‘So we’re talking about someone who’s highly delusional.’ Captain Blake didn’t phrase it as a question.
Hunter replied with a half nod, half side-angling of the head. ‘If he’s hearing voices in his head, he’s certainly schizophrenic. Delusions and hallucinations are simply symptoms of such mental illness, but everyone is different, Captain. Not everyone with schizophrenia will experience every symptom.’
‘Well,’ Garcia said, nodding at Hunter. ‘It sounds like this one does.’
‘And what’s this I’ve read about a streaming camera placed inside the coffin?’ Captain Blake shook her head once again.
‘It’s true,’ Garcia confirmed.
‘Will a camera stream images when placed underground?’ the captain asked. ‘How?’
‘We were also unsure of how that could happen,’ Garcia explained. ‘And that’s why this morning we talked to Michelle Kelly. She’s the head of the FBI Cyber Crime Division.’
‘Yes,’ Captain Blake nodded. ‘I remember her. She worked with you two in a couple of cases, didn’t she?’
‘That’s right.’
‘And what did she say?’
‘She told us that it all depends on two things,’ Hunter explained. ‘The strength of the signal and how deep underground we were talking about. When I told her that it was a shallow grave two feet deep, she laughed. She said that from that depth, even without a full-strength signal, one could easily stream images and make phone calls. The images might not stream smoothly, but they would stream.’
‘So for him to have a signal, he would’ve needed a cellphone provider?’ Captain Blake concluded.
‘Yes,’ Garcia agreed.
‘Can’t that be traced?’
‘Perhaps.’ Hunter spoke this time. ‘We’re looking into it.’
Garcia walked over to the coffee machine in the corner and poured himself a cup before offering one to his captain.
She declined. Hunter already had one on his desk.
‘So the perp we’re dealing with here not only hears voices in his head,’ Captain Blake added, ‘and acts according to what they tell him to do, but he also seems to have a PhD in sadism, because it wasn’t enough for him to just bury this woman alive. He had to sit and watch the whole thing – the desperate panic, the struggle, the fight – all the way until her death.’
‘And I wouldn’t be surprised if he did all that from his living room,’ Garcia suggested. ‘While eating some popcorn and playing with himself.’
Captain Blake looked at him in disgust. ‘I thank you for that.’
All that Garcia had done was state something that all three of them knew to be true – around ninety to ninety-five percent of all serial murders in the USA had their basis in some sort of sexual gratification. The vast majority of serial killers killed because something about the murder act – the violence, the victim’s fear, the suffering, the pleading, the torturing, the power over the victim, death itself – something aroused them like nothing else could.
Garcia shrugged. ‘We all know the statistics, Captain. Why would this guy be any different?’
‘Yes, I do know the statistics, Carlos,’ Captain Blake agreed. ‘But I could’ve done without the mental image.’ She turned to face Hunter. ‘How many entries are there in this “diary”?’
‘We’re not sure. But Dr. Slater retrieved sixteen Polaroid photos from the book,’ Hunter told her. ‘Sixteen different “subjects”. This guy has been active for years, Captain. Though the first entry in the diary takes us back to just over two years ago, in that entry there is mention of previous victims. No names. Just that there had been previous victims. And as I mentioned, the perp wrote that he should’ve started those records a while ago, when he first heard the voices.’
Captain Blake breathed out and used her thumb and fore-finger to massage her temples. ‘So what’s the next move then?’
‘As I said,’ Hunter explained, ‘the diary is now being analyzed and tested by the FSD DNA lab, but since the book appears to be a “private” diary that somehow managed to find its way to Dr. Slater . . . ’ He shrugged. ‘Maybe the owner lost it. Maybe somebody stole it. We don’t know, but at the moment it doesn’t look like the owner parted with that book on purpose. With that in mind, there’s hope that whoever wrote those entries wasn’t as careful as he should’ve been when it comes to fingerprints, DNA, even the entries themselves.’
‘So you believe there’s a good chance the FSD might come up with something,’ Captain Blake said.
‘That’s the hope,’ Garcia confirmed. ‘Either a fingerprint, a DNA sample, or maybe even a compromising entry where he reveals more than he should. Like I’ve said before, we should be getting photographs of every page any minute now.’
‘So for now we wait,’ the captain concluded.
‘Yes,’ Hunter agreed. ‘We also need to break the news to Miss Gibbs’s parents and probably her boyfriend, as soon as we get DNA confirmation on the body.’
Captain Blake understood very well that that was one of the worst jobs a homicide detective had to take on. She was about to say something when the phone on Hunter’s desk rang.
‘Detective Hunter, UVC Unit.’
‘Robert, it’s Susan,’ Dr. Slater said. ‘I’m glad that I’ve got you at your desk.’
‘Hold on, Doc, let me switch the call to speakerphone. Carlos and Captain Blake are here.’ Hunter pressed a button on his desk phone before returning the handset to its cradle. ‘Go ahead.’
‘I’m at the DNA Lab,’ Dr. Slater told them. ‘And like I’ve said, I’m glad that I caught you in the office this early because I’m about to send you something.’
Everyone in that room moved a little closer to the phone on Hunter’s desk.
‘Not the page photographs?’ Garcia asked.
‘No, not yet, and though those will follow shortly, this is something much better. I’m emailing it to you right now.’
Nine
It took less than three seconds for Dr. Slater’s email to come through. As soon as it appeared on Hunter’s inbox tray, he double-clicked it to open.
As a subject, the email showed the official number that had now been assigned to the case. Its body contained a five-word message – ‘Have a look at this’ – followed by a rectangular blue box, indicating that there was an image attachment – 00001.jpg.
Hunter clicked the attachment.
‘We’ve got a fingerprint?’ Garcia asked, as soon as the image opened on Hunter’s screen.
‘This didn’t come from one of the pages in the diary,’ Dr. Slater clarified. ‘We’re still analyzing those. This came from one of the Polaroid photographs – one of the “subjects”. It was lifted from the bottom right-hand corner – front and back – thumb at the front, forefinger at the back. And it’s not a full print. It’s a partial one – about seventy-five percent of the thumb print and fifty percent of the forefinger.’