Page 101 of Girl Between

“Lights,” Creed said, and the room fell into darkness.

Dana was half expecting him to follow the command withcameraandaction, but instead he nodded to another young agent, who tapped a few keystrokes on her laptop, bringing the smart screen to life.

“If everyone will please take a seat,” Agent Creed directed.

The NOPD officers and Dana looked at each other. The BAU agents, including Richter, were already seated. She caught Richter’s eye. His dejected shrug told her these by-the-book antics were par for the course with the new unit chief.

Savoring the familiar classroom tingle of academia, Dana complied, taking a seat between George and Lena. Her breath hitched when the first graph appeared on the smart screen.

“Thanks to the details supplied by the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s office and parameters established by doctors Gray and Cruz, we’ve established a pattern of behavior that has left us with 68 victims spanning 23 years,” announced Creed.

Dana stifled a gasp.

“That’s more than we estimated,” Lena whispered.

“The majority of the victims are female,” George said, reading the graph.

“Yes, but not all,” Agent Creed continued. “We’ve linked ten male victims to this case. This tells us our unsub is someone who’s more motivated by convenience than sexual deviancy.”

“Or unsubs,” Dana interjected.

“Astute observation,” Creed agreed, clicking to another graph. “It’s likely, given the length of time these murders span, that we’re dealing with multiple unsubs, possibly familial.”

“Father teaching son?” Neville probed.

“Or daughter,” Lena added.

Creed shook his head. “Our unsub is a man.”

“How do you know that?” George challenged.

Creed rattled off more stats. “84% of serial killers are men. And most will commit their first murder at the average age of 27 and a half.”

“That’s specific,” Neville muttered.

“That’s what we do here,” Creed said. “Boil things down to specifics.” He used his laser pointer to draw attention back to the smart board. “The ratio of female victims in this sample increases the percentage that our unsub is a male drastically. Looking at the few male victims in this sample, what do you see?”

Creed continued when no one spoke up. “All the male victims happen to be small, elderly or powerless. It confirms the theory that at least one of our unsubs sees themselves that way. It’s textbook to target mirror images of themselves, thinking that will eliminate their problem. When it doesn’t, they graduate to more advanced killings that help them feel powerful. I.E., all victims for the last 18 years have been female.”

“I have a different theory,” said LaSalle.

“Please,” Agent Creed replied, gesturing for her to share.

She stood. “These impotent assholes get off killing women. Any men in the mix were collateral damage. Showed up at the wrong place, wrong time.”

Creed smiled patronizingly well for someone of his age. “Baseless emotions won’t help us narrow our scope, Officer LaSalle. What we can tell about our unsub from these statistics is that we’re looking for at least two or more men. Based on victimology, they’re Caucasian heterosexuals.”

“At least one of them will have a background in medical knowledge,” Dana added.

“Precisely, Dr. Gray,” Creed offered. He moved to the next slide. “We also know they have access to this vehicle.”

Dana stared at the dark, unmarked vehicle. “Is that a hearse?” she whispered.

“Thanks to CCTV and local surveillance footage from the cemeteries where the most recent bodies were discovered, we’vesurmised this is how the unsub is getting his victims to the cemeteries.”

“You’re telling us this bastard works at one of our funeral homes?” Neville asked.

Creed shook his head. “We’ve already confirmed that this vehicle doesn’t belong to any funeral home here in New Orleans.”