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The four still in Memphis were working on the June Killer case. Everybody wanted to change the name but no one’s suggestions impressed the others, so “June Killer” had remained. They were working on a computer prediction of five routes that the killer might take on his next vacation. Amazingly, the computer had started all five routes from the same town in North Carolina. It was a sprawling suburb of Raleigh called Cary. Blake and Peter were in an ongoing dialogue as to how the computer came up with that town.
Blake believed that Peter had written something into the program – maybe unwittingly – that suggested a location, but Peter swore there was no such thing.
Taylor was behind the bar making coffee. “Blake, you want a cup?”
Blake was at the big table below the large screen on the wall, expecting Peter to call any minute. “I would love a cup, and bring that box of rolls over here, too, if you would.”
Taylor arranged the coffee and box of sweet rolls in front of their chairs just as the screen lit up, and the figures of Mary and Peter appeared, sitting in Peter’s computer room. “Morning, guys.”
Blake had taken a big bite out of a jelly roll, so Taylor answered for them both: “Good morning, Peter, and good morning, Mary!”
Blake washed down the rest of the roll with a shot of coffee and asked, “What’s going on this morning?”
Peter cleared his throat before he spoke. “Last night I asked the computer to run a timeline for the travel and killings compared to past events. Two of the routes have been eliminated. We are now down to three.”
Blake held up his hands. “Wait a minute. How does the comparison eliminate two routes?”
Peter got up and walked to the map behind him on the wall. He pointed out the routes. “This one – if the killer keeps to his system of killing – would take him three days longer than his two-week vacation. This other one would take him two days longer. As far as I can tell, he has always kept to the two-week timetable.”
Blake finished his coffee. “Good job, Peter! However, everything depends on the starting point being Cary. If the computer is off on that one point, none of this information is useful.”
Peter sat back down. “You’re right, and I wish I could assure you that the computer is right, but I have no idea why it picked Cary. She has access to a lot of information that I’m not even aware of. We’re tied into A.P.S.’s security system, and it may have something to do with their routing. I honestly don’t know. It could be any town around Cary, with Cary being the center point.”
Blake rubbed his eyes. “You don’t know why or how, but you have faith that the computer is right and Cary is this guy’s home base or close to it?”
Peter didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I do – complete faith that Cary is a good starting point.”
Blake reached for one of the files on the table. “Okay, we’ll go with that. Now, let’s talk about Decatur, Alabama. Mary, have you come up with a profile yet?”
Mary moved closer to the middle of the screen. “We have little to no new information from our agents in the field so I have nothing to help with. The killing and then the hanging and mutilation after death don’t make sense to me. The post-mortem hanging and mutilation would indicate rage, but if the killer had that much rage toward the victims, why kill them first? Then, the way he disposes of the bodies suggests it’s a man and not a woman. Moving that much dead weight wouldn’t be possible for most women. Also, it seems to me that the killer is taking a lot of risks in carrying the bodies over open water to the same location each time. The location has some deep meaning for him. And he likely goes there because he thinks it’s safe, but it’s not clear why he might feel that way.”
Blake had been reading through the small pile of papers he had on the case. He looked up at Mary. “So, no real progress on a profile?”
Mary shook her head. “No, I’m just saying what the facts suggest as likely possibilities. I have very little information to go on, so a full profile isn’t possible.”
Blake turned to Taylor. “We need to figure something out. Wayne hasn’t checked in for a few days – get him on the phone.”
Everybody sat silently waiting for Wayne to answer the call. “Agent Roberts.”
Taylor let out the long breath he was holding. “Wayne, where have you been? We’ve been waiting for a call.”
The connection was breaking up. “Let…call…room… elavator—”
Taylor hollered into the phone mic as if that would make his voice clearer on the other end. “We’ll be waiting!” He disconnected and said with a sigh, “He’s alive anyway.”
They all laughed – a tension-releasing reaction with nothing funny implied. Taylor’s phone rang. It was already in the speaker’s cradle, so he pressed the button. “Wayne?”
Wayne had almost run down the hall to his room, the prospect of hearing a friendly voice was so attractive. “Yes, yes, it’s me. How is everybody doing?”
Blake moved closer to the mic. “We’re fine, Wayne, but we were worried about you. Mary hasn’t come up with much in the way of a profile. We need to do something different.”
There was a nervous grunt from the other end of the line. “I spoke to a man today who said the last time he saw one of the victims, the man was being shoved into the back seat of a police car by Sheriff Banks.”
Taylor stared at the phone. “Are you saying that the sheriff is the killer?”
Hearing someone else say the words made the idea sound even crazier. “The man I spoke to is a drunk, his word would never hold up in court. But he and the victim were drinking buddies. Why come up with such a story if it isn’t true?”
A lot of things were going through Blake’s head, including pulling Wayne and Rainbow out, but in the end he changed his mind. “Wayne, I’m sending Taylor to Decatur” – he and Taylor exchanged glances – “I don’t want you and Rainbow there alone. Taylor will arrive by this afternoon.”
Wayne sounded relieved. “It’ll be good to see a friendly face. You have no idea what it’s like to be a black Federal Agent in a town like this. I’m hated by both blacks and whites.”
Taylor leaned close to the mic. “You sit tight until I get there, Wayne. Have you heard from Rainbow?”
Wayne paused. “He checked out of the motel the next day, and I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”
Blake couldn’t hide the worry in his own voice as he said, “We’ll take care of finding him, Wayne. You just stay in the motel until Taylor gets there.”
Blake said good-bye and clicked off. “Peter, see if you can find Rainbow. Check every camera that town has until you locate him.”
“I’m on it, Blake. I’ll get back to you as soon as I find something.”
The check-in with Peter and Mary was over and the screen went black. Blake turned to Taylor and said urgently, “Don’t let them kill any of our people.”
| Copyright © 2019, 2020 by Ed Rogers |
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