Page 37 of Their Haunted Hearts (Detectives Kane and Alton #27)
Thirty-Six
Rio’s words percolated through Jenna’s mind as she waited for Wolfe and his team to process the scene.
The killer had suddenly become more dangerous.
It was obvious that he was living some deluded fantasy about vampires but how did Jenna’s team come into the equation?
She’d spent some time over the last couple of days reading as much information about this type of unusual behavior as possible.
She wanted to get inside his mind to discover his next move but that was proving more difficult by the moment.
This killer wasn’t following any particular behavior.
She didn’t know if he drank the victim’s blood because he believed it gave him power or if he was influenced by myths and legends or books that he’d read.
It seemed, like most of the serial killers they’d hunted down, this guy had his own individual fantasy when it came to murder and he was using the vampire slaying as an excuse.
During her time dealing with serial killers, she’d discovered that all of them had blamed somebody else for what they’d done.
None of them could admit the fact that they were mentally ill.
Many of them believed that what they were doing was happening everywhere else in the world and nobody cared.
In fact, many of them believed people should be grateful.
As Rio and Webber carried the body to Wolfe’s van, she hurried to his side. “It looks the same as the others, doesn’t it?”
“I’m afraid so.” Wolfe scanned the corn maze.
“He sure knows how to select a place where it’s difficult to leave any evidence.
” He indicated to the ground. “This walkway is so littered with debris that I’d never be able to prove anything we found here belonged to the killer.
I wonder how many people have been walking up and down placing the props and Halloween decorations in the last week.
” He looked at Jenna. “Do you have any suspects?”
Nodding, Jenna followed him back to the road with Kane close behind.
“Yeah, we have a couple that look promising but everything we have on them is circumstantial evidence. It doesn’t make the investigation any easier.
Unless I have someone stake out the roadhouse over the next few days and hope he strikes again.
However, we don’t know for sure if that’s his hunting area.
He seems to be changing it up each time. ”
“I’m hoping that we’ll get more information from the victims’ local law enforcement agencies over the next few days.” Kane moved beside Wolfe. “If we get some idea of why the women were in Black Rock Falls, maybe we’ll be able to trace exactly where he ran into them.”
“It could be totally random.” Wolfe removed his gloves, balled them up and shoved them into his pocket.
“I’ve read about killers like him, whose fantasies are triggered by certain people.
They have a type. In this case, maybe, he sees a thin pale-skinned woman and something in his twisted mind tells him she is a vampire and needs to be staked.
He believes he is saving people by removing her from society. ”
“Maybe he’s been reading too many vampire slayer books and it’s an identity problem.
” Kane rubbed his chin. “We’ve dealt with another Halloween killer who believed by murdering young women at Halloween, he gained years on his life.
He must have gotten that idea from a novel.
Now we have this one, who by his ritual must believe he’s preventing the vampires rising the next morning.
The thing is, he’s got his story mixed up.
In all the stories I’ve read about vampires, it takes a vampire to create one. ”
Jenna nodded. “True, so do you believe this killer created his own vampire bloodletting machine, or whatever, and believes he’s a vampire?”
“Then he’d be creating them, not murdering them.” Kane rubbed his chin. “If that’s his motive, it doesn’t make sense.”
“Ha, y’all can’t make these people logical.
” Wolfe leaned against his van. “Their minds work in a way necessary for them to validate murder. He sees vampires as a particular type of woman. I figure he is consumed with the old movie type of female vampire, with long hair and flowing white gowns, so he creates one in that image and believes by draining her blood and staking her, he’s saving her from damnation. ”
Running a hand through her hair, Jenna stared at him. “By murdering her?”
“Unfortunately, yeah, I believe so, but what makes sense to us means nothing. He might see his reason for killing completely differently. There’s no logic in what they do—that’s what I’ve deduced over the years working with you, Jenna.
Their minds work on a completely different plane to ours.
” Wolfe pushed away from the van. “It’s late.
I’ll call you in the morning and we’ll schedule an autopsy.
” He wiped a hand down his weary face. “Another family lost a daughter tonight. The killer must have left a clue behind, something we can use to stop him. If it’s there, I’ll find it. ”