Kerry considered May's words, tapping her finger on her jaw.
"I am not sure I like your theory," she said eventually. "It needs some work."
"It's just a theory," May said defensively.
"If it was true, then as an experienced behavioral analysis unit agent, I would say you need to look to the first or second killing. Because a killer like this would have started out with his own family, if he had issues like this. Or else, he would have done one as a test, and then gone on to destroy his target. From there, he might have been addicted, and then gone on to widen his scope. That might be why he’s now targeting police partnerships instead of direct family. Because, as you say, he is escalating, and so any link is now a reason to kill."
"Is that so?" May asked, impressed.
"Yes. In my experience, that’s how those killings work. So if you believe in that theory, that's where you need to look."
"Okay," May said. "I will look into the first and second crime more closely."
"I'm going to speak to the bomb squad and see what they were able to pick up before the second detonation. It could be that he planned it to destroy evidence he knew was already there." Kerry stalked off, looking purposeful.
Around her, the scene was still chaotic. Two more fire trucks had arrived with hundreds more spectators, all standing well back from the smoky, blazing scene.
May felt compelled to take positive action, now, to solve this. It was the least that all these brave people who'd died deserved, she thought. She would do it for the sake of their families, and for the sake of the community. And she would do it for herself.
"I like your theory, May. There definitely seems to be a family connection in the way some bombs were set up to be detonated when relatives called in," Owen said to her. “That’s the message this guy is sending, for sure.”
"Let's go back and look at the victims' connections again," she said. "And this time, let's examine it from the point of view that our suspect might have had a grudge against the first or second victim. That would be the manager of the roadhouse diner, Barbara Vining, and the schoolteacher, Mrs. Flannery. We need to look more closely into the background of both these two, and see if there is anyone related to them who has a criminal record, or who could have wanted to do them harm."