Page 93 of Girl Betrayed

The corner of Hartwell’s mouth twitched into a lopsided smirk. “Only one way to find out.”

“If we play it right, release a false profile, the Unsub might actually call the tip line to clear things up,” Richter said. “We know he’s smart, organized, a psychopath versus psychotic. He’s the kind of killer who will inject himself into the investigation. Especially if he thinks we don’t understand why he’s killing.”

“What if it’s more than one Unsub?” Dana asked.

“There’s not adequate evidence to prove that theory,” Hartwell argued.

“And there’s nothing to disprove it either,” Richter said. “Go on, Dr. Gray.”

“I don’t have any hard evidence, but the scenes have all been completely different. One was outside a rehab facility. One in a park. One in a parking lot. And then there are the victims. Different race, ethnicity, gender. We’d never link them if it weren’t for the murder weapon. And the brutality of the second victim’s death is on a different level.”

“I have to agree with Dr. Gray,” the Alchemist interjected. “After examining the lacerations made on all three victims, it’s my opinion they were inflicted by at least two separate individuals of varying heights.”

Dana mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ to Raynard, accepting his olive branch.

Richter frowned. “You bring up valid points, but I have to tell you, the odds of cases like these leading to multiple unsubs are nearly nonexistent. Our profile points to a white male, mid 40s to 50s who’s highly intelligent, professional and works alone.”

“Actually,” Walsh interrupted. “Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, known as the Lonely Hearts Killers, worked as a pair killing an estimated seventeen women in the 1940s. Or the Lethal Lovers; two nursing aids from Michigan who went on a killing spree at the hospital they worked at in 1987. Then there was the Podkopaevs, a Russian family of four who killed together in 2009. And how can we forget the Manson family?—”

“Okay! Okay,” Richter said, interrupting Agent Walsh’s morbid monologue. “We get the point. But one key factor you’re missing is that all except the Manson family were sexual deviants. There’s been no evidence of sexual assault on any of these victims.”

“That’s our breadcrumb,” Hartwell said. “We say our Unsub is a sexual deviant.”

“Is agitating a highly dangerous murderer really the best idea?” Dana asked.

“We’re out of better ones,” Hartwell replied.

“Fine,” Dana grumbled, “but while you’re dropping breadcrumbs, I have another lead I’d like to follow.”

“What’s that?” Hartwell asked.

“Meredith Kincaid.”

Hartwell’s tired expression hardened. Dana could see he knew the name. Though he hadn’t worked the Priory of Bones case, he’d certainly heard about it. Everyone in D.C. had.

The last thing Dana wanted to do was drag Meredith back into a criminal investigation, but she couldn’t shake the feeling Mere might be able to shed light on Dvita’s motives.

Unwilling to leave any stone unturned, she quickly explained Agent Spector’s interest in Meredith.

“Already have her listed as a person of interest,” Richter confirmed. “She’s worth a visit.”

“I’m worried the Reaper might target her.”

“She’s not on our list of potential targets,” Richter said.

“I know, but Dvita’s treated her. He even brought her to Passages to mentor Claire.”

“What?” Hartwell’s complexion soured. “Dvita took a convicted felon from the nuthouse on a field trip, and I’m just hearing about it now?”

“It’s all in the files HSI sent over,” Richter replied without batting an eye. “But Dr. Gray raises a fair point. We need to expand our parameters to include patients Dr. Dvita is currently treating outside of Passages.” He strode over to Agent Walsh who quickly executed the command.

Dana watched the list of targets grow from eleven to more than sixty. Hartwell swore, crumbling his paper coffee cup before throwing it in the trash. “Any more good news for me to share at the press conference?” When no one in the room spoke up he kicked the trashcan. “That’s what I thought. I need a shower. This suit was stale two crime scenes ago. Call me when you have something I can share with the press.”

Dana watched Hartwell lumber out of the room, his frustration palpable. She too felt the pressure of the ticking clock. They’d been at this for hours. The more time they spent here, the less time they’d have to apprehend the Reaper before the next kill.

Without a definitive direction there was only one thing left to do. Dana rolled up her sleeves as she approached the nearest evidence table and began the daunting process of combing through it again.

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