by JJ Marsh
“Slide One. My method. I am a fan of the deductive system of profiling. That is to say, I want to find out everything I can about this individual before making comparison to statistical data. What do we know? For certain?”
The question was not rhetorical. Beatrice went first.
“The only thing we know with any certainty is that four men are dead. And that what appears to be the same DNA was found at each scene.”
Conceição spoke. “In my view, we can drop the ‘what appears to be’ the same DNA. It’s him. Since 1989, EDNAP – European DNA Profiling, and ENFSI – the European Network of Forensic Institutes have standardised procedures across the continent, setting the benchmark for short tandem repeat analysis. The vast majority of laboratories agree on STR testing for the European core loci. Some countries test for more, some for less, but all include the basic four. My checks show that the samples taken were large enough and handled with textbook care. It’s the same guy.”
Sabine nodded. “Thank you, Conceição. But even taking the DNA as a given, my point is we cannot be sure that these deaths were homicides. So let us work on premise one. These four men killed themselves and the same individual was present before, during or after the death. Could this person have triggered the desire to end their lives? If so, how? Blackmail? Coercion? That is an intriguing possibility. Yet something bothers me about this theory. These deaths were carefully orchestrated. Personally, I have a feeling these methods were purposely chosen. I will come back to this in a moment or two.”
“Frau Tikkenenn. Is much of your presentation today likely to be based on your ‘feelings’, or do you plan to provide us with something of concrete value?”
“Herr Kälin, do you mind if we leave questions to the end? As I think you will see, my work is to a professional standard.”
Beatrice froze at the girl’s curt dismissal of a senior officer and steeled herself for the slamming of a door. Kälin didn’t move. But no one dared look at his face.
“Premise two. If these events were intentional killings, serious questions are raised. The perpetrator is a serial killer. These were organised, meticulously planned and perfectly executed crimes. To leave a trace of DNA looks a little clumsy. Was it done on purpose? I’ll come back to that, too. Let us focus on motive and method.
“Motive: Why kill these men, and in this way? This is where Chris and Xavier’s research proved very useful. All the dead men had a reputation for a lack of ethics.
“Van der Veld’s wares came from mines known to violate working practice codes, and three out of these five mines were in litigation for abuse, inhumane treatment and corruption.
“Dougie Thompson. Thompson and family owned mainly right-wing newspapers and television channels all over Australia and New Zealand. They had a majority stake in two key US TV networks, both of which represent the ‘Real American Family’. Every broadcast contains some reference to the abuse of the American system, by foreigners, kids or Democrats. They also own several of the worse gossip tabloids. The ones which feature stars with cellulite or Photoshopped romances. In the UK, the approach was more subtle. They claimed the middle ground.”
Chris nodded. “The middle ground of Middle England.”
“Yes. His papers laid claim to the morally righteous position, while whipping up anti-immigration, anti-gay, anti-intellectual, anti-teenager sentiments. Their trademark was exposing the youth leader as drug-pusher, the pregnancy consultant as baby-killer, the asylum-seeker as cynical sponger and so on. Every week, the front page ‘exposed’ some liberal or humanitarian cause as waste of the good taxpayer’s money.”
Beatrice twitched. “Sabine, can I ask you to stick to the factual side? Your personal bias is distracting, to be honest.”
Sabine acknowledged the point with a twist of her head.
“Brian Edwards, whose company, Watermark, was found guilty of contaminating the water supply of a large area in the Peak District of Britain. Edwards resigned, accepting a four million pound pay-off. Lawyers are still seeking reparation for over three hundred brain-damaged babies and several hundred infertile women.
“Jack Ryman, used to be key client-manager for Mendoza and Schwanhof, investment bankers. Sold collateralised debt obligations at inflated prices, thus bankrupting the company, and dragging down several others. Fortunately for him, he saw it coming and jumped ship with his enormous bonus, mid 2008. Set up RAM, Ryman Asset Management, which specialised in buying up debts in war-torn countries. After those countries made peace, RAM sued for repayment. So rather than rebuild their infrastructure, they were legally obliged to hand over anything they had to investment vultures like Ryman.”
“Sabine,” cautioned Beatrice.
The girl sighed. “Sorry, Beatrice. I shouldn’t get carried away. Although do keep in mind this is how these stories were reported and could therefore influence public perception.”
“Carry on.”
“In the years they died, these names were in the top ten of everyone’s most hated. International press reported their deaths with a sense of justice. This, I believe, is our first pointer. Very few serial killers, or spree killers, continue to pursue this activity without an eye on their own ‘fifteen minutes’ of fame. I suggest the person responsible did this either because he felt it was the right thing to do, or that it was seen to be the right thing to do.”
Chris offered his uncensored opinion. “So an extreme left-winger? Anti-capitalist who sees it as his duty to shoot fat cats?”
Sabine clicked to the next slide, which showed a pie chart of statistics. “This is where comparisons to similar cases can help. The vast majority of serial and spree killers tend to have more political affiliations with the right. That is not to say a left-wing vigilante is impossible. Simply unusual.”
Kälin pressed his fingers to his forehead and looked down. Either he was crying or laughing. Beatrice attempted to give Sabine a sharp indication to continue and ignore his theatrics, but there was no need.
“Modus operandi. He made each death look like suicide. As Chris points out, one can see why. He assumes the role of their absent conscience. Our man is performing a ‘cull’ of those seen as malignant to society. Murder motivated by a political agenda? This is not unheard of, but as I say, rare for left-wing causes.”
Xavier raised a finger. “Sabine, you said something about methods being specifically chosen. I know you were talking about your ‘assisted’ suicide idea, but I wonder what you meant?”
“This is not relevant at this point, and I did ask if we could keep questions until later.”
Beatrice intervened. “That is usually the way I prefer to present, too, Sabine. However, we should be flexible to interruption and diversion, especially in an international team. Not all our thought processes work the same way. Answering Xavier’s question may well make him better prepared for the remainder of your input.”
“That’s fair enough. Sorry, Xavier. It’s just because my slides will now be mixed up.”
“No problem. I can wait.” The poor lad’s complexion gave everything away.
“No, I will answer.” She clicked forward to a table detailing how the victims died. “The first death. Van der Veld. Apparently slit his wrists in the bath. Found up to his neck in his own blood. Does the expression blood diamonds mean anything, anyone?
“Thompson froze to death, drunk on schnapps, while on a skiing holiday. The man who made his fortune by bugging cars, taking long-lens photographs and dragging his targets onto the front page, died of exposure. If I were a vigilante, I couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to dispose of a media mogul.”
Chris grinned. “Well, not unless he was hacked to death.”
Sabine groaned but even she seemed to have difficulty suppressing a smile.
“Moving on, Edwards, poisoned by carbon dioxide in his car. Are the parallels clear?”
“And Ryman?” Chris asked. “Bag over his head? How does that figure?”
Sabine rifled through her no
tes for a moment.
A deep voice spoke. “The man achieved his fortune by selling something that didn’t really exist. Maybe someone forced him to inhale his own toxic assets.”
Like the others, Beatrice turned to Kälin. He stared blandly back, giving no clue as to whether his comment was sarcastic or contributory.
Sabine gazed into the middle distance. “Yes, that actually makes sense. I focussed on the fact that the killer left the top of the car down and therefore the body open to the elements and nature’s scavengers.”
“Both interesting thoughts,” Beatrice agreed. “However, I feel we have only just started exploiting what we know. Can we continue with that and return to hypotheses later?”
Sabine snapped back into efficiency. “Yes, of course. Personal risk. How far did the killer jeopardise himself? So far, the deaths were seen as suicide or misadventure, thus no one was hunted. But in order to know where, when and what was going on in these men’s lives, this person must have done serious research. In each case, there are signs of acceptance, welcome and co-operation with the other individual. Why?”
Chris threw in an idea. “I’d make a guess at some kind of service provider, obviously under-the-counter. He’s a rent boy. Perhaps we should examine the sexual preferences of these four individuals. Or he’s a drug dealer, high class, only deals with the top brass. Maybe he decides that enough is enough and wastes them while they’re wasted.”
“Good ideas, with plenty to support them. Anyone else want to offer something?” Sabine asked.
Conceição spoke with deliberation, thinking aloud. “With what you have given us so far, Sabine, I have to lean towards a professional hit man. There is no motive, apart from cash. He murders to order, and is either instructed, or chooses to add the poetic justice element. He may have different employers. This guy knows how to gain access, knows how to subdue and kill, and to depart leaving no trace.”
“Apart from the single sample of DNA,” added Xavier.
“Exactly.” Sabine gave a satisfied smile, like a cat. “Now I offer my picture from such data. This person is a professional. He knows where to find his victim and can do enough preparation to arrange an ‘appropriate’ death. I suggest the killer was in place before the arrival of the victim and arranged circumstances to suit. I will offer the following theories. Firstly, the dead men knew, or wanted to know, the person who orchestrated their deaths. He had access to the victim, he had knowledge of the victim’s movements and he must have appeared benign to each individual.
“Conceição’s forensics lead me to believe if these men were killed, as opposed to performing the act themselves, they must have been drugged. It is near impossible to take a healthy man, force him to sit in the bath and bleed him to death with no signs of struggle. Edwards sat peaceably in his vehicle and allowed the carbondioxide to poison his blood with no attempt to leave. Which leads me to the idea that our man has access to narcotics. Legal or otherwise. Conceição?”
“Taking the deaths chronologically, Van der Veld’s coroner’s report showed no suspicious substances. Thompson, same thing. Bear in mind they were found around thirty to thirty-six hours after death. Nothing there.” Conceição raised a finger. “But Edwards’s body was retrieved quickly. The autopsy showed traces of GHB, gamma hydroxybutyric acid, in his urine. GHB works much like Rohypnol, a benzodiazepine better-known as the date rape drug. You need add only a few drops to liquid, and the effects of muscle relaxation, sedation and a lack of anxiety can happen in less than twenty minutes. At which point, you are free to do whatever you want with that person for the next four to six hours. Another key factor is that GHB metabolises fast into carbondioxide and water. It’s difficult to detect, but easy to make, if you have some knowledge of pharmaceuticals.”
Chris looked up from his notes. “And Ryman?”
Conceição shook her head. “It was late April, but that weekend Swiss meteorologists recorded summer temperatures. His body had been out in the forest for three days in 28-degree heat. So that must have been one unpleasant, and fruitless, autopsy.”
Sabine smiled. “Thanks for that, Conceição. So what can we tell about this person so far? He has a conscience, and a need for attention. So does half the human race. He knows details about these men, their movements and crucially, their preferences. Each scene shows all the elements of a professional hit. He is organised, prepared and very well researched. He is not in any way weak with blood, violence and death, but coldly professional. Just look at van der Veld.”
“Why van der Veld in particular?” asked Chris.
“The killer slit his veins open. That is not an easy task. I know. I have killed chickens,” Sabine assured them with great solemnity.
Beatrice caught her lip between her teeth to avert a smile. Kälin exhaled sharply and Beatrice saw his moustache twitch once more.
“So to profile. Gender we know,” Sabine said.
Xavier shifted forward in his seat. “Do we? If the DNA is planted, it could be a woman.”
Sabine managed her annoyance more smoothly this time. “Possible, but unlikely. A tiny percentage of serial killers are women. And those that do kill more than once usually have a personal reason, like vengeance.”
Xavier cleared his throat. “Yes, I understand that. But in theory, we could be talking about a vengeful woman, who leaves traces of male DNA, possibly on purpose, to implicate someone?”
“In theory, Xavier. But you don’t need to make this so complicated. Look at the statistics. He is most likely to be white. As for social class, I’m divided. He could be a working-class hero, maybe a drug dealer who serviced these men. Or a medic, someone they would meet socially, but who had access to debilitating drugs. As for age, that’s a tricky one. Received wisdom is that serial killers tend to start their ‘career’ around the age of thirty-five. The first murder we know of was in 2007. And it was perfectly planned. Five years later, our killer is most likely early forties.”
Chris picked up a marker pen and noted the details on the whiteboard.
“He is more than likely to live alone. He works in some kind of pharma-related industry. Or deals with less legal pharmaceuticals in his free time.”
“Sabine?” Xavier had another question, while Chris added more data to the mind-map. “Why do you say he lives alone?”
Sabine sighed. “Most serial killers do. Or possibly with someone infirm or elderly, who cannot check up on them. I believe he prepared the ground for these killings in detail, which means being away from home for some time. So I cannot imagine he has an invalid at home whom he can abandon for days.”
“Although if he did, that might explain access to sedating drugs,” Xavier replied.
Sabine thought for a moment and nodded. “OK, I’ll take that into account. Thanks, Xavier. Either way, this guy has an ‘in’. He’s a professional, someone respected, someone they want on their side.
“We can’t test his DNA for any markers of ethnicity, but one thing we should note. These kinds of crimes usually start close to home, in an area the killer knows well. The incidents we know about occurred in the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Liechtenstein. He may be Swiss, or a Dutchman living here.”
“Have we checked your alibi?” Conceição looked sideways at Chris.
Chris feigned realisation. “Of course! It all seems so obvious now. Everyone knows the Dutch are all drug-crazed left-wing hippies. I think we should take me in for questioning.”
Conceição released a deep laugh.
Chris continued. “But seriously, this profile does tend to point more towards some kind of businessman. The hotel in Utrecht is the sort of place where people stand out if they’re not wealthy professionals.”
Sabine nodded. “Exactly. This guy is a chameleon, fitting in easily to his environment. As for his psychological make-up, I’m still struggling to piece together the motivation. This kind of world view where he believes he alone can rescue society from, in this case, capitalism and greed, is not u
ncommon. He is an avenger, a righter of wrongs, and sees himself as a very intelligent person.”
“Not forgetting a meticulous planner,” added Chris.
Sabine agreed. “Definitely. From what I have assessed, I see this man. He works, or maybe used to work, in the world of pharmacology. There may be some moral indignation in his world view. His trajectory was thwarted somehow and he now resents the ‘proper way’ of doing things. He may have been disappointed by the law, or his career path. He wants to correct what he sees as wrongs. I would guess that he brewed these plans for many years, and as explained before, he’s likely to be around forty to forty-five years old.
“And finally, the dates are significant. We know of four suspicious suicides; 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011. No connected death in 2009. Did something major happen to our man in that year, so he took a sabbatical? Or did we miss one? And as Xavier mentioned many weeks ago, can we be sure that the first ‘suicide’ was in 2007?”
Chris looked at Xavier. “You suggested this before. We have to do that trawl for any similar kinds of deaths in 2006 and 2009.”
Xavier’s eyes shone bright. “Got it.”
Sabine continued. “He’s unlikely to be any kind of team player, with a strong conviction in his own beliefs. If this person is operating this way, his confidence and belief in his own power is increasing proportionally. He will be very attentive to any investigation and potentially become involved, whether that is observing, or attempting to hide himself behind a witness. We must all be very aware of any external interest in this case.”
The girl was rising like a hot air balloon in Beatrice’s estimation. Her presentation crystallised so many vague thoughts which had bothered Beatrice since first reading Hamilton’s notes. Sabine came to a close.
“My views are based on both this particular person, and any parallels he may have with a similar MO. And while his operational strategy is one thing, his calling card is another. The DNA is not a mistake. Judging by the meticulously clean scenes of crime, I believe this person quite deliberately leaves some saliva, or hair for the police. His own, or someone else’s. I think he must know this DNA is not registered on any database. Why?”
