“UNSUB is a middle-aged male—an incel whose mommy didn’t love him enough. He punishes women for being the cause of his rejection by mutilating them and taking their power to scream, run, and fight back. How’d I do?”
Kate stared at Anya for a long moment. “That was…spot on.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m confused. You essentially recite his report to me verbatim, yet insist he’s wrong. What am I missing? Or more to the point, what doyouthink my agent is missing?”
“Insight,” Anya answered simply. “Your agent’s assessment wasmyknee-jerk assessment.” She frowned. “Except the mother part. Was that really in the report?” Kate nodded while Anya rolled her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. “We don’t have enough information about the UNSUB to make that assumption.”
“You’ve said yourself that profiles are educated guesses a lot of the time.”
“The keyword being educated,” Anya countered. “Making generalized hypotheticals like that is how people get killed, Kate. Beyond that, I’m quite alarmed by how quickly your agent dismissed the potential link between my case and these cold cases.”
“Well,” Kate cleared her throat, seemingly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. “I’ll address the generalization with him. About the connection, the, uh, modus operandi doesn’t really fit. These women were all, um…” Kate pulled her long, brown hair up into a ponytail as her explanation trailed off.
“Young?” Anya finished for a very flustered Kate. Kate always had a tell when they were together. Whenever they had an argument and Kate couldn’t defend her position, or she needed to tell Anya something that madeKateuncomfortable, up went the hair. “Not old like me?” She continued just to make Kate squirm a little longer.
“I… That’s… You’re…” Kate sighed. “I’m not suggesting that you are old, and neither is my agent. But you have to admit, you are more mature than the young ladies in these other cases.”
Anya chuckled softly. “I agree. I’m older than the previous victims. All of us are,” Anya said, pointing at the latest five victims. “Even Maisie fell a little above the previous threshold.”
“Right!” Kate exclaimed, sounding very much relieved. “Still, you’re convinced they’re connected,” she continued after studying Anya for a long moment. “So, connect the dots for me. Show me what you see and what Agent Anderson missed.”
“I’m not here to throw anyone under the bus, Kate. I’m here to solve a case. What I said about insight is true. I think I know who our UNSUB is,but-” Anya continued quickly when Kate immediately opened her mouth to ask questions. “I have questions to answer before I disclose that. Especially since I don’t think he’s working alone.”
Kate frowned. “An accomplice? Agent Anderson didn’t mention an accomplice.”
“No, he wouldn’t have because he dismissed the cold cases.” Anya waved away any further questions or excuses. “It would be easier to start from the beginning. All I have is a theory, and I’m still working it out. I want to be sure I’m right about who it is before I mention names.”
“Do you think I’m going to repeat past mistakes, Anya? You could tell meyoudid all of this, and I wouldn’t make a move until you showed me indisputable evidence.”
Anya’s eyebrow quirked. “I’ve already been a suspect. I’d appreciate it if people would stop thinking I’m capable of murder.”
Kate’s face clearly showed her surprise. “Is that how you and your detective met? She accused you?”
“She was investigating the case,” Anya answered vaguely. “And now I’m investigating this one. Let’s start here.” She walked to the fridge and pointed at the first cold case. “Six young women missing from foster care. Three were found slain, and three are still missing.” She took the photos from the file and shared them with Kate. “I didn’t want to hang these up, but they’re important. You can see the wounds are hesitant, almost as though he didn’t want to hurt them.”
“They were his first kill. Maybe he wasn’t sure how to go about it?” Kate suggested, closely examining the photos from various angles.
“Perhaps. Or he didn’t want to kill them but was doing what he was told.”
Kate looked up sharply. “The accomplice?”
Anya nodded.
“So, the second UNSUB has been with him from the beginning?”
“Mmm.” Anya’s mind was going a mile a minute, working through scenario after scenario. Each one brought her to the same conclusion, yet she needed to make it make sense to herself before she could even think about going to Jaime with any of this.
Kate leaned a hip on the counter and pursed her lips as she studied Anya. “I know that ‘mmm.’ It carries quite the punch. You’ve worked this out, haven’t you?”
“I’ve theorized,” Anya corrected. “But I need more information, such as the records of children who lived at this foster home during this time. That information wasn’t in the files.”
“No, it wouldn’t be because they were minors.”
Anya walked over to the island and brought Kate’s laptop closer, tapping the trackpad to wake up the screen. When the password prompt popped up, Anya hesitated and typed in the password she remembered Kate using four years before. It logged her in, and she side-eyed Kate. “You should really change your password.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t anticipate this scenario. What are you looking for?”
“Information on the children who were at the foster home, for starters,” Anya said as she typed.
“That’s a slippery slope, Anya. I realize they’re not minors anymore, but…”
