whole load of questions running around your head, but that one’s up there at the top of the list.’ Taylor stared at me, and I stared right back. A nod towards the bed. ‘Have a seat. Let’s talk.’
Taylor walked over to the bed and sat down.
‘I needed to know if I could trust you,’ I said.
‘Why?’
‘We’ll get on to that. The other thing I needed to know was whether I could work with you. On the plane when I asked your opinion on the film clip, I wanted to find out if you’d tell me what you thought rather than what I wanted to hear. I hate “yes” people. Then back at the station house, I needed to know if you could think on your feet. You knew the profile I gave was bullshit, but you kept your mouth shut. Good call, by the way.’
‘But why? I don’t get it. Really don’t get it. Why go to all the trouble?’
‘Because there’s one massive assumption that’s been made with this case, an assumption that’s based on a piece of misdirection that even I’ll admit is pretty impressive.’ I paused for a second to catch my thoughts. ‘Okay, when I gave the profile I said we were looking for a white male who’s five foot nine and in his thirties, slim-built and college-educated. Five pieces of information. Two of those pieces of information are correct, and three might be correct.’ A shrug. ‘Then again they might not be. So, which two are correct?’
‘It’s a trick question,’ said Taylor. ‘All five are correct. You got the information from the film clip. The guy who tossed the match was definitely white and slim-built, and five-nine is in the right ballpark. The nature of the crime, chances are he was college-educated and in his thirties. It’s not exactly rocket science, Winter.’
I kept my mouth shut, gave Taylor a couple of seconds to think through what he’d just said.
‘Shit. The guy who tossed the match isn’t the unsub. That’s the assumption, right?’
‘You almost had it earlier back on the plane when you said the firestarter could have been a robot.’ I held up my hand, thumb and forefinger an inch apart. ‘You were that close. The lack of emotion was the key. You were right about that. And there are easier ways to kill people, more efficient ways. You were right about that, too.’
Taylor’s eyes were wide open and he was giving me his complete and undivided attention. Any thoughts of leaving had dissipated.
‘Fire is a nasty way to kill someone. The only person who would choose fire as a murder weapon is a sadist, and a sadist would react very differently from the guy in the film. A sadist would draw things out as long as possible. He’d take his time. He’d play around with his props. He’d shake the jerry can so his victim would hear the gasoline sloshing around inside. He’d light a couple of matches and let them burn down to his fingertips before blowing them out. He’d taunt his victim until he broke. Then he’d torch him.’
‘Jesus,’ Taylor whispered. The faraway look on his face was made up of a mix of horror and revulsion.
‘The one thing a sadist would never do, not in a million years, is march straight up to his victim, douse him in gasoline then toss a lit match on him. Where’s the fun in that? Our firestarter was coerced into doing this.’
‘How?’
I shrugged. ‘He was threatened somehow. Maybe a family member. Have you had any missing person reports come in over the last forty-eight hours?’
Taylor shook his head. ‘Not that I’m aware of.’
‘So probably not a family member, then. Not unless there’s a house full of bodies that hasn’t been discovered yet. Anyway that’s not the important question here. The important question is why? Why didn’t our unsub do his own dirty work?’
‘No idea, but I’m guessing he had a really good reason.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘The fact he chose fire as a murder weapon means he’s got sadistic tendencies. However, the fact he got someone else to light the fire
Taylor walked over to the bed and sat down.
‘I needed to know if I could trust you,’ I said.
‘Why?’
‘We’ll get on to that. The other thing I needed to know was whether I could work with you. On the plane when I asked your opinion on the film clip, I wanted to find out if you’d tell me what you thought rather than what I wanted to hear. I hate “yes” people. Then back at the station house, I needed to know if you could think on your feet. You knew the profile I gave was bullshit, but you kept your mouth shut. Good call, by the way.’
‘But why? I don’t get it. Really don’t get it. Why go to all the trouble?’
‘Because there’s one massive assumption that’s been made with this case, an assumption that’s based on a piece of misdirection that even I’ll admit is pretty impressive.’ I paused for a second to catch my thoughts. ‘Okay, when I gave the profile I said we were looking for a white male who’s five foot nine and in his thirties, slim-built and college-educated. Five pieces of information. Two of those pieces of information are correct, and three might be correct.’ A shrug. ‘Then again they might not be. So, which two are correct?’
‘It’s a trick question,’ said Taylor. ‘All five are correct. You got the information from the film clip. The guy who tossed the match was definitely white and slim-built, and five-nine is in the right ballpark. The nature of the crime, chances are he was college-educated and in his thirties. It’s not exactly rocket science, Winter.’
I kept my mouth shut, gave Taylor a couple of seconds to think through what he’d just said.
‘Shit. The guy who tossed the match isn’t the unsub. That’s the assumption, right?’
‘You almost had it earlier back on the plane when you said the firestarter could have been a robot.’ I held up my hand, thumb and forefinger an inch apart. ‘You were that close. The lack of emotion was the key. You were right about that. And there are easier ways to kill people, more efficient ways. You were right about that, too.’
Taylor’s eyes were wide open and he was giving me his complete and undivided attention. Any thoughts of leaving had dissipated.
‘Fire is a nasty way to kill someone. The only person who would choose fire as a murder weapon is a sadist, and a sadist would react very differently from the guy in the film. A sadist would draw things out as long as possible. He’d take his time. He’d play around with his props. He’d shake the jerry can so his victim would hear the gasoline sloshing around inside. He’d light a couple of matches and let them burn down to his fingertips before blowing them out. He’d taunt his victim until he broke. Then he’d torch him.’
‘Jesus,’ Taylor whispered. The faraway look on his face was made up of a mix of horror and revulsion.
‘The one thing a sadist would never do, not in a million years, is march straight up to his victim, douse him in gasoline then toss a lit match on him. Where’s the fun in that? Our firestarter was coerced into doing this.’
‘How?’
I shrugged. ‘He was threatened somehow. Maybe a family member. Have you had any missing person reports come in over the last forty-eight hours?’
Taylor shook his head. ‘Not that I’m aware of.’
‘So probably not a family member, then. Not unless there’s a house full of bodies that hasn’t been discovered yet. Anyway that’s not the important question here. The important question is why? Why didn’t our unsub do his own dirty work?’
‘No idea, but I’m guessing he had a really good reason.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘The fact he chose fire as a murder weapon means he’s got sadistic tendencies. However, the fact he got someone else to light the fire
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