What keeps you up at night? Part 2

Mike Tao drummed two fingers against his thigh. Outside the car, the horizon was blue and the sun was slowly setting. The mystery the case and the four victims presented was a particularly baffling problem, and Mike felt he was missing too many pieces to put the whole picture together and make sense of it.

Julio Sanchez was in the car next to Mike, steering with one hand on the wheel. They had just come from an interview of a colleague of Carl Dennings, the lawyer who was killed in December along with his client James Reginald. Julio was driving them back to headquarters so they could write up the last of reports and then call it a weekend.

Since Monday and the identification of their two disemboweled victims, the team had spent days sifting through potential suspects. Combined, the two cases generated a long list of suspects. Relatives and friends of Daisy Higgs turned out to be far removed and unaware of her social situation, or even the assault. Martin Brooks shared little of his work with his wife and on the surface, she appeared nonthreatening. Bill Lawrence had little to do with his family, and even less to do with his friends. Brooks' clients from prior years did not stand out, and the few who had complained were two states over and alibis accounted for.

Re-interviewing potential suspects from the December murder revealed nothing new. The warrant for Carl Denning's practice revealed, much like Brooks', a list of clients accused of assault, stalking and domestic abuse. None turned out to be likely candidates for four murders.

The woman who had accused James Reginald of harassment and stalking turned out to be the ex-girlfriend. The charges were dropped on a technicality and, as far as Mike could tell, the woman did not seem particularly vengeful even if she declared she was happy the 'prick got killed' in her police statement from December. Her bank account verified her alibi along with video surveillance from a hotel in New York.

The warrant on the sealed juvenile records on Brooks and Lawrence revealed a charge of stalking that had ended with a break-in. The court had sealed the records, on behest of age and no priors. The sentence was carried out with community service. The girl, the two boys had harassed, was a woman now, and had not seen either men in some thirty odd years.

It was a puzzle.

Mike decided to think out aloud. Maybe Julio had some insight. "Maybe we are completely wrong about the two cases being linked. Maybe we are truly dealing with a copycat now, and we should be looking for two separate killers for the two double homicides?"

Julio gave him a look of disbelief, on eyebrow quirked before the other detective looked back at the road.

"I know, I know," Mike sighed, "The tattoos were never revealed to the public," he paused and then expelled a heavy breath, "it's wishful thinking on my part."

Julio nodded with a small smile. He was driving with one hand on the wheel, eyes straight ahead. They stopped at an intersection.

"Hmm," Mike put a finger against his chin, briefly looking at the buildings and pedestrians, "This case is giving me a headache."

Julio agreed with a grunt.

"I mean," Mike turned to face Julio, "I am trying to figure out why the killer executed the two double homicides with two completely different methods? Doesn't it seem strange to you? Usually, serial killers tend to stick to one method… But the MO in this case, is puzzling. What is the deeper meaning behind two different methods of killing?"

Julio shrugged and then pushed down the speeder as the light changed to green.

After a beat of silence, Mike answered his own question, "If the killer's method is dependent on who the victims are, I can see why it would not matter how the victims are killed. The murders are directed at the lawyer/client angle and the unjustified dismissal of a justified law suit. But again, why not simply kill Brooks and Lawrence with an overdose like Dennings and Reginald? Poisoning takes less of an effort. Disemboweling two men seems a bit overboard, doesn't it? There's a bigger risk involved, and a bigger risk of it going wrong or being discovered."

"Pulling out their guts, and strangling them, is vengeful," Julio supplied as he finally spoke, "It's angrier."

"True," Mike agreed, "So, perhaps the method of the murders fits the crime committed and the injustice as the killer perceives it."

Julio nodded, "Yeah. Daisy Higgs was worse off than the ex-girlfriend of James Reginald. She lost her job and her home; she lost everything."

Mike hummed, "So if a justified lawsuit being dismissed in court is what the killer perceives as an injustice, yes, it would make sense that there is more anger towards Lawrence and Brooks."

Julio grunted again, "Or maybe the killer is escalating; found out he had a taste for it. Found a simple overdose was dull in comparison to something bigger."

That made sense as well.

Mike supplied, "Or he wants more of a spotlight, more media attention? Disembowelment is a sure way to fire the media up. Deliberate overdose on morphine, not so much."

Julio nodded, agreeing, "The overdose could have been overlooked as murders back in December. The tattoos are the connection between our cases."

"And the killer deliberately put them there," Mike furrowed his brow and pursed his mouth.

"So everyone would know that the victims were guilty even if the court said otherwise," Julio replied.

"It's a bold statement," Mike said.

"Maybe we're looking for another courtroom journalist gone crazy?" Julio turned his head, a crooked smile turning half his mouth upwards before he once again put his attention back on the road.

Mike shook his head with a rueful smile, "I hope not, but you're right. We need to take an extra look at court proceedings. We need to figure out how our killer selects his victims. It must have taken time to both select victims and plan the murders."

"We can look at prosecuting lawyers who've had similar cases in the past; stalking and battery of women. And then look at the cases they lost," Julio said as they rounded the familiar corner of North Main Street.

"That would mean upping our suspect pool to the impossible," Mike shook his head.

Julio agreed with another smile, "We could always pull Baker in again for questioning."

Mike laughed, "If you dare. The Captain did not seem particularly pleased about Provenza calling Mr. Baker and asking if he was a sore loser that went around killing people."

Julio grinned, "We can get Flynn to call him."

Mike shook his head, "Good luck with that."

They parked the car and made their way to headquarters.

"Cathy is having a get together tomorrow," Mike told Julio, "and you're more than welcome."

Julio nodded, "I know."

Mike frowned, "You know?"

"Cathy rang me Tuesday to invite me over," Julio explained, "My mom is coming too."

Mike smiled, "Let me guess, Cathy already gave you a list of things to bring."

Julio nodded, "Sure did. Steaks."

Mike shook his head with a smile.

…