Authors: Alexa Grace
"That doesn't sound like much of a lead, let alone a connection," Robynn remarked. There were skeptical lines at the corners of her mouth.
Before Wayne could speak, Gabe pointed out, "I saw the same year and model of van in the surveillance taping of the parking lot of the Hoosier Bar and Grill where Abby Reece was last seen. Two men climbed into the van."
"We talked to the truck stop clerk working that day and showed him the surveillance tape. He remembered two men got out of the van wearing baker's uniforms underneath black hoodies. They came inside and bought Cokes. He didn't offer much of an I.D. He only got a quick look at one of the men. He said the one who paid for their items looked young, maybe even a teenager."
Robynn shook her head. "I'm still not seeing much of a connection."
Cameron pulled two pencil sketches out of one of his folders, but didn't share them with the others yet. "I met with the Hoosier Bar and Grill bartender who was on duty the last night Abby Reece was seen. When I showed him the surveillance tape, he immediately identified the two men heading toward the white van as the two who had fixed their attention on Abby that night. He confirmed they left the bar about thirty minutes prior to Abby."
"That still doesn't—"
"Let me finish," said Cameron to Robynn. "The bartender also identified the men in baker's uniforms and black hoodies in the truck stop surveillance tape as being the same two men."
Carly pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and leaned forward in her seat. "What did he guess to be their ages?"
"That's where it gets tricky. I asked the bartender what age he thought the two men were. He said he couldn't tell. He was obviously hedging, and getting more uncomfortable by the second. So I asked him if he carded the men. He was way too defensive when he told me he had."
"Which could mean he thought they were underage, but accepted their identification cards as real anyway."
Robynn pulled the sketch closer with her fingernail. "Are these your sketches of the two men?" Sliding them to the center of the table so the others could see, she turned to Cameron.
"They are the results of the descriptions he gave to our sketch artist."
"You sound skeptical."
"I am, Gabe. I'm not sure I trust that bartender to give the artist accurate impressions."
Carly glanced at the sketches. "Are you thinking he may have given the artist information to age each one?"
"Exactly. He was paranoid about getting caught serving minors."
"But regardless, does anyone else think the two men look alike?" Carly looked around the table.
"I do." Robynn said and the others nodded in agreement.
"Well, I've got something to add to that." Wayne Griffin pulled a sketch out of his briefcase. "I compared your two drawings to the one our artist made after talking to the truck stop clerk. Keep in mind, the clerk only got a good look at one of the men. See what you think." He carefully positioned his drawing next to Cameron's in the center of the table.
"I wish the perp wasn't wearing the hoodie in your sketch," Gabe examined Wayne's sketch carefully. "We could get a better look at him."
"Wait." Carly pointed to the sketches. "Look at them closely. The bone structure is the same, as is the downward slant of the eyes, and thinness of the lips. See the high cheekbones in both sketches?"
"I agree." Wayne continued to compare the three drawings. "The only difference between the sketches is that in the ones provided by the bartender, the men look slightly older."
Brody looked at Cameron, his mouth thinning with displeasure. "Have one of your detectives visit this bartender, and ask him if he'd like to spend some time in the county jail for causing an unreasonable delay in our investigation by providing our sketch artist with false information. See if he'd like a second chance to work with the sketch artist again."
"Will do," promised Cameron, who began to type a text on his cell.
"Going back to the van," Robynn began. "Do you have anything else that ties the van to the murders here in Shawnee County?"
Searching his file folder for a moment, Wayne withdrew two photographs and slid them across the table to Robynn. "Our crime scene techs were able to cast tire prints from the areas where we found the bodies of Darla Green and Val Staley. As you can see from the two photos, the tire prints are identical. They're Goodyear Tracker 2 all-season tire P245/70R17. These types of tires are commonly used on utility vans."
"May I see those?" Cameron asked as he took out two photos which he placed next to the ones Wayne provided. He turned all four photos around so the others could see them. "As you can see, the tire prints we found at the church parking lot where Destiny Cooke was abducted, and the tire prints discovered near Kaitlyn Reece's home are a perfect match to the ones from Wayne's murders."
"Kaitlyn Reece is dead?" Robynn's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"No." Gabe shook his head. "Her house was shot at by someone with an AK-47 and those are the tire prints we found on a dirt road where I saw a white van fleeing the scene."
"Wouldn't you agree, Detective Burton, that the murders are linked?" asked Brody.
Robynn shrugged. "The tire prints may or may not link the two cases. Is it safe to assume this type of tire is used on other types of vehicles?"
"Unfortunately," Cameron responded. He rose from his seat and headed for the food table, where he poured himself a cup of hot coffee. Returning to the conference table, he asked, "Robynn, do you have any DNA results from the evidence I sent you for the state police crime lab?"
"I have a good friend at the lab who was able to rush your evidence through for me. You sent me the hair that was found on Abby Reece's body. It did not belong to her. You also sent the hair stuck to the duct tape that bound Destiny Cooke's wrists."
"Any DNA found?"
"Yes, each hair you sent was from a different male. The good thing is we now have DNA profiles for two different individuals. The bad thing is we ran them through CODIS, the FBI's DNA database, and got no hits, so we still don't know who these males are."
"Damn it." Gabe cursed with frustration as he scrubbed his fingers through his hair. "I had really hoped—"
"Wait," Robynn interrupted. "There's more, and it's very interesting."
"You
did
find something?" She had Brody's full attention.
"Realizing that we have two possible killers, my friend ran it again using what is called PCR technology."
"What's that?" Cam lifted an eyebrow.
"PCR technology is DNA analysis that is usually applied to determine genetic family relationship such as maternity, paternity, sibling-ship, etc." Robynn said. "Our two males are siblings. Your killers are brothers."
<><><>
In his bedroom, Devan worked intently on his laptop.
Evan, sitting on his bed, asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm looking for another target since your precious Kaitlyn Reece has disappeared like a fucking ghost."
"Can't we give it a little more time?"
"Hell, no. It's been weeks, and I'm sick of trying to trail someone we can't find. We're focusing someone else." Reading the disappointed expression on his twin's face, Devan added, "Listen, if she turns up, we'll get her. But for now, let's move on. We don't want our favorite sheriff to get lazy, do we?"
"I guess not."
"Come look at this babe."
Evan got off the bed and circled to the back of Devan's chair. "She's beautiful. Who is she?"
"Carly Stone."
"Why does that name sound familiar?"
"The other night at dinner, Dad was talking about her. She's the profiler the sheriff hired last year when they were searching for Jim Ryder."
"That's right. Dad said she is living with the sheriff."
"Which is why I looked her up on the Internet. The photo of her was taken last year when the sheriff did a news conference. She looks like a fucking Barbie doll."
"Better than that, it sounds like the sheriff has feelings for her. Just imagine how he'll react when he discovers her gone. Let the stalking begin. Hello, Carly Stone."
<><><>
"I think the men who killed the prostitutes in Indianapolis and the two coeds in Shawnee County are thrill killers who are very organized and careful to pre-plan their crimes. They identify and stalk their victims until they abduct and murder them. They do not necessarily suffer from a mental illness."
Brody grimaced and shook his head. "I have a problem agreeing with that statement. Who in his right mind would do something this evil?"
"I guess we can find out for sure when we catch them," said Gabe.
"Go on, Carly. This is interesting," Robynn urged.
"It is," added Wayne Griffin, who was pouring himself another glass of tea. "I've been waiting a long time to hear this profile."
Carly sipped her iced tea and then continued, "Thrill killers do not get sexual satisfaction from killing their victims. Usually they have nothing against them, and sometimes do not even know their victims. They are motivated by the sheer excitement of the act."
"Like that's not fucking sick," Brody remarked under his breath.
"Remember the Zodiac Killer in the late sixties in the San Francisco Bay area?" Carly began. "He once wrote a letter to the newspapers making a claim that killing gave him the more pleasure than sex. He even said, '
'
It's better than getting your rocks off with a girl.'"
"Were the Hillside Stranglers, Ken Bianchi, and Angelo Buono, considered 'thrill killers?'" Robynn was curious and intrigued at the same time.
"Yes. They took young women to Buono's home for the sole purpose of torturing and murdering them. Many times, they covered the women's heads with plastic bags until they passed out. Then, after they revived the women, the torture would continue."
Carly went to the whiteboard at the far end of the room to refer to notes she'd written before the meeting.
"We already know our killers are male," said Carly. "They are Caucasian, and in their late teens, as the truck stop clerk and all surveillance tapes have identified them. They are intelligent, good-looking, and charming. Both look harmless enough for our prostitutes to have trusted them to get into their vehicle."
"Besides our suspicions about the Hoosier Bar and Grill bartender, why do you think our killers are in their late teens?" asked Cameron.