Lachlan
“So…a copycat?” I asked Ethan after taking a moment to process his theory.
“Not exactly. A copycat would mimic the original offender. This doesn’t read like a copycat to me. It didn’t to Claire, either. This guy isn’t trying to replicate the crimes. If he were, he’d stalk his victims, rape them, then try to get them to take their own lives.
“This new guy, while arguably intelligent enough to evade detection, is not as…calculating. It’s more like a tribute that borders on obsession. Something he absolutely must do, no matter what. On March third, he has to kill a college student who also volunteers her time to a homebuilding charity. Has to kill a social media influencer on July tenth.” He tossed another file in front of me, Evelyn Price written on the tab. “Has to kill a hotel desk clerk on October thirteenth.” Another folder. “A flight attendant January twenty-ninth.” Another. “A barista April fourth.” Another. “A personal trainer August twelfth.” Another. “A waitress and aspiring model on December thirtieth. Then he starts the cycle all over again.”
I stare at the folders. “Did Claire ever go to the police with this?”
He blows out a laugh under his breath. “Of course she did. But no one would listen. Insisted it was all a ‘coincidence’. Not to mention, each of these deaths, like with Domenic Jaskulski, was ruled a suicide. But unlike with Nick, we’re pretty certain these women didn’t take their own lives. That this guy made sure they died on the right day. Which was why she believed he didn’t abort his mission when he realized Piper wasn’t alone, as he’d originally hoped. He needs to complete the ritual. It isn’t just a hope or desire, but something he needs to fulfill. So when he broke into your house and saw you there, he had to do everything in his power to ensure he completed the ritual, no matter the cost.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face, all too aware of the cost incurred that night. Claire almost didn’t survive, and I was lucky team management was understanding. I’d just been promoted to the majors, then was brutally attacked hours later, resulting in a serious concussion and a fractured knee cap, an injury that put me on the disabled list for the rest of the season. But through it all, I was determined to come back stronger than ever. To prove I belonged in the majors. Which was precisely what I did.
“Did she at least talk to Nikko about this?” I asked. “He’s a detective and close family friend. Practically like a brother to me. And her.”
“She told me about him and his background. She wanted to gather more information before dragging him into this, considering who Piper was to him. That’s why she hoped to talk to his wife.”
“Whose wife?”
“Domenic Jaskulski’s. Well, I suppose ex-wife is the more appropriate term.”
My eyes widened. “He was married?”
“And had a daughter. It’s actually fairly common among serial killers to live a double life. If he were this uneducated loner who worked a menial job, he’d be on law enforcement’s radar. He’d at least fit the profile. But an educated family man with a career who was regarded as a pillar of the community? Not exactly the type of person who comes to mind when hearing about this kind of thing, is it?”
“Definitely not. Did the wife know what he was doing?”
“There’s a difference of opinion on that. But based on the evidence that came out during his trial, it was determined she was probably one of his very first victims.”
I nodded, staring into the distance, the sound of children laughing as they played on the beach like a perverse soundtrack to the twisted story I’d just heard.
“Why did Claire want to talk to this guy’s wife? What did she hope she’d be able to tell her?”
“Claire wanted to see if Julia knew who could be doing something like this. And to see if her theory was correct.”
“And what theory was that?”
“This guy…” He gestured to the photos of dozens of women laid out on the coffee table. “He’s methodic. Ritualistic. At least that’s the profile we constructed based on the little information we were able to get from friends and family members of the victims. Do you want to know what every single one told us?”
“What’s that?”
“Each mentioned an important piece of jewelry was missing. Something they never would have parted with. Something meaningful.” He paused, slowly lifting his eyes to mine. “Was there anything of Piper’s you noticed missing after she died?”
My pulse steadily increased as I nodded. “A necklace. Something I had made for her after she won her first big surfing tournament. After she died, I wanted to do something with it as a memorial to her, but I was never able to find it.”
“Claire believed this was intentional. Part of the ritual. While Nick routinely stole things from his victims as he stalked them, on the day they committed suicide, he always took one more memento.”
“What was that?” I asked hesitantly, not sure I wanted to know.
“A souvenir to commemorate their death. Always a meaningful piece of jewelry, which he would then gift to his wife.”
“And Claire believed whoever’s repeating his kill cycle is also giving his wife the jewelry?”
“Not the perpetrator’s wife. But Nick’s ex. It was just a theory, but Claire hoped if she could confirm whether the ex-wife had received any odd gifts after Nick went to prison, it might be all the proof she needed to unequivocally show there was something going on. That it was more than a mere coincidence a waitress happened to take her life on the same date as the waitress did in Jaskulski’s case.”
“And what did she say?”
“Who?”