"I need to talk to you, Captain Beckett."
God, Sheringer had been the last person Kate wanted to deal with at the moment.
Barely done fuming over the uneventful end to her sleep earlier in the morning, along with a frantic text from Lanie minutes after that made her drop the BOLO on one of her very own detectives; she wasn't quite ready for the next emotional rollercoaster that the overzealous psychologist was sure to bring around.
"I am going to have to postpone until I have a chance to catch up. I am waiting for my detective to come in.", she answered curtly and rose from her desk, ready to defend her position if necessary.
"Ah, Detective Esposito.", Sheringer guessed and smiled victoriously when she saw Beckett's scowl turn into a confused glare, "I too listen to the radio waves from time to time. Helps keep me up to date. Sounds like you had an early start into the day. I figured since you dropped the search for him shortly after putting it out, all is well. But in the meantime, I really do need to talk to you and by the looks of it, Detective Esposito hasn't arrived yet so if you don't mind, I'd like to get started."
With a theatrical gaze out the side window into the bullpen, Sheringer dropped her thick file folder on her desk with a deafening thud.
Torn between her desire to wring Espo's neck and that of the uppity psychologist; Kate shrugged dismissively, hating the fact that Castle and Ryan were in the breakroom while she was stuck in here dealing with Sheringer; her very presence undoubtedly a measure of control and accountability from sides of the Chief.
Fighting her would only make her look weak as a leader and back the many higher up's who'd fought her promotion; giving them fodder to undermine her authority and skillsets.
"So what is it that is so important?", Kate began impatiently, surprised when Sheringer met her attitude with an understanding nod.
"I won't hold you long, but this will matter, trust me…", she explained and tapped her index finger against the file, the red nail polish partially worn off from overuse, "Captain, I don't think your killer is a serial killer."
"I…I beg your pardon? What are you talking about? We have five bodies and the attack from this morning to prove just that. I think I am going to have to disagree with you there."
Sensing her temper rising, Sheringer brought up both of her hands, symbolically begging for patience.
"He's a repeat killer, but not a serial killer."
"You're going to have to give me a better explanation for what you are saying."
With her arms across her chest, she watched the psychologist glance off to the right as if to sort her thoughts for a moment, then rub the bridge of her nose before speaking up again.
"That's what I am working on. You see, when we look at a serial killer, we try to seek out the motive. Most serial killers have an underlying theme. A guy who kills older women because they remind him of his abusive mother, or a religious fanatic taking out prostitutes because he thinks it will cleanse them and honor Jesus Christ. Many times, these killings are crimes of passion. There's great care given to the act thereof, much like a traditional drama. For the killer, there's a buildup of excitement all the way to the peak, the climax of the act, when everything falls into place, the kill happens, and then he moves on. In many cases, the actual killing has nothing to do with the climax, it is merely a part of finalizing the ritual. The actual climax could be anything from a victim begging for their lives to sexual arousal or the feeling of control upon holding a victim captive. It varies from person to person."
Slowly following along, Beckett nodded and reached for her mug, subconsciously taking a sip from the coffee long gone cold.
"Why wouldn't you consider killing police officers a crime of passion? Our killer obviously has a strong desire to punish and kill public servants, most of all cops."
"Agreed, and those points are normally not mutually exclusive.", Sheringer countered confidently and ran her tongue over her teeth before continuing, "What I am saying is that beating somebody near death and then executing them isn't necessarily a normal type of killing for a crime of passion. It sounds more like a mercy killing if anything. If this…this killer of yours was after some theme, some sort of mental satisfaction or arousal…these beatings aren't the right conduit."
"They aren't?", Beckett mocked and shrugged, "Haven't you ever had the urge to beat somebody to death, Sheringer?"
"Almost daily, but my argument is that your killer is as much of a serial killer as a random criminal walking into a restaurant and shooting everyone in sight. He's opportunistic at best, there's no…no real pattern to this. Different locations, different types of victims in different family situations, very few common denominators besides public service and gender. Even if he did it out of rage, why kill his victims once they are down, why not keep beating them and letting them suffer until they die to fully live out those feelings of superiority?"
Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Sheringer began to pace the room, studying the handful of pictures to be found on the otherwise barren walls, before raising her voice again.
"These serial killers that we study, they are people who like to be in control, who like to have the upper hand at all times. They enjoy the thrill of tightening that rope around a woman's neck after they get done raping her. They relish in the act of…of drowning their victims or strangulating them, watching them struggle till the end. These beatings however are violent, they're crude with no finesse. And worst of all, they're not a guaranteed outcome for a serial killer. He'd want to make sure that he always wins, always knows he is going to reach that emotional climax before he acts. But there's no guarantee with the type of people he's picked out, or the locations he chose. There's very little thrill and underlying sexual content in the act of beating somebody senseless, especially when his victims aren't restrained but amply able to defend themselves, which, according to your report, all of them did."
"Well, these aren't random killings. We do have an MO."
Having seen her argument coming, Sheringer nodded eagerly.
"Absolutely. They're well planned out acts of execution. And that is exactly what I will call them. He's acting like a…a sniper hired by a political party, taking out whoever is on his list to satisfy his superiors."
"Wait a minute, you are saying this guy is doing all this for somebody else, that we have two players on our hands?"
Kate watched the psychologist shrug, then hesitate for a moment before she nodded.
"I think it's very conceivable, yes. The two foot prints found at Ofc. Reece's murder scene could have been our killer and his…superior."
She didn't like it. Didn't like that thought for one bit, hating the notion that they might be after an accomplice as well. One bad guy was hard enough to find, but the mastermind, the one pulling all the strings would be indefinitely harder to track down.
"Again, let's remember that this is about control, about the thrill of deciding somebody's fate.", Sheringer continued when she sensed her hesitation, "But if you have no connection to your victims, if all you do is kill whoever you're told to kill, there's no underlying motive, no fantasy, no finesse, just crude execution."
"Then why the beatings? Why not just shoot and kill them?", Kate pried, her stomach churning when Sheringer pointed to the bullpen.
"I haven't figured that part out yet, but I think I am getting close. And if I read your communique this morning correctly, Detective Esposito might be able to answer some of those questions for me."
