Officer Montgomery. Right. I watched some of your tape. You’re very good.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Unfortunately,” Griffin went on, “since your UNSUB’s pretty obviously the Rainy Day Killer, one of my first recommendations to Hank is that he take over as the public information officer for this case.”
As Philbin stirred in his chair, Griffin raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you see it? A key part of this guy’s post-murder behavior is to start a dialogue with the lead investigator. That’s already happened with Hank through the package he got on Thursday with the video and the victim’s amputated breasts. He’ll establish telephone contact next, and he’ll expect Hank to be the one who tells the world all about the horrible exploits of the killer who kidnaps women when it’s raining outside. He’s not going to be satisfied with some anonymous PIO reading prepared statements to the microphones—with all due respect, Officer Montgomery—because he’s not interested in a relationship with you, he’s interested in a relationship with the guy running the investigation. He wants Hank to feel the pressure, he wants to squeeze him, and he wants him to slip up on camera and reveal stuff that’ll crank up the fear level in the community.”
He tapped his hand on the table. “ You have to have a single person making all the statements to the press. If you say one thing in the press room, Officer Montgomery, and then they catch Hank outside on the sidewalk and he says something different, the public gets confused and upset. Surprisingly, this guy also gets upset. He’s been known to contact the media himself to correct erroneous statements or anything else he didn’t like, and you definitely don’t want that. You want full control of all information going out to the public, and you want to keep this guy focused on Hank and not on some loose-cannon reporter eager for attention. Understand what I’m getting at?”
“I don’t agree,” Philbin said. “Montgomery’s an
“Thank you,” Barkley said from the other end of the table. “We appreciate your generous offer, and we’ll definitely take you up on it , if necessary.”
“I hope so.” Roubidoux smiled politely , sitting down. “That’s all I want to say, other than thanks for the coffee and pastries, which I really shouldn’t have touched, but they looked so good.” She looked at Griffin. “If there’s anything you’d like to say while we’re all still here, please go ahead. Otherwise, I think we should probably clear out and let you get to work.”
Griffin shrugged. He didn’t stand up, just swiveled his chair back and forth, looking up and down the table. “What Marie -Louise said about jurisdiction is as plain as it gets. I’m here to discover what I can about the behavior of your offender, what made him select your victim as opposed to other potential victims, and tell you what I can about him. But don’t expect me to be out there running around with my gun in the air helping you chase down suspects. It’s been a long time since I worked in the field and, believe me, that’s something that makes me very, very happy.”
As everyone laughed, he swung around to look at Barkley. “Actually, there’s something I was going to discuss later with Hank that I’ll bring up right now, if you don’t mind.”
Barkley raised one of his football-sized hands and swallowed a mouthful of coffee. “Mmm. By all means.”
Griffin looked at Montgomery. “You’re the PIO on this case, right? I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.”
“Officer First Class Eleanor Montgomery,” she replied. She was the only person in the room wearing a uniform.
Griffin nodded. “Officer Montgomery. Right. I watched some of your tape. You’re very good.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Unfortunately,” Griffin went on, “since your UNSUB’s pretty obviously the Rainy Day Killer, one of my first recommendations to Hank is that he take over as the public information officer for this case.”
As Philbin stirred in his chair, Griffin raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you see it? A key part of this guy’s post-murder behavior is to start a dialogue with the lead investigator. That’s already happened with Hank through the package he got on Thursday with the video and the victim’s amputated breasts. He’ll establish telephone contact next, and he’ll expect Hank to be the one who tells the world all about the horrible exploits of the killer who kidnaps women when it’s raining outside. He’s not going to be satisfied with some anonymous PIO reading prepared statements to the microphones—with all due respect, Officer Montgomery—because he’s not interested in a relationship with you, he’s interested in a relationship with the guy running the investigation. He wants Hank to feel the pressure, he wants to squeeze him, and he wants him to slip up on camera and reveal stuff that’ll crank up the fear level in the community.”
He tapped his hand on the table. “ You have to have a single person making all the statements to the press. If you say one thing in the press room, Officer Montgomery, and then they catch Hank outside on the sidewalk and he says something different, the public gets confused and upset. Surprisingly, this guy also gets upset. He’s been known to contact the media himself to correct erroneous statements or anything else he didn’t like, and you definitely don’t want that. You want full control of all information going out to the public, and you want to keep this guy focused on Hank and not on some loose-cannon reporter eager for attention. Understand what I’m getting at?”
“I don’t agree,” Philbin said. “Montgomery’s an
Similar Books
