“We are consulting with a very well-credentialed criminal psychologist, Patricia Holmes. She will be working directly with Sergeant McCoy who has operational control, reporting directly to me. Questions?”
“Why a psychologist, sir?”
“To help give us an insight into the mind of this killer. He has shown very clear planning ability, but why? Clearly, he is insane, and not like any murderer I have come across. We need to have some idea of what he might do next, because otherwise we are just playing catch-up, responding to what he does, when what we need is to try to get one step ahead of him. I ask you to give Ms. Holmes every assistance, and make her feel welcome, and a valued part of the team. Do not, and I repeat: do not hold anything back from her. If she asks anything, and the questions may seem odd, answer as well as you can. She is going to try to get inside the mind of this killer for us. She has extensive experience, having spent six months as an intern with the FBI’s profiling team.”
There were several mumblings. “Right, areas to focus on: we are continuing with the interviews of the people we know used the phone box. We also need to go back and re-interview people there because we now believe the killer had that call box under his own observation trying to find who he thought would make the right witness for his next victim. Someone must have seen this man, find him.”
“One team is to question again people we know used the dump, another at the shopping center where the first victim was taken from, as well as the supermarket that the current victim was taken. Despite the disguises we know some things about this man we didn’t know before. Have a good look at the incident board, get out and find me a witness, there’s a bottle of whiskey for the best lead today. Get to it.”
****
Rick and Tyler were escorted to Patricia Holmes’ office at the University of Western Australia by a young student working at the administration reception. She tapped on the door and opened it wide for them to enter the rather small office, adorned with books on every ledge and shelf.
Pat stood and welcomed them, with a broad smile. She wore a red woolen V- necked jumper and black slacks, and Rick’s first thought was she had the art of making ordinary cloths look exceptionally good. She held her hand out to Rick first who shook it warmly.
“Pat, this is my partner, Tyler Dundass.”
“Hello, Tyler, that’s a good strong name, sit down both of you.”
“Good to meet you Ms. Holmes.”
“Call me Pat, everyone does. So, Rick, what happened last night?”
He placed a beige manila folder on her desk between them. “As you predicted, Pat, Bridget Schaeffer was murdered before we could get her in front of an artist. Those are the crime scene photos you asked for, but I should warn you they are very graphic, and not for the faint hearted. It may be better if I give you a description.”
“Thanks for the warning, but I pretty much know what I will find. A frenzied attack, I’m guessing just inside the front door. She probably died quite early, but he kept on attacking her, am I, right?”
Rick nodded. “How can you possibly know that?”
“Good question. I think I’m getting a feel for our killer, but again I must remind you I would expect to be up to twenty percent wrong while I know so little about him. If what I’ve thought so far is correct, then our man is a deep planner, to the point of obsession. So, he would want this killing not to resemble either Melanie or June’s cases. In his mind, he would want to be diametrically opposite to those murder profiles. Also, he would want to avoid being caught while he is playing this game with you. So, it makes sense to attack her the moment she opened the door, else why would she let him inside, or why not scream blue murder, if she had a chance.”
Pat reached for the folder and opened it. She visibly blanched as she looked through the photographs, but took time to study each one, before putting it down in front of her.
“You know, we psychologists love to categorize our patients into neat little descriptive boxes like: Sociopaths, Multiple Personality Disorders, Psychopaths, Bi-Polar etcetera, but this man is not so easy to do that to. I want you to think of him as a puppeteer, with several different puppets for different situations. He only shows you the one he wants you to see, but the one you are seeing isn’t the one who is behind it all. Does that make sense?”
“Not really, Ma’am, no,” Tyler answered, but Rick looked at Patricia and nodded.
“Let me ask you this, Tyler. If you didn’t know it was the same man who killed Melanie Cartwright, and Bridget Schaeffer would you ever consider it was one and the same, bearing in mind that both murders were planned down to the last degree?”
“No, I would think they were two different offenders.”
“Right. So, he plans everything, and I mean everything, but it’s all show. He killed Melanie for his own pleasure, but he wanted you to find the body, why? I think he wants fame. If he didn’t want you to know about it, he would have buried her in the bush somewhere, or his back garden. So, he is a showman. Sure, there was a risk the suitcase might have gone unopened, but that would be unlikely. Look at me, aren’t I clever? Look at what I can do, and how stupid do you look when you can’t stop me. When you interview him, and possibly you already have, he will be completely believable as a witness who saw nothing. You will have no idea you just spoke to the killer, and he will be laughing his head off. I think, during this investigation you will interview him several times, and you won’t know. Because the puppet he puts in front of you will be exactly what you expect to see in that circumstance.”
“But why? Why go to all that trouble?”
“Why do I like skiing at Falls Creek every winter, reading Jane Austen, and eating chocolate cake? Because that is who I am. I, like him, am a product of my upbringing, and circumstances. You must understand that. I don’t know what led him to get to where he is specifically, but it’s the sorts of things that would send most people into depression, heavy drug use or suicide. In his case, he created this persona to protect himself from all the suffering in his formative years. You know they say that by the time a child is seven years old they are programmed for life?”
“I read that somewhere, I think,” Rick answered.
“I know you would like me to give you some information to help catch him, and I’ve given a lot of thought to that. I’ve been up half the night, listening to our recording and thinking, Rick. So here is what I think is the most likely scenario, and the best advice I can give you right now: Melanie was not his first victim. What she was though, was the first time he wanted you to know about him. He has done many things leading up to this, and if you can find some of them, then he would have made mistakes while he was perfecting his craft. Some of the things I am talking about would have been done through anger, or because he reacted to a situation, ergo he killed. And as he did, he learned. Firstly, he learned that he liked it, and was good at it, and so after the first two or three killings, then, and only then did he start planning them. Don’t misunderstand me, the earlier ones he thought out carefully and plotted, but they were for a purpose or because he reacted to a situation. The later ones were for pleasure. But, as he developed into a full-blown murdering machine, it wasn’t enough. He wasn’t getting the credit for them, so he evolved into what you see now, this puppeteer showing you what he wants you to see, and playing the real game of Life, and Death. He’s even come up with a name for the game which he put in the note: Catch Me if you Can.”
Rick was fascinated, and could listen to her for hours, and never get bored, and he could tell by the thoughtful silence from Tyler, he felt the same way.
“Pat, with his early victims, how will we catch him, even if we could identify them as his work?” Rick asked.
“Because he knew them, Unlike Melanie, June and Bridget. So, if you find a couple, or more, of his early unsolved murders, and look at the acquaintances of those victims, you will find our man. And, when I say he knew them, he knew them well. I suspect he was questioned at the time and d
ismissed. That, and the fact that he knows you, Rick, have constructed him into who and what he is now. He wants all police to acknowledge his greatness, and you Rick, I believe he wants to make you look like a failure, because I get the feeling, you once failed him. It’s possible, but not likely, but a slim possibility, he applied to join the police force, and was declined, or if he didn’t apply, he wanted to, but knew that he would be refused. Probably by his build, being so small and slight in stature. He would be far too smart to fail any IQ, or intelligence testing.
“What you and I find horrifying, he thinks is fun. He has no conscience, feels no guilt or shame, and this is all a thrill to him. But like any addiction, he must up the dosage to feel the same thrill as he did before. So, he killed once or twice, maybe even more, because he was used, abused, threatened, or ridiculed. To those situations he reacted, as only he could, and he learned. Possibly he worried about being caught at the time, but he wasn’t, and that sowed the early seeds for this game he is now playing. From here on in, for each killing he will up the ante. He wants recognition, he wants the whole world to see how clever he is, and I am sorry to say, that you, Rick, I fear will be star of his show.”
Rick shuffled forward on his chair, feeling uncomfortable. “Pat, I’ve wracked my brain, and I can’t think of any situation I’ve come across where I’ve let someone down or treated someone so badly they would want to get back at me like this. Other than locking up criminals, of course. Should we be looking at my previous arrests?”
“Look, I might be wrong about this, it may just be because you were heading up the first investigation. But that just doesn’t feel right to me. If I’m on the right track with his psyche.” She tapped the top of her desk with her fingernail. “If I’m right, you’re thinking about this from the wrong angle. This isn’t about what you did, it’s about what he thinks you did, or possibly didn’t do. Maybe he wanted you to do something for him, and you failed, and he never forgave you for it. You need to cast your mind back, you would have been doing your job, but think about the kind of person you may have come across. He might have been vulnerable to whatever situation he was facing. Possibly a victim of crime, rather than someone who committed one.”
“So, could he have been a child when I met him? If so, how many years are we going back if he is an adult now?”
She shrugged, “yes, it’s possible he was, and he harbored that hatred for years. But it’s also possible he was an adult. Either way, this has been brewing for a long while. Sometimes ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold.’
“Will he attack me personally, try to kill me?”
“It’s hard to know, I need more to go on. But you should take all precautions. Remember, he must up the dosage each time to get the same thrill. I think he had lost track of you, then he started killing, and found you again. He saw you on TV, and, miracle upon miracle, you were investigating him. Imagine that, from his perspective. He kills, and you are now hunting him. So, what does he do? He decides to make it personal and taunt you. It’s personal, and yes, Rick, you should be very careful. You may well be his endgame, the point where it all finishes, because, once he gets even with you, what else is there to get him the same thrill from?”
“I hope he does come after me, then I can put a stop to him, permanently.”
She shook her head. “Rick, you still don’t get it. If, and when, he decided to make it more personal, you won’t see him coming, because you will be expecting a frontal attack. That’s not his style, and if you don’t get that now, you may never catch him until he wants you to. He won’t act, or react, as you think he will. Probably, whatever you do, he’s already envisioned it and planned accordingly. When he does something, he has already allowed for your reaction, and has a contingency for it. Your best chance of stopping him is through his footprints. Whatever led him to this state, he left his mark. You need to find those footprints in the sand, and look at all of the suspects again, he is there, trust me.”
“I had an idea, before this latest victim, and the DI and the commissioner thought I needed to run it by you and get your thoughts.”
“Oh, I do hope you are not going to say what I think you are.”
“What do you think I will say?”
“You’re going to use the media to try to talk to him, taunt him back.” She looked at him with one eyebrow raised, a particularly sexy look, he thought.
He shook his head, knowing that his idea was not going to go down well. “Yes, well, kind of. I thought I would go to the media and plea for help. Say that there was new evidence in the body in the suitcase murder, that a witness had come forward. Then I was going to give a description of him with what we now have, and a vehicle. How did you know that was my idea?”
“Oh, let’s just call it a hunch.” She smiled. “It’s what I would expect someone of your experience and dedication to do. Do you know his vehicle?”
“No, I was going to pick one that we know was there that day but the owner of it did not come forward. You see, we narrowed the time frame down by talking to people who didn’t see the case at the dump, and those who did. The van is a possibility, but we have no idea of the make, model, or license plate. My thinking was that if it was him, he might worry, and respond, and my doing so could make a mistake. And it if wasn’t his car, then he would want to gloat about us being wrong, and so still might make a mistake.”
She sat back in her chair and tented her finger tips. She stayed silent for a minute and Rick could almost hear the cogs of her mind turning as she examined the idea from every angle.
“Rick, I think it’s a very good idea, and credit to you for thinking abstractly. But, I feel like I must caution you. There is no way to tell what effect it may have on him, and therefore, what he may do in retaliation. One things for sure, it will make him sit up and take notice. Here is my suggestion, don’t announce it; he may see through that. Have it leaked, and don’t be specific about the vehicle, just say you now know what vehicle he used. Say you have a good description of it and the driver. Let a friendly reporter think you are closing in, and don’t talk about this case. Make him worry, make him wonder why you’ve not gone public to find the missing woman, or track him down. Please though, just remember that once you start the snowball down this mountain, there is no telling where it will stop, or how big it will be when it does.”
Tyler leaned forward in his seat, “could it make him kill June Daniels and head for the hills?” he asked.
She turned her gaze to Tyler and shrugged once more. “Tyler, that is an awfully good question, and one I am not one hundred percent sure of the answer to. My instincts tell me she will be dead before you get to him anyway, because it’s going to take time to track him through past case files. If so, what will he do then? I don’t think he will run away; that would not be true to the profile I have of him. This type of murderer, generally, will do one of three things, in a situation where he knows you are closing in.”
She held up her fingers and touched them as she counted down. “One: commit suicide once he has taken as many with him as he can. Two: permit you to capture him, or even hand himself in for the infamy it will attract. Three, attempt to kill Rick and go out in a blaze of glory.”
“Pat, would you like to join the task force that been set up, have a look at the evidence as it comes to hand, actually be involved in tracking him down.” Rick asked, hoping she would agree.
“What, you mean like a deputy; me?”
“Well, we were thinking more as a consultant, or advisor.”
“Personally, I’d like nothing more, but there are some complications; I don’t think it would be such a good idea to be on the front line.”
“We need you, Pat. Why do you think it’s not a good idea?”
“You can come and see me any time, for a chat, I’d love to help. But, sooner or later the press would get wind of my involvement if I worked with you at the station. Then you’d be ridiculed, sadly we do not live in an enlightened age in Australia where ps
ychologists are valued in an investigative role. That would play right into our man’s hands. Plus, I’m not sure he would take kindly to a psychologist working on the case, he would see that as an insult to his intellect, and that could be very disadvantageous to his prisoner. Whatever you do, don’t let him think that you think he is insane; to him he is the sane one. Let’s just leave things as they are, with me in the background for now.”
****
Later that night, after Amy was in bed, and they had eaten dinner, Rick knew he had to talk to Juliet about the case, and one aspect more than anything else. “Jules, I need to talk to you about something that has been bothering me.” He patted the seat alongside him on the couch for her to sit.
Juliet had finished tidying the kitchen after dinner and was rubbing moisturizer into her hands. “This sounds ominous, what’s it all about coach?” she asked, with a wary note in her voice.
“It’s been in the back of my mind ever since Pat told me that at some time PPP’s and my path crossed. She has reiterated today that’s her belief. As you know, she thinks I’ve done wrong by him, possibly a long time ago. But, for the life of me I can’t think of a situation I’ve been responsible for harming anyone, physically or mentally.”
She sat down next to him, smoothing her pink skirt underneath her thighs as she did. “Go on, this is sounding more and more like bad news.”
He shook his head, emphatically, “no, not bad news, more being prudent. I guess there are two issues that bother me. First and foremost is your and Amy’s safety. You asked me the other day if I thought PPP knew where I lived, at the time I said no, I couldn’t see how he could. But one thing has become clear since Pat became involved; she believes this man is seriously into long-term planning. So, I’m wondering if somehow he does know where I live. If he does, then he knows you and Amy are here. For your safety, I think you should move in with your mum and dad for a bit.”
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