The Crying Season (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“I don’t call what happened to the John Doe an easy death.”

Kane lifted his cup and sipped. “It was, if everything inflicted on him was post mortem and done to conceal his identity. The killer wouldn’t have taken much enjoyment out of his murder.” He placed his cup on the table and looked at her. “His thrill comes from the suffering he inflicts on his female victims. I’d say we’re looking for a male, mid-twenties to late thirties, has a history of unstable relationships with women. I would say from the use of trail cams and the types of weapons, this person is a hunter and likely has an arsenal of weapons. From what I have seen from the injuries, he places his shots for a reason, likely not to kill but to disable. That takes a certain amount of skill, so perhaps ex-army or similar.”

“What keeps nagging at me is the fact Bailey Canavar and Paige Allen, the cold case victim, are similar in appearance.” Jenna leaned on the table. “They are about the same height and build and have dark hair.”

“Yeah and they have blue eyes as well.” He shrugged. “I have two possibilities; one hinges on the type of women he is killing. The viciousness of the murder would make me believe he is taking revenge against a woman who jilted him or humiliated him in some way. Perhaps as a young man, one of them told him he was a lousy lover or embarrassed him in front of his friends.” He sipped his coffee and sighed. “The majority of people would get over something like that but that type of incident could trigger a psychopath. I would say he is a player, good-looking or charismatic, and used to having women fall at his feet.”

“You mean like Ted Bundy?”

A shiver went up Kane’s spine. That would be the last type of psychopath he needed running loose in Black Rock Falls. “Yeah, and if it is, we are in big trouble. This type blends into society as a nice guy and some are married with kids. For some unknown reason, they don’t kill their close friends even though they might fit the profile of an ideal victim. They are unpredictable because they are prepared to wait for a potential victim but they do escalate if the type of victims they prefer are plentiful. Remember Bundy pretended he had an injured arm to get women to help him load his groceries or whatever then bundled them into his car. The next thing he went ballistic and broke into a college and killed random women.”

“Okay, so we can assume the victims would be the same type of person: age, hair, and so on.” Jenna rubbed her temples. “Do we have another possibility?”

“Yeah.” Kane stretched out his legs and leaned back in his chair. “Or we have a man with financial troubles, a Casanova type who is in the relationship for the cash.” He leaned back in his chair. “This would fit Jim for Bailey’s murder but not for Paige Allen and Dawson Sanders. My money is on the first type.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to pull up any cases of violence against women.” Jenna leaned back in her chair. “See what you can dig up.”

Kane finished his coffee and stood, collected the dishes, and carried them to the bench. “Okay.”

“Leave the plates. I’ll put them in the dishwasher later.” Jenna’s cellphone blasted out a heavy metal ringtone and she picked it up. “Sheriff Alton.” She held up one finger to him. “Hold for one second, Detective Brennan, Deputy Kane is here, I’ll put you on speaker. Okay, go ahead.”

“We’ve had officers at the airport, no sign of Jim Canavar. His credit cards haven’t been used since he arrived in Black Rock Falls but he did withdraw a substantial amount of cash before he left. As far as we know nobody has heard from him.”

“No sign of him here either.” Jenna’s dark lashes covered her expression. “Have you interviewed any of his associates?”

“Yeah, I didn’t get too much information from his friends but Bailey’s were a fountain of information. The consensus is Jim was a player with other women on the side. They warned Bailey he was after her money and she still refused to sign a prenup. She is insured as well, so he gains millions on her death.” Brennan tapped on her keyboard. “I dug a bit deeper and looked into his finances. He received a huge bonus from her father’s company the day they married and I found his current booty call. It was quite a surprise. The booty call is one of three women he meets in a bondage club for group sessions. Apparently, Bailey wasn’t aware of his fetish; he planned to ease her into the idea after the honeymoon.”

Kane cleared his throat and glanced at Jenna. “Detective Brennan, this is Deputy Kane. Did they mention if he was dominant or submissive?”

“I had the same question for them. He was dominant and they mentioned bondage and whips. That is all I have for now. I’ll keep digging.”

“Okay.” Jenna pushed a strand of dark hair behind one ear and met Kane’s gaze. “Thanks for letting us know.” She disconnected and sighed. “Now what?”

Kane rubbed his chin, thinking over the implications. That twist did not fit into his profile. “I may be wrong but I think we need to be looking for him closer to home.”

27

The crisp morning battered against the metal plate in Kane’s head, bringing the now familiar throb of an oncoming headache. He had hoped that by winter, he might be over the torture endured from the bitter cold, but the cool morning had proved otherwise. After exchanging his cowboy hat for a thick-lined woolen cap complete with sheriff’s department badge, he headed for the office.

The ride into town was like moving through a picture postcard. The wide-open landscape and pine forests climbing endlessly up the mountainside displayed every color on an artist’s palette. He had to admit fall in Black Rock Falls was uniquely picturesque. His past life living in Washington, DC, had drifted into a memory and he enjoyed a comfortable connection to Black Rock Falls and its townsfolk. He had a warm feeling of belonging.

A familiar waft of honeysuckle perfume drifted on the air as he strode into the office. He gave Maggie a wave as he passed her at the front counter and headed for his desk. He was about to put Rowley to work searching for local cases of violence against women when his cellphone vibrated in his pocket. He slid it out and glanced at the caller ID. “Morning, Shane, what’s up?”

“I called Jenna and she is busy chasing down some leads.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “Could you drop by my office this morning? We have completed the autopsies on the latest victims. I’ll write up a report of my findings later but it will be extensive and it would be quicker to show you what we’ve found.”

Kane stared at his computer screen. “Sure, when?”

“Ah… as soon as possible.”

“I’ll be there in five.” He disconnected and headed for Rowley’s cubicle.

He noticed Rowley scrolling through Bailey Canavar’s Facebook page and smiled. One thing for sure, Rowley could work alone when it came to investigations. He was an asset to the team and thought outside the box. “Find anything useful?”

“Not really, just the usual.” Rowley leaned back in his chair. “I was checking out her friends, seeing who she friended recently, then looking at the cold case victims and seeing if any of them match.”

Impressed, Kane smiled at him. “Looking for a stalker?”

“It’s all I could think of—we haven’t had any viable calls coming in about Jim Canavar as you figured his description could fit most of the men in town at this time of the year. It’s as if he vanished into thin air.”