“Dark, do something for me. Forget about the severed leg aspect of the crimes. With every kill, what has this unsub done?”
Sounded like Ripley had some ideas of her own.
“What do you mean? He’s killed three women.”
“No, he hasn’t just killed three women. There’s a theme here. I’m surprised you haven’t seen it, someone with your skill for noticing patterns.”
“Pattern? Every murder has been that little bit different. If it wasn’t for the mutilations, they could be three separate killings.”
“A-hem,” Ripley coughed.
Ella read between the lines. “What? You think that’s the whole point?”
“Your first victim. You said she was 25 years old? And he somehow got into her apartment and killed her?”
“Yeah, then cut her leg off.”
“Forget the leg component for a moment. That comes later. Understanding a killer’s ritual will rarely help you catch them. We find killers by uncovering their modus operandi and intercepting them. Just like the killers themselves, rituals are secondary to us. We only use them to piece everything together, which is exactly what this killer has done.”
Ella cupped her forehead, alleviating the pain of an oncoming headache. She was trying to see this case through Ripley’s eyes but couldn’t quite grasp it. Maybe she wasn’t fit for teaching after all, she thought.
“Please explain. I’m not seeing it,” Ella said.
“The theme here is progression, but it’s all linked by an overarching theme. You said your first two victims were both 25 years old, right down to being born the same month?”
“Yeah, both born in November. Why?”
“Then victims two and three were both sex workers, but the first victim wasn’t?”
“Exactly.”
“It’s a gradual progression, but he keeps one thing the same every time. He maintains a connection between his victims. A single thread that runs through them all, binding them all together so that they’re undoubtedly his. The leg separation is a still a mystery, but that will come when you piece this little pattern together. ”
Sometimes, the unconscious mind made connections before the conscious mind could comprehend them. Then before you realized it, you knew exactly what everything meant. The jigsaw completed itself, even right down to the small pieces that you originally thought meant nothing.
All it took were two little words.
Connection and separation.
She suddenly thought of Tobias Campbell, doing his little magic tricks from his prison cell. What had he said to her? Something about killing disguised as magic terminology.
Once you’ve established a pattern, the only way to fool onlookers is to break it.
“Oh my God, Ripley.”
“I recognize that tone. You’ve figured it out.”
“Yeah I have. I know what it all means,” said Ella.
“Go. Call me back whenever you need.”
Ella was already back in the precinct by the time she hung up. She was through the foyer and up the stairs to her office, getting looks like she was a convict who’d escaped from the holding cells.
That was all it took.
She was back in the office, heart pounding, ideas running through her head like a pride of lions. She found Paige and Chief Reed waiting for her, both sharing the same solemn expression.
“Bad news,” Reed said.
No, he couldn’t have claimed another one. Not this soon.
“Please don’t say it.”
Reed nodded. “We just found victim number four.”
Ella despaired. This killer was moving at an unprecedented rate.
That meant they had to move even faster.