Okay, welcome back.
Last time, Lauren kicked ass, saved Norman, and now he, her, and Scott have joined forces.
This time, they start to make major progresses on the Origami Killer case. You'll see.
Chapter 9: Cross Reference
The sun had set by the time they arrived back at Scott's apartment. Of course, the only indication they ever got of this was that the sky had darkened a little bit, the rain still falling.
Scott intensely disliked it, and the trek up the stairs to his apartment couldn't have been any shorter. When Scott opened the door to his apartment and turned the light on, Lauren and Norman both stepped in, the two of them leaving their coats hanging on the coat rack. Scott took off his own trenchcoat, taking the now-soaked book and shaking his head. As evidence, it was now virtually useless, given that it had fallen into the mud and most of the information he and Lauren had jotted down was no longer in there. He moved over and threw it into the trash as Norman and Lauren both sat on the couch.
As Scott came back, he saw Lauren and Norman sitting there, Lauren gesturing to the evidence.
This will take a while... he thought.
He took a seat next to Lauren, and then gestured to the evidence.
"I see you have a lot here," said Norman. "More than I could possibly have hoped to get..."
Scott could only nod in agreement. "Yes," he said. "And I think we know more than I really want to remember..."
"Well, I have a few theories of my own about the killer," said the FBI agent. "I want to see if your evidence matches this."
"Of course," said Scott.
With this, the investigator walked him through every piece of evidence he had gotten. He started with the cell phone, seeing as that was the clue that brought a lot of things together and made the killer's motive apparent. By that time, Scott and Lauren had managed to find a way to charge the battery, and so they both showed Norman the video on the cell phone battery. This threw Norman off a little bit, but he was collected and calm even in the face of his shock.
He got over it rather quickly, though, and took to rubbing his chin. "So the child is kidnapped, and the father is sent on a run to do trials..." said Norman. "And then he's supposed to rescue the child."
"And that's where the shoebox comes in," continued Lauren, opening it after putting on latex gloves. "The shoebox has five origami figures. They lead to a trial, and the things we've seen..."
"You mean you've been to some of these trials?" asked the profiler.
"Yep," said Scott. "We went to two of them. One of them had the fathers crawl through a venthilation shaft that was filled with shattered glass before then forcing them to navigate a condenser maze to get a clue. And we were heading to another one when we shouted at Blake. That one had the father cut his finger off in front of a video screen. I'm afraid of what the other trials have, really."
Norman nodded at this, looking down at this as he pinched the bridge of his nose. After a few seconds of contemplation, he nods, looking to Lauren.
"Well, that seems to match some of what I've concluded during my investigation," he said. "A detail I see that is left out of the journalist's reports is that the killer covers the faces of his victims in mud. Makes them anonymous." The FBI agent nodded, leaning back on the couch as he did so. "I didn't think that detail made much sense. But now that I've seen this... It makes sense if he's testing the fathers' resolve. Every father that fails is another dead child, and the orchid and the origami figure are his ways of apologizing to the child."
"Personally, I think he sets his expectations too high," said Scott. "We saw a dead body in the condenser maze, and none of the fathers that went into the fire have ever come out alive."
"With how dangerous the first trial you went to sounds, I wouldn't be surprised," said Norman. "Did you encounter any actual deaths?"
Lauren nodded. "There was one man trapped in the condenser maze," said the mother. "He had been burned to death long before we got there. I took pictures of everything we saw at the condenser trial. I have them on my digital camera right now."
"Can I see them?" asked the profiler.
Lauren nodded, taking her camera out of her pocket and handing it to Norman. The profiler went through the library of pictures Lauren had taken, and frowned at each one. The first photo he saw of the body in the condenser maze disturbed him, but he had no time to dwell on it as he looked through every other picture. He kept a level of calm throughout, however, even as the shock slowly registered on his face. The investigator and the prostitute watched the man look at the photos, and when he was done, he placed the camera on the coffee table.
"I see..." said the profiler. "Have you gotten any other leads besides this?"
Scott and Lauren nodded in unison, looking over to the two lists. Lauren placed them in front of Norman.
"We found this," said the investigator. "Lauren gave me an envelope from a letter her husband had received when he vanished. We ended up going to the shops of two friends of mine, one to identify the typewriter that wrote the envelope's address, and another from the Origami shop in town. These are the two lists."
"Ah," said the profiler, rubbing his chin in thought. "Crossreferencing lists for a name. Did you get anything?"
They both nodded. "Whoever the Origami Killer is, he bought things under the name James Sheppard," said Scott. "It's an alias, of course; the real James Sheppard died when he was a child."
"That was pretty important," continued Lauren. "We went to the graveyard to follow up on it, and we found out that James Sheppard drowned in a ditch of rainwater on the construction site his family lived on."
Norman blinked. "It connects with the method of drowning the victims..." he commented. "What else surrounded his death?"
"He had a brother," said Scott. "He went straight to his father, but he was so drunk he refused to do anything. The man drank too much, you know? We think the brother might be the Origami Killer."
The FBI agent nodded his agreement as he leaned forward. "Your thinking is probably right," he said with a certain conviction. "The killer's resentment for his father probably defined who he was, and so he wanted to look for one father that would go to any lengths to save their son. Judging by the disappearances of the father and the dead body in Lauren's photo, it seems like it became more of a question of 'would they be able to survive his trails'. So yes, that explanation makes the most sense. Do you know where the brother is?"
"That's the problem," replied the prostitute. "There was a gravedigger there who told us the whole story. When we asked where he was, he mentioned that the brother had been adopted by another family, and since then nobody knows what happened to him. So we don't know..."
Norman contemplated something briefly, glancing around the apartment before crossing his arms. He looked over to them in silence, thinking of his next move.
Then, without so much as another word, one of his hands went straight to his breast pocket. He pulled out a strange black glove with silver-looking circuitry on it. As both investigator and prostitute looked on, Norman pulled the glove onto his right hand, testing it when he had put on the article before nodding. His hand went into his breast pocket again, and then he pulled out a pair of sunglasses.
"What are you doing?" asked Scott. "And why are you wearing sunglasses in the evening?"
"These aren't just any ordinary sunglasses," said Norman as he put on the glasses. "This is ARI. It's a prototype investigation tool that's only available to the FBI at the moment. It keeps track of evidence in a case, records voice memos, analyzes evidence and cross-checks it with anything that may help in the case, and gives me access to various databases to help me follow on a lead. And it helps revamp old office spaces."
Lauren frowned. "Bullshit!" said the mother. "There's no way in hell that's possible!"
Scott rose one of his eyebrows before Norman gave her a look. Unceremoniously, he took off the sunglasses, holding them out to Lauren. "See for yourself," he said, a small smirk coming to his lips.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Lauren took the glasses in her hands. Looking at them strangely, she blinked, wondering what these small glasses would do when she put them on. When she finally did, she seemed to jump back a mile, her mouth hanging open in shock. Scott leaned forward, concerned as she looked around. She instantly took the glasses off again, put them back on, and then handed them back to Norman.
"I... I see..." she said. "Well, I can brag that I've been to Mars now."
Scott tensed instantly, looking over to the prostitute as if she was just a little bit crazy. Norman simply put on the glasses, and his attention very slowly sifted back to the profiler.
"Point being, I can access a database anywhere, any time," said Norman as his hands took various positions in the air. "I can probably access Child Services here, see if we can find James Sheppard's brother. See what happened."
"I'm sure you'll forgive me if I don't buy it at first," said the investigator as he crossed his arms.
"Can't say I blame you there," says Norman. "A lot of people can't believe it when they first see it. But I assure you, it's real."
The other two occupants of the room both rose their eyebrows as they looked at Norman. "I see..." said Scott. "That would help a lot. Do it."
Norman simply nodded. He then proceeded to wave his hands in the air around very quickly. The action came off as strange for Scott, but judging by Lauren's action Scott guessed that it was legitimate. And so, he looked at Norman waving his hands around in the air calmly. A few vocalizations from Norman were the only clues that he was working hard, and to Scott the whole enterprise looked ridiculously silly.
I wonder how the other guys on the force react to this, he thought briefly.
Finally, however, Norman smiled, and kept his hands up in the air.
"I got something," he said, almost triumphantly.
"Really?" asked Lauren. "What's the man's name?"
Norman nodded. "His name is Simon Sheppard," replied the profiler. "Well... it was, before he was adopted."
Scott nodded. "Simon..." he said, holding his hands out in front of him. "Do your glasses have any data on him?"
"As a matter of fact, they do," he said, waving his hands out a little more. He looks around the room, and nods. "His description matches what you have on James Sheppard. Grew up on a construction site. It was owned by Gideon Kramer, apparently."
The investigator knew from that point on that Norman was telling the truth, as it was the first of Kramer that had been mentioned in the few hours they had known each other. "Yes, it was," he replied. "The gravedigger told us that Kramer comes across the grave all the time. He feels like it's his responsibility."
"Does he?" asked Norman. "I think it's a little strange that Kramer would take to pitying James Sheppard."
"It was his construction site," pointed out the prostitute. "He could have done a lot to make sure it was safe for the children."
"Still, I don't know," said Norman. "Anyhow... After James died, his father was found to be unfit, and he went into the foster care system. He eventually ended up at the residence of one John and Ashley Williams. After that, his name became Simon Williams."
Lauren's eyes darted down, rubbing her chin. "Ashley Williams?" she asked. "I feel like I've heard her name somewhere..."
"It's probably not to important..." said Norman as his gloved hand pointed in the air and seemed to head downwards in the air. "Anyway, Simon ended up going to school, getting a proper education... He even got a BA in Criminal Science. After that, he goes off the records... And then he appears in the NYPD's records as being a forensic scientist there."
Scott and Lauren both blinked at this, the investigator's mind already starting to work. "It seems like he would be the standard model of the American dream," continued Norman. "But this is where it gets wierd. A little over four years ago, he disappeared from New York. No letter of resignation from the NYPD, no goodbyes, no telephone calls, no apartments full of stuff, nothing. Essentially, he vanished."
He nodded as Scott came to a conclusion. Suddenly, the investigator shook his head as Norman glanced over to where Scott sat. "Damn it..." he muttered to himself, holding his head in his hands. "Damn it..."
Lauren stood up, walking over to the investigator's side. "Scott?" she asked. "Are you all right?"
Before Lauren could navigate around the coffee table, however, Scott pounded the armrest of his chair with a clenched fist, his teeth bared in anger as a low growl emanated from his throat. The prostitute paused in her journey, and Norman jumped from the surprise of seeing the investigator lose his cool like this. After a few seconds, Scott stood up and walked around the apartment.
"He knows how police departments work!" he exclaimed. "And now he's using that against us! He... He knew we were ineffective! I kept on telling Perry to change the way he recruited! And now we're paying for it because he... he knows, and... And... Damn it!"
Lauren approached the raging inspector as he was walking around in a defeated pose. A soft hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his anger, and then he looked down to Lauren, who looked over to him with reassuring eyes. Their eyes met, and Scott could see the tenderness in her eyes.
Neither one said anything as the former cop's shoulders dropped slightly. He let out a small breath through his nose, blinking as he looked over to Lauren. His gaze eventually averted to the floor, but Lauren's hand did not leave from its place on his shoulder. He nodded, looking over to the prostitute again as she stood there, her posture relaxed and her face caring as she looked to the inspector. They both wanted to say something, but neither could form adequate enough words to describe their emotions.
After a long silence, Lauren let go, and then looked over to Scott. He nodded slowly as he relaxed more. "No point in dwelling on what's past, I guess," he said. "Either way, this is bad for us."
Norman nodded as he stood up. They both looked to him as he stood.
"It fits within the Origami Killer's timeline," said the profiler. "He disappeared a full year and then some before the killings started. That would give him plenty of time to prepare each of these trials and settle into the area. And then, the killings start soon enough. Add his Criminal Science degree into the mix, and that would further explain why ARI hasn't been picking up DNA examples of the killer at the scenes where we find the boys. And he uses abandoned places to host his trials."
Lauren and Scott both looked over to Norman before raising their eyebrows. "Hm..." said the investigator. "We haven't been to every single trial... That's the thing..."
Norman nodded at this, looking down at the box. "I see," he said. "I guess we could get started on that. Do you mind opening some figures?"
The two investigators turned to each other. Their agreement was flashed in their eyes as they both nodded to Norman. "Suit yourself," said Lauren, still in her latex gloves as she knelt down and picked up the three remaining Origami figures. She looked to each of them, raising one of her eyebrows as her fingers counted each figure once, twice, three times. Her finger finally settled on a shark-shaped figure, and then she picked it up and opened it quickly. She handed the object to Norman, who took it in his gloved hand. The FBI agent read the figure, but was astonished by one thing.
"Are you prepared to kill someone to save your son?" he asked out loud.
At this, Scott and Lauren both jumped in shock. "What?" asked the private investigator.
Norman blinked before setting the Origami figure down. ARI had already logged the address, now it was only a matter of figuring out what it was. "I don't think I like where this is going..."
The man then waved his hands in the air, but to Norman, he was busy going through a database, looking for the address that was stated on the paper. There was much scrolling on the surface of Mars as he did so, and for a second he thought he noticed the atmosphere getting more harsh as he went on. Shrugging it away, he eventually found the address, and pulled up information on it.
"Hm..." said Norman. "The property is already owned and lived on. Not quite abandoned like that power plant you mentioned and the apartment on Marble Street." His eyes trailed to the address as he analyzed the evidence. "The property belongs to Brad Silver. I'm guessing the killer wants the father to go to his home to kill him..."
Lauren and Scott both looked to each other, the shock on their faces evident. "Oh no..." said Lauren. "So Mr. Mars has to kill someone to save his son..."
"It gets better," Norman replied as he looked at the rest of the information. "According to police databases, Brad Silver is a suspected drug dealer. On top of that, he has two daughters. The father really has to make a serious choice on the matter, I can tell you that much. If Ethan Mars has already run into Brad Silver, I suspect he'll still be feeling guilt no matter which choice he makes."
"Well... that explains the handgun," said Lauren. "I was wondering what it was doing there this entire time..."
There were other things on Scott's mind, however. "Ethan?" he asked. "That's the father's name?"
Norman nodded. "Yes," he replied. "He's been all over the news. Blake thinks he's the suspect, but his psych profile doesn't match, and honestly I think Simon Sheppard's profile matches more. Anyway, we should get going. What's within the bear figure?"
Lauren unceremoniously opened it. But before she could hand it to Norman, a card fell out, and this surprised everyone in the room. Norman leaned close, looking at the card in surprise as everyone beheld it strangely. After a few seconds of looking at the card, Norman gently took the address out of Lauren's hand and looked at it. He glanced at the address for a second before waving his arms around again after ARI stored the address. He had already figured it out, though, and he began speaking as he moved to cross-reference the information.
"This is an address to a parking garage..." said the profiler.
"A parking garage?" asked Lauren. "Why would the killer send the fathers to a parking garage?"
"I don't know," said Norman as he pulled up the address from the database. "But I think I might know what he intended to have them do..."
"Really?" asked Scott. "What?"
The profiler shrugged. "The police got a distress call yesterday pretty close to noon," said the profiler. "There was a man who was driving on the wrong side of the highway for no apparent reason. He even crashed right through a toll booth before the police were able to get his car off-road. When they did, he was nowhere to be found, though. But... if I can check the transaction history..."
Norman's hands waved about as he scrolled down the shop's transaction history, finding what he was looking for. He smiled. "There," he said. "The car that the man who was driving on the wrong side of the highway was using came from the garage. I think we know who was in there and why he was in there now."
Scott let out a rather long puff of air as he crossed his arms. "These trials are getting worse the more I hear about them..." Scott commented. "Does this guy expect every father to be like Superman or something?"
"I guess," replied Norman. "This leaves the rat figure..."
Lauren nodded and unfolded the figure. She handed it to Norman quickly, and he scanned the address. His hands waved around in the air for a few seconds longer as he searched through the database again, mostly to see where the address was. He finally found a match, but was still partially confused.
"This property is owned privately," he said. "And I mean he bought the place. He doesn't pay rent on it. He must've been a real penny pincher when he was in the NYPD to get that place and to be able to afford leaving the car in that garage. Possibly also wherever he has Shaun Mars. And maybe something else..."
"We used to have some kind of accounting book," said Scott. "He was paying people off. I don't really know why, but when I confronted Jack he said something about not wanting to go to jail..."
"Maybe he was paying them off in return for a favor and protection from the law..." said Lauren. "It's not uncommon for some people to do that. And since he was from the NYPD, he probably had a spare police uniform lying around to fool them into thinking he was an actual police officer..."
"It sounds like a plausible lead at any rate," commented Norman. "If he does have a spare police uniform, it would also explain why the children vanish in sight; to the untrained eye, the kid is going to the police station. But to the victim and the killer..."
The implications of this sunk in, and Scott and Lauren were both dumbfounded at how far they had gotten in terms of evidence thanks to a single brainstorm with the FBI profiler.
The man nodded, taking the sunglasses off as ARI depowered. As Norman took off his glove, he looked to Scott and Lauren. "Well... that sure was a lot of information to take in," he said.
"Yes," said Scott. "Well, we have a name. Simon Williams, A.K.A. Simon Sheppard. Only thing to figure out now is where the hell is he?"
Lauren looked to the profiler, but before she could say something, she noticed that something seemed... off about the profiler.
"Norman?" she asked. "Are you all right?"
Norman made no reply as he stood, his eyes widening in shock.
It was when his nose began to bleed for no apparent reason that they both realized something was terribly wrong.
"Oh, shit!"
Almost without thinking, Lauren rushed into the kitchen to grab something to stop the nosebleed. She narrowly crashed into Scott as he lumbered over, noticing Norman sway slightly. The fat man quickly grabbed Norman, the man's arms flailing about. Scott struggled to keep Norman still as he started to sway violently, even with the investigator holding him. The profiler's face was unnaturally pale as Scott held him in place.
Lauren rushed out of the kitchen, holding some paper towels as she rushed in, the roll falling to the floor behind her. Quickly she wiped the blood that was flowing down his face before pinching his nose as quickly as she could. However, this turned out not to be so good, as the blood soaked through every towel. Lauren found she had to fight against Norman to keep the paper towel in place long enough for the blood to coagulate, and so she found herself doing her best not to accidentally break his nose. Scott found himself fighting to make sure he stayed upright long enough for her to do so, and the next minute or so went like a blur.
And eventually, Norman Jayden ended up falling over, such that Scott ended up being shocked at how heavy the profiler was. Slowly, and with great care, Scott laid the FBI agent on the couch, the man sprawled out as he seemed to faint on the couch. His breathing came in gently, but his face was still incredibly pale and Lauren was still pinching his nose to stop the bleeding. Finally, she was met with some success, and she pulled away from the profiler as he lay unconscious on the couch.
Scott was panting by the time the ordeal was over, and so he looked straight to Lauren, eyebrows raised as his mouth hung open.
"What the hell was that all about?" he asked.
"I don't know," said Lauren. "That really came out of nowhere. Is this how Mad Jack managed to get him?"
The investigator shook his head, crossing his arms. "I don't think Jackson had anything to do with this," he said. "I'm asking him when he wakes up no matter what."
Lauren looked at the investigator with small trepidation. "And if you don't like the answer?" she asked.
Scott shook his head. "By now, we don't have much time," he replied. "Whatever that answer is, we don't have time to deal with it."
Lauren could only nod her agreement, and with this, they both ended up waiting for Norman to wake up.
An hour had passed before Norman finally woke up. He stirred slightly, and then sat up. Scott was already alert when the FBI agent woke up, and Lauren simply sat in the chair behind the desk. Scott hadn't objected, so she simply sat there waiting for Norman to wake up.
The agent rubbed his head as soon as he was sitting upright, and Scott and Lauren both gave him rather inquisitive looks. The mother leaned against the desk, holding her hands in front of her as Norman looked over at the clock. He rubbed his eyes one last time, his mouth hanging slightly open before he took in a deep breath.
"I was out for an hour?" he asked.
Scott nodded, almost as if he had been anticipating the question.
"Fuck..." muttered Norman in reply, shaking his head. He was quiet for a few seconds before looking over to the private investigator and then to the prostitute. "I guess you'll want some explanation for why I just passed out after a nosebleed."
Lauren shifted where she sat, the chair creaking under her as she moved. "We just want to be sure you won't faint like that while we're trying to find the Origami Killer," she said. "Now what happened?"
The profiler nodded, leaning forward and placing an elbow on his knee. He looked to them both before nodding. "Well, first, let me establish something," said Norman. "I understand your point, but this is top-secret information I am about to give out. So for future reference, I never told you this."
Scott and Lauren both gave each other a brief glance. With a single nod, they both agreed to Norman's conditions as Scott turned back to face the FBI agent. "All right," he said. "What is it...?"
Norman gestured to his breast pocket callously. "ARI can be pretty handy," he began. "But if you use it for too long, it starts messing with your head..."
Lauren blinked, sitting up as Scott began processing this in his mind. "You mean it acts like some kind of drug?" she asks.
He nodded, biting on his lower lip as he looked back to Scott. "Essentially, yes," he replied. "Our scientists still haven't figured out why it happens. All I know is that if I overuse ARI I could put myself in great danger..."
Scott nodded. "And they don't have any way to counter it?" he asked.
Norman fished into one of his pockets at this question. He pulled out a small vial with something blue in it. Lauren reared back, her face contorting in surprise as she leaned back from the chair. The investigator rose an eyebrow, not sure what this meant.
"Is that triptocaine?" she asked.
Scott jolted slightly, looking at Norman. "Triptocaine?" he asked. "Fighting off a drug with another drug?"
Norman nodded quietly at this. "It helps," he replied. "It counteracts the effects of ARI long enough for me to do things. I really, really hate admitting it, but it helps. But... I try not to use it. But lately... the need has just been getting stronger..."
"Drug problem?" asked Scott.
The profiler hesitated breifly, and in the silence the investigator got his answer. It didn't stop Norman from nodding however. "I keep on telling myself not to take the tripto..." he commented. "Usually if I find somewhere to wash my face I can get beyond the effects just fine. But I've been using ARI so much lately that the temptation's just been getting too strong... I'm gonna kill myself sometime, I know it... And I'm afraid that when the time comes I'm not going to have the control I need..."
By this time, Norman had bent in on himself, holding the vial of triptocaine in his hands as he looked down at the ground. His expression was rather sullen, and Scott could tell that this was the first time the profiler had broken this to anyone. Lauren sensed it to, and stayed in her seat waiting for Scott to make the next move.
And when the investigator moved, he changed places so that he was sitting next to Norman on the couch. "Hey," said Scott, sounding as friendly as he could manage. "Take it easy on yourself. Don't use ARI anymore; it's already done more than enough for us now. And we're not going to mention this to anyone. Right, Lauren?"
The prostitute took the hint of playfullness in the investigator's voice, and licked her lips briefly. "Mention what?" she asked, making it obvious with her voice that she knew what she was talking about.
Norman nodded, looking at the both of them. "Thanks," he said. "I don't want my superiors yelling at me for telling people top-secret information. Or finding out I have a drug problem."
They both nodded, and all was silent in the investigator's apartment for a brief period of time. Scott stood up and looked over to the clock. "Well," he said. "With that out of the way... what should we do about the Origami Killer?"
Norman looked over to his two new partners before nodding. "Well, we know who is behind the killings..." he began. "But we don't know where he is. We need to find out where he is somehow..."
Lauren looked over to the two men before rising. "What about Gideon Kramer?" she asked.
Both men turned to the prostitute, their eyes widening slightly. They glanced at each other before looking to her.
"Are you sure about that?" asked Norman. "He's very powerful. I heard them talking about Kramer when I first came to the police station here. Apparently, people that have messed with him have never resurfaced. I think he likes making people disappear if they probe too far into his personal life. And what do we have...?"
"Well, Mr. Kramer owned the site that James Sheppard was killed on, right?" asked the prostitute. "And if memory serves me correctly, the gravedigger said he visited James Sheppard's grave all the time. So maybe Gideon knows something about where Simon Sheppard is?"
There was a brief pause as this conclusion sunk in. Scott and Norman both looked at each other before nodding. "Of course," said Scott. "If we can figure out if Gideon knows something, then we could find this man, and possibly where he's keeping Shaun!"
Norman nodded at this conclusion. "We could also ask his son Gordi," added the profiler. "He hosts parties at his family's estate every night. From what I hear, they're insanely wild, and anyone can come. If we can ask Gordi if he knows anything about Simon, it might help us get a clearer picture of where Simon is, and where Shaun is being held."
"What, at the same time?" asked Scott.
"We don't have much choice," said Norman, looking to the investigator. "I'll drive us all over to the estate, one or both of you can stay behind to question Gordi, and then I'll figure out where Gideon is and I can go there. If worse comes to worse, whoever is left at Gordi's can call a cab back here. Once we both arrive here, we can check our information, and if worst comes to worst we can switch the people we question tomorrow morning."
Scott nodded his agreement upon hearing the plan. "Shaun has less than 24 hours if what you're saying is correct," said Scott. "If this is our plan, we better act fast. It's not much, but it's the only place we can go right now."
Lauren nodded at this, standing up from the desk as Norman did the same. Scott grabbed his trench coat, and nodded to Norman.
"I hope you've got some kind of invitation to this party," said the investigator as Lauren grabbed her coat and put it on.
The profiler nodded. "Don't worry, I've got it covered."
And with this, the three of them left the apartment, hoping to look into the Kramer family to see if they knew anything about Simon Sheppard.