The Crying Season (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“Now look at Lilly’s arms and legs.” Wolfe crouched down beside the body, avoiding the pool of blood. “Look here and here. These are the same as Bailey Canavar’s wounds.”

Jenna swallowed the rising bile in her throat and bent closer. The deep cuts seemed to be the same distance apart in a straight line. She glanced up at Wolfe. “That looks methodical.”

“And difficult to achieve if she was struggling.” Kane leaned over her shoulder. “He restrained her but from the bruises, he held her still then cut her. Those are finger marks on her wrists.” He shook his head. “This happened just as Colter Barry explained.”

“Yeah.” Wolfe shook his head. “And we know it’s not the first time he’s done this. He knows how to keep a person alive and still inflict the maximum amount of pain.”

“Do you think he raped her?” Webber’s Adam’s apple moved up and down. “Did Mr. Barry mention that?”

“Nope.” Kane’s brow furrowed as he glanced at Wolfe. “Can you tell?”

“Not until after the autopsy. There is no evidence as such but we did find an empty condom packet, so it’s likely.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “It might be difficult to determine as they were lovers.”

Jenna swallowed hard and tried to get her mind around the grisly details. “What are we up against?”

“The killer has unusual traits.” Kane shook his head slowly. “He leaves some of the bodies for the animals and others to rot. I wonder if he likes to visit them.”

“Is that why he used the gas to protect his victims from the wildlife? So he could come back and look at them?” Webber glanced at Kane, his eyes filled with disgust. “Oh, that is gross.”

“It is unusual behavior.” Kane scratched his head. “I wonder if he has kept trophies?”

Jenna stood, glad to be away from the staring eyes of Lilly Coppersmith, and turned to Kane. “Dear Lord, you don’t think this creep has bits of his victims in his fridge, do you?”

“Anything is possible.” Kane cleared his throat. “Anyone who does this to a person is not what I’d class as ‘normal.’”

36

Monday, week two

Monday morning arrived with a fresh chill in the air and the earthy smell of overnight rain. Kane had his chores finished before daylight, and after their early-morning workout, he met Jenna for breakfast. He had spent his time in the stables mulling over the case and running different profiles through his mind in an attempt to make a fit for the killer. He waited for Jenna to finish eating before he mentioned his concerns. “This killer is different in so many ways, he is difficult to profile.”

“I know what you mean.” Jenna pulled a face of disgust. “From what I’m seeing at the crime scenes, he is a cross between Jeffrey Dahmer and Hannibal Lecter.”

Kane rubbed the back of his neck. “He is displaying traits of the more famous serial killers, which makes me wonder if he fixates on violent psychopaths. Maybe this erratic behavior is role-playing or he wants to make his mark in history. Men have killed for notoriety.”

“But why choose the same type of woman?” Jenna sipped her coffee and gave an appreciative sigh.

Kane refilled his cup and added cream and sugar. “If he is fixating on killers, he would know about hybristophilia.”

“What?” Jenna chuckled. “That sounds like a cleaning utensil.”

“A hybristophiliac is a woman who gets off on having a relationship with a murderer.” He met her gaze. “It’s often called the Bonnie and Clyde syndrome. I know it sounds a bit farfetched but it could be part of his motive.”

“How so?”

“I have two possible causes for this type of psychopathy. From the damage inflicted to the women in particular, we know the killer is consumed by his own importance and likes to be in control.” Kane sipped his beverage, enjoying the full-bodied flavor of his favorite brand of coffee. “I figure this goes way back to when he was a kid. If someone he loved—his mother, grandmother, or a girl he liked—belittled him, in front of his friends for instance, the resentment could simmer for years before it’s triggered.” He glanced at her. “That would be the most likely scenario but an unstable personality could be disturbed if his mother or grandmother died and left him alone or, worse, in an abusive situation. In both cases, he had no way to control the circumstances, but when he murders he has control over life and death. The type of woman he murders all have dark hair and blue eyes. This type is significant to him and he needs to prove to himself he has control over them.” He frowned as the images of the brutalized women flashed through his mind. “The torture is important as well. He wants them to beg for their lives because in his sick mind, he is recreating the impossible situation he faced in the past.” He sighed. “But by taking control and killing them, he is balancing the scale.”

“So how does this tie into being fixated on other serial killers?” Jenna raised one black eyebrow in question.

Kane leaned back in his chair, making it creak. “The variety and method of his kills makes it obvious he is aware of other psychopaths.”

“So how do you tie the Bonnie and Clyde syndrome into his motive as well?”

Kane ran the tip of his finger around the rim of his coffee cup. “This is a man with a huge ego. I wouldn’t be surprised if he figures by becoming a notorious murderer, women will flock to him in prison and he will have power over them.” He frowned at her. “There are women who are attracted to criminals. The most horrific serial killers receive sexually explicit letters from thousands of women; hell, some of them even marry them in jail.”

“Then why is he concentrating on couples?”

“This is a narcissistic trait. He disabled the men then tortured the women in front of them to prove the men inadequate because they failed to stop him. It is a typical ‘look at me, I’m better than you’ situation. He wants to prove his dominance over women but needs a witness to satisfy his ego. So we can add ‘likes an audience’ to his behavior traits.” Kane met her inquisitive gaze. “We know from Colter Barry’s statement that the killer incapacitated him and made him watch. That would tie in with the reason the killer poured gas over the male victims, to prevent animals devouring them. In the killer’s sick mind, he left the guy to watch the animals eat the woman he loved.” He rubbed his chin. “The problem is I can’t work out what he is planning next, why he is escalating now. It’s as if he’s taken on the personas of a number of famous murderers and mixed them together. There is no rhyme or reason to his actions. He doesn’t display his victims, or take physical trophies unless he has a refrigerator at home filled with body parts. The fatal injury is different in each case and he uses different weapons.”