Chapter 12: Missing Piece

"What's going on?" Ryan asked as he and Calleigh walked into the room where Horatio, Natalia, and Agent King were waiting.

"Close the door, please," Horatio said.

Calleigh did, then she and Ryan looked at them questioningly.

"We have some new information on the killer."

"It's about time," said Ryan.

"There is reason to believe the deaths of Lara and Quiroga were the work of a serial killer," King stated. He laid out photographs on the table. "All of these men were found dead after a few days missing. In each case, the death looks like an accident or suicide. The first probable victim was Oscar Sandoval of New York City, who in June of 2003 went missing for three days before being found dead of an apparent heroin overdose. The second, in Newark, Max Randolph, missing for four days before being found dead in his car in a river, blood alcohol level over the legal limit. Matthew Coello of Staton Island was found in his house five days after being reported missing. When the body was discovered, beneath a collapsed shelf, he'd been dead for two days. Adan Vives-Garcia was missing for five days, killed by falling down his stairs, elevated blood alcohol level. Jorge Johnson was missing for four days, death by alcohol poisoning. Juan Ibarra-Blanco was missing six days and was found in his home, apparently killed by choking on his food. Brian Fuentes, missing five days, his death appeared to be due to auto-erotic asphyxiation, once again with a very high blood alcohol level. Manolo Garcia was missing for three days, and died by apparently accidental electrocution."

"Wow," Ryan said. "That's a lot of bodies."

King nodded. "Unfortunately, it's impossible to say definitively whether these were all the work of one killer, and there are a number of other cases where the time the victims were missing before death was indeterminable, and consequently not officially considered related."

"Still, that is a lot of bodies," Calleigh agreed with Ryan.

"And those are only the ones in the Tri-State area. As soon as the killings were reported to the media, the so-called Misadventure Killer left the area. The killings began again in Puerto Rico several months later. We believe there were five victims there." He spread out five more photographs along with accompanying files on the table. "Salvador Del Torro, missing four days, shot in apparent suicide. Augusto Loyola, missing three days, was found dead in the forest, his death the apparent result of a venomous snake bite, but the bite was determined by a herpetologist to be higher on the victim's leg than a snake could reach on its own. Raul Aritza, missing six days, killed in a fall, extremely high blood alcohol level. Nacio Rodriquez, missing three days, his death was staged to look like a suicide by hanging. Tito Enriquez, missing three days, was killed by a collision with a car, which was never found. We tried to keep any rumor that we were investigating a serial killer out of the press in Puerto Rico, but the story leaked, and once it did the killer disappeared again. Until now."

"Do we know anything about this killer?" asked Calleigh.

Natalia glanced at Horatio before answering. "Maybe."

"From the choice of victims, the killer is probably Hispanic and definitely fluent in Spanish," King said. "But no eyewitnesses ever came forward."

"But," Horatio added, "we know serial killers begin with less violent crimes before they escalate to murder."

"Meaning that maybe the killer is in the system for something else," Ryan said.

Horatio nodded. "Possibly in Miami."

Natalia took up the explanation. "There was a suicide victim in 2003, Rosendo Gutierez, who claimed he was drugged, restrained, and raped. He reported it to the papers and tried to report it to police, but no one believed him, because the rapist was a woman."

"That...can't be common," Ryan said.

"By some estimates two out of every thousand rapes is the victimization of a man by a woman," King said. "So no, it's not common. But it happens."

"Of course, it's probably even more under-reported than other rapes," Natalia commented. "But if what Gutierez claimed was true, it fits with the later murders, and he matches the serial killer's type. Not to mention that a lot of men who wouldn't let their guard down with a man might not think twice about getting in a car with a woman."

Calleigh asked, "So we have a description of this rapist?"

"Not a good one," King answered. "The detective Gutierez tried to report the crime to wouldn't take his statement, and didn't ask him to make a sketch. In his suicide note, Gutierez said the woman told him her name was Juanita, but no last name."

"And no reason to think that's a real first name," Ryan commented. "But there's still something I don't get. Don't most serial killers escalate? It doesn't look like there's any pattern to the time between the murders, or how long the killer keeps the victims for."

Calleigh leaned over the table to examine the autopsy photos of the victims. "I think there is a pattern. Natalia, take a look at the men the killer keeps longest. Do you see what I'm seeing?"

She stepped next to her and looked over the thirteen photographs. After a minute, she said, "The cuter the guy is, the longer he's kept alive."

"And just when I thought this investigation couldn't get any weirder," said Ryan.

"Gutierez wrote about his rape in a newspaper before he commit suicide. We know the killer reads the papers. That could be what prompted her to move to New Jersey, and what made her decide to kill her victims rather than risk being reported. It is absolutely imperative that you not discuss this case with anyone outside this room," King emphasized.

"Where's Eric?" Calleigh asked suddenly.

"I called him the same time we called you and Ryan," said Natalia. "He didn't answer."

"He said he was going out for lunch, but he should have been back by now." Calleigh pulled out her cell phone and hit Eric's speed dial. She listened to the ring, a frown growing on her face, until his voicemail message came on. "He's not picking up," she said.

Horatio and Ryan exchanged worried glances; they knew Eric would answer Calleigh's call if he could. Natalia's eyes flew back to the photos spread across the table; Eric fit the serial killer's type. King took in everyone's reactions. He understood their concerns, but as usual his expression gave no indication of his thoughts.

Calleigh rushed out of the room without another word.