Malice

by C. M. Sutter

  “True, but going with that idea, we can find the closest street cameras in the proximity of the victims’ homes and watch for the same vehicle to drive by. That would definitely be more telling since none of the victims lived near each other.”

  “You’re absolutely right. Now we may have something valid to work with. I want to see that news video from yesterday at Sarah’s house too. We’ll catch up on everything the officers have done so far, try to figure out what that sign means, then track down every camera the perp would have to pass to get to the homes. I think we finally have something to keep us busy other than chasing our tails. For now, as a precaution, we need to make sure every listing from Scenic View has been taken off the MLS database and every yard sign comes down.”

  “That’s hundreds of homes throughout the state, Jade.”

  “And hundreds of lives.”

  Chapter 35

  Once again we gathered in the conference room, and every chair had an occupant. Half the people in attendance were closing in on forty hours without sleep. Before the meeting began, Hardy asked Dana to bring in two carafes of coffee and a stack of cups.

  “Okay, people, we’re going around the table. I want to know everything that’s been done so far and the outcome up to this point.” Hardy pointed at Andrews. “What do you have, Fred?”

  Fred rubbed his forehead as he studied his notes. “I can speak for Tyler, myself, and at least three of the officers in here, sir. We’ve interviewed personnel at the salons used by Sarah Cummings and Gloria King. Nothing stood out after speaking with the stylist that each of these women used. They only spoke of the weather, the monthly gossip magazines, and their latest activities. We couldn’t find hardware store receipts or gym membership contracts at either home. The Kings seem to frequent Sammy’s Steakhouse several times a month, but again, only the typical waiter-and-customer conversations were exchanged.”

  “Did we hear anything from the precinct where Jackie’s vehicle was found?”

  “We did, sir,” Dixon said. “They didn’t come up with any witnesses.”

  “And where is Forensics with the vehicle?” I asked.

  “Not far enough, ma’am,” Dixon said. “Half of the team is still at the latest victim’s house in Bellevue.”

  I nodded solemnly. “That’s true.”

  J.T. spoke up. “Is it feasible to pull Scenic View’s listings from the MLS database?”

  Hardy looked at Andrews. “I hate to ask, but can you call Lisa and find out how that’s handled?”

  “I’m on it, boss.” Andrews stood and left the room.

  “J.T., did you send those pictures to the printer?”

  “I did, Cap, and they should be ready to pick up.”

  Hardy tipped his head at Franklin since he was closest to the door. “Paul, would you mind grabbing them?”

  “Not at all.”

  I bumped J.T. with my knee to get his attention. I wanted him to mention his idea while we waited for the photos of the sign.

  He cleared his throat. “I have an idea that we should implement immediately. It could prove useful, and I know this tactic has worked in the past.”

  “The floor is yours,” Hardy said.

  “We’ll need to locate cameras nearest each of the victims’ homes. It could be street cameras, retail space cameras, or cameras mounted on the sides of banks or office buildings. It doesn’t matter, but it should be the last camera at an intersection the killer would have to drive through to get to each victim’s house. We need to view those tapes starting on the day Sarah was killed and through the day Jackie went missing. If the same vehicle passes by each camera, we can be almost one hundred percent sure it’s our guy.”

  “That’ll work. What do we need, J.T.?”

  “A satellite view of the streets that lead into the neighborhoods of Sarah Cummings, Mr. and Mrs. King, and Jackie Stern. From there, we’ll establish where the closest commercial cameras are for the properties that the killer had to drive past. We have to bottleneck him in each neighborhood.

  “Tyler, call Leon in Tech. Relay everything to him that J.T. just told us. Have him pull up the satellite images of every store and intersection that leads into the neighborhood of each house. Print them out and get them back here as soon as you can.”

  Tyler pushed back his chair and left the room just as Andrews returned.

  “Lisa said she’d see what she could do about minimizing those homes on the MLS website. No matter what, she doesn’t think the listings can be canceled without Mr. Stewart and the homeowner signing off. They are legal, binding contracts, and the homeowner couldn’t relist with another Realtor unless the first contract was legally canceled.”

  Hardy groaned. “This is an atypical case, though, and it involves risk to every homeowner.”

  “I’m just listening to the voice of experience, sir. Lisa is checking into the legalities and will call back as soon as she knows something.”

  “Okay, fine. Sorry, but patience isn’t my strong suit.”

  I nodded.

  “Here we go. Got enough copies for everyone?” Hardy asked as Paul entered the room with a stack of printed photos of the sign.

  “Sure do, sir.” Paul passed them around the table then took his seat.

  “Jade, you want to take charge?”

  “Thanks, Cap, I’d be glad to.” I stood to address the group. “I’m sure everyone here is aware of the murder that took place in Bellevue overnight. The image in front of you is of a sign the killer hung on the post that originally held the For Sale sign. He wants our attention and expects us to give the media carte blanche to run with this case. That isn’t happening. The media will only get the information that we, the FBI, offer them. I hope each and every one of you takes that to heart. Now, I’m not a profiler in any sense of the word, but I do know this man is trying to instill fear throughout the community but also to the person who has him so enraged. Our job is to remain levelheaded, keep the community safe, and find this killer before he strikes again. I want everyone to read that message on the sign and throw out your ideas of its meaning. During the meeting we recently had with Dr. Collins, a forensic psychiatrist, she offered her opinion. I’d like to see if any of your thoughts match hers. Please, take a few minutes to write down your ideas, and then we’ll open up the table for discussion.”

  I sat down and poured myself a cup of coffee. I stared at the photo lying on the table in front of me and began jotting down my own thoughts.

  Minutes later, most of the pens had been placed next to the photo, and the group had finished writing. I stood and walked to the head of the table, where the whiteboard rested on an easel. I picked up a marker.

  “Anyone care to start?”

  Dixon began by mentioning that the note didn’t imply a gender, yet most of the victims were women.

  “That’s absolutely true, Officer Dixon, and that’s why we’re leaning in the direction of him being angry at a woman. Does anyone feel differently?”

  Andrews spoke up. “What’s the issue with Scenic View Realty, then? That corporation is owned by a man.”

  Hardy agreed. “Write both of those points down, Jade. If anyone is arrogant, it’s William Stewart. Now that he’s been busted for running a Ponzi scheme, he’s definitely going to have to swallow his pride.”

  I added Stewart’s name to the whiteboard.

  “The note sounds like the perp isn’t taking any responsibility for the murders. He’s putting all of the blame on the person he’s addressing. He’s a psychopath for sure,” Lyles said.

  I wrote that down too. “What else?”

  J.T. set down his coffee cup and shook his head. “I have to agree with Spelling on this one. Read the first four words written on the sign. The killer wrote, ‘Hatred fills your heart.’ During the taped interview Brad had with him earlier in the week, Stewart said he didn’t have any enemies and that everyone loved him. That doesn’t sound like the words of one who had hate in his own heart. I think Stewart is an a
rrogant blowhard who got in over his head, but I don’t picture him as a hateful person.”

  “Does Stewart have a business partner?” I asked.

  “Nope,” Andrews said. “Not in his real estate holdings, anyway.”

  “Okay, what do you guys make of the part where he writes ‘in the end.’ What constitutes the end?”

  “He kills the person that this rant is aimed at,” Lyles suggested.

  Tyler spoke up. “No, otherwise they couldn’t swallow their pride.”

  “He means when justice is served,” Hardy said.

  “Now we’re getting somewhere. Okay, let’s take a look.” I turned to the board. “We have a psychopath who’s really pissed at someone. He feels wronged somehow and is taking it out on innocent people. He has a misguided idea that the person he’s angry with is hateful, although they may not be. He’s killed primarily women, and he went out of his way to create this elaborate sign in hopes that the person it’s aimed at will see it on the news. He wants to instill fear in them and in the citizens of Omaha and now Bellevue. How about physical attributes?”

  I looked around the table. I could almost see the wheels turning.

  J.T. offered his opinion. “He has to be strong enough to carry Marilyn LaSota from the bedroom to the middle of the yard. I can’t tell you her weight, especially since she was posed in a sitting position, but”—he looked at me—“help me out, Jade.”

  “Sure thing. I’d say she weighed about one hundred thirty pounds. Since I was in the house, I’d say the distance from the master bedroom to the middle of the yard was well over one hundred fifty feet. The guy is big and strong, or he flung her over his shoulder to carry her, which is somewhat easier.”

  Lyles added his two cents. “I wouldn’t put him over sixty years old, then. I doubt if someone that age has enough stamina or desire to hunt down people and plan ways to kill them.”

  I wrote under sixty on the board. “What about the fact that he stabbed every woman in the throat, but he didn’t do it to Bob King?”

  “That’s hard to ignore,” Hardy said. “I’d go along with the doc on that one. She says it could represent the act of silencing someone. One could take that several ways too. Maybe a particular person’s voice grates on his nerves, or somebody could have lied to him or fabricated a story about him.”

  Dixon added, “Or they just never shut up.”

  I nodded. “According to the doctor, if it’s a female he’s trying to silence, the two major women who come into play would be the mother and the wife. What do you guys think?”

  “Definitely the wife. They constantly yammer about nothing.” Dixon’s face went red when he caught me smiling at him.

  “Are we still profiling the killer, Kyle?”

  The room broke out into a much-needed round of laughter.

  Hardy brought the group back into the moment. “Why do you think he used garrotes on the Kings but nobody else, Jade?”

  “Good question, Cap. In my opinion, the perp carries the tools of his trade, so to speak, in his vehicle. He’s smart enough to have a backup plan with him at all times. If he truly wasn’t expecting Mr. King to be at the house, a theory J.T. and I discussed, then the garrotes may have been used to subdue the couple. If he wasn’t aware that a man was present, then killing two people that night wasn’t in his playbook. By having those garrotes with him, his job just got easier. I don’t think they were implemented with any kind of message in mind, just used out of necessity.”

  Fred’s phone buzzed on the table. He gave the screen a quick look. “It’s Lisa.” Hardy nodded an okay for him to answer it right there. “Hi, honey, I have you on speakerphone in our conference room. What did you find out?”

  “Hello, everyone. I hate to say it, but my hands are tied. I checked into the legalities of canceling listing contracts, and they do have to be agreed upon by both parties. If not, nasty lawsuits can come into play.”

  “What about pulling Scenic View’s listings off the MLS database?” Hardy asked.

  “That opens another can of worms. Every real estate company has the right to show and sell those houses, even when listed with a different Realtor. This is going to have to be addressed one house at a time and signed off on by the homeowner and Mr. Stewart. The homeowner can’t even legally pull the sign out of their yard. It’s another form of advertising, yet I doubt if your killer is trolling neighborhoods and looking for houses that might be for sale with a particular real estate company. That would be way too time consuming. He’s definitely checking the MLS listings.”

  I piped in. “I didn’t think the public had access to MLS listings.”

  “They normally don’t, but he found a way to get in. Sorry I couldn’t help out.”

  “Thanks, honey, you did what you could.” Andrews clicked off the call. “So now what?”

  J.T. sighed. “Now we need to go downstairs and talk to Stewart.”

  Chapter 36

  Leon Tripp, the tech department lead, said he’d have the satellite images of the intersections and businesses ready for us in thirty minutes. We broke so everyone could catch up with their duties and grab a quick lunch. Hardy told his men to be back at one o’clock.

  “You sure you don’t want to join us?” J.T. asked as the group dispersed and the conference room emptied out.

  I grabbed my briefcase containing my laptop and rode the elevator down with them. “I need to update Spelling and my to-do list. I also want to view the footage that has Stewart so pissed off. He may have a legal right to go after the media for slander.”

  “That’s what his attorney says, but right now we have to convince him to pull his listings for the sake of the community.”

  “Good luck with that. His Ponzi scheme is a different business entity called Wipast Holdings, so it doesn’t fall under the Scenic View Corporation. I’m pretty sure Scenic View can legally continue to bring in revenue. If his intentions are really to pay back investors, he’s going to need the real estate company to keep operating.”

  “He might want that, but what sane person is going to list their home with him?” Hardy asked.

  “I don’t know, Cap, but currently he has hundreds of properties listed across the state on the MLS database. I hope you can talk some sense into him.”

  We parted ways outside the elevator doors, and I turned left. I needed to feel the sun against my skin and take a few breaths of fresh air that weren’t spent looking over the body of a dead woman. I stepped outside and leaned against the brick column that faced the sun while I made a quick update call to Spelling. I told him J.T.’s idea about watching for the same vehicle leading into the neighborhoods where the victims’ houses were located.

  “That worked for us a few months back, but we were only surveilling one location. It sounds like a daunting task, Jade.”

  “It does, but the ME gave us his estimated TOD for each victim. We’ll narrow down the time line on the camera tapes to an hour in each direction of when the victim died.”

  “So far it sounds like the only thing to do. Are there any reliable leads coming in?”

  “Unfortunately not, and nothing has come in on Jackie Stern, either. She’s disappeared into thin air. The longer she’s missing—”

  “I know, Jade. It doesn’t look good. Keep me posted.”

  “Will do, boss.” I clicked off and sent a text to Amber, letting her know we’d probably be here into early next week. I sent my love and pocketed my phone. Back indoors, I headed to the visitors’ lounge to find a quiet corner where I could watch that news footage.

  I pulled out the laptop from my briefcase and settled in at a table near the back of the room.

  What station did J.T. say that was?

  I Googled the reporter’s name, which I remembered was Tammy Hawn.

  There it is, Channel 9. Now I just need to watch their footage on the murders from yesterday.

  I typed the station’s name into the search bar, and their website popped up.

  Wow, t
hey really are sensationalizing this case, and now with the Marilyn LaSota murder, they’re going to have a field day.

  The home page hadn’t been updated yet beyond the news of Jackie Stern going missing, but I was sure it would be in no time. The media depended on the police scanners for their latest information. Every bit of news they could glean about the Scenic View Serial Killer was spread across their website. In Mr. Stewart’s defense, I couldn’t blame him for his anger toward the media. I clicked on the video that was taped yesterday outside Sarah Cummings’s house. I hit the full screen icon and lowered the volume.

  The segment, only a few minutes long, was mostly about the brutal and senseless murders and how the local police were stumped and had no suspect in custody and no motive to work with.

  Gee, thanks for the boost of confidence in law enforcement you’re putting out there for the city to see. We’re doing the best we can with nothing to go on.

  The camera zoomed in on the memorial in front of Sarah’s house. Hundreds of flower bouquets were placed on the grassy median between the sidewalk and street. Beneath the yellow crime scene tape that wrapped her yard lay even more flowers and cards. Before she closed the segment, Tammy Hawn spoke of the For Sale sign being taken down by police, yet the public wouldn’t forget where the crime took place.

  No kidding, Tammy. You just gave the TV viewers the street and house address.

  As a final closing, Tammy signed off, and the camera panned the crowd of mourners gathered at Sarah’s home.

  My finger was on the icon to close the video when a face flashed across the screen.

  Wait a minute.

  I paused the footage and backed up the scrubber bar a few seconds.

  Why does that guy look familiar? It’s something about his eyes.

  I hit Play. The camera panned the crowd one more time, and my finger hovered over the pause button. I leaned in close and watched for the face then stopped the tape again.