A throaty laugh echoed from the back of the room, “Are you propositioning us, Professor?” Diane asked, almost seductively.
Without waiting for Carly's response and without wanting to know Carly's response, Sully pointed to the first chart hoping his peers in the room wouldn’t notice his flushing face. “We know our boy likes women found in the sex trade Professor, while Dombrowski stayed pretty conventional with his women: housewives, and career women from the Denver suburbs. So there doesn't appear to be a link in the type of victims the killers sought out. Unless you see one, Professor.”
Carly couldn’t see any real similarities, as Dombrowski hadn’t been seeking out a particular type of woman, other than looking for women to match up to the Station of the Cross he was imitating. His selection of women was varied and random, as access to them and LoDo had been the critical factors.
Continuing, Sully moved to the next point on the chart. “Both killers used the same MO when snatching their victims. They would catch them alone out in public, and snatch them. Neither man did anything fancy or anything dramatic. Dombrowski had a habit of making his grabs in parking lots. We're pretty sure that our guy cruises the sex trade areas and then hits on random victims he finds out there alone. A key similarity is our boy is as good as Dombrowski was in going unnoticed.”
“Do you know if Dombrowski operated on the spur of the moment in selecting his victims or did he stalk them prior to the killing?” one of the other detectives asked.
“He never said obviously, but we are pretty sure that he just went shopping for women,” Carly answered. “There had appeared to be some reckless randomness to whom he had taken and how he had abducted them. None of the victims' families or friends recalled anything unusual in the days preceding a murder. There hadn't been any mysterious cars driving by the victim's homes, no strange phone calls, no peeping Toms, nothing special. “All in all, it was a pretty gutsy process for someone who was so ritualistic and so tied to a specific calendar date. He must have been pretty sure of his abilities to find someone. Perhaps the defiant boldness of the abductions was why it worked. Just do it, so to speak.”
“Or he didn't care.” Diane added. “Dombrowski might have assumed he would get someone, if he just tried hard enough. Cruise shopping centers and malls for a while and it’s pretty easy to see some woman putting herself in harm's way. Despite all our warnings, all our educational efforts, women still do stupid things. Things that make them victims.”
Carly interjected, “Your killer is doing the same thing as Dombrowski, just in a different venue. He works an area frequented by women, particularly women who work or travel alone, he cruises until he sees a likely target. How much more of a victim can a woman be than to be a hooker? For them it's standard operating procedure to get into a car with a perfect stranger. He just finds the ones working solo.”
Moving along, Sully flipped to the next chart. “Fact: all victims in the Crucifixion murders except for the mother figure were sodomized and then raped in that order. Why Professor?”
“It's what happened to Dombrowski literally and then figuratively. First the priest sodomized him, then his mother violates him by not defending him. He got screwed by both of them, just in different ways. He acted out revenge on the priest by first doing what was done to him, then he duplicated his hate for his mother by raping women. I used a great deal of this in my book to discuss sex as a motivator.”
As Carly thought about it, he knew it was a bit of knowledge about Dombrowski that would be common knowledge to anyone. A copycat would know this.
“One thing to keep in mind, I did not discuss the order of the sexual acts though. The only persons familiar with the order of Dombrowski's violations would be Denver forensics and the detectives who worked the case. It wasn't an item given to the press as we wanted to keep some things back so only the killer could confirm them. Dombrowski when asked if he had intercourse first, he said 'no'. When asked if he had anal intercourse first, he said 'yes'. He didn't say why, but it was easy to figure out. It's pretty curious that your killer has the same sexual proclivity in terms of what happens first. It's a scary coincidence.”
Noting this on one of the sheets, Sully continued keeping the group focused, nurturing the time with Carly for all it was worth. “Another fact: a couple of victims are whipped with a knotted leather thong.”
Carly explained how for Dombrowski, this had been part of the “Stations of the Cross” scenario that he followed. The Professor had the group keep in mind that he had often been molested by the priest right in the church, so one of the memories embedded in his consciousness was the Stations of the Cross that hung on the church walls. They had to imagine a young kid getting violated by one of the strongest authority figures in his life and all he can see was Jesus getting crucified."
“If you've ever seen the 'Stations' or read the Gospel on the Crucifixion, you would know Christ had been flogged a number of times during the events that led up to his death. Also he had been stripped of his garments, that's why so many of Dombrowski's victims were found nude, I believe. The same might be true with your killer.”
This particular detail would have been common knowledge just from the press accounts of the murders, so a copycat might be doing the same thing. However, the distance between the knots in the lashes was not a commonly known item beyond the forensic reports. As it was it turned out to be a fairly insignificant detail. The best the Denver detectives could determine was the fact, the three inches were caused randomly by the size of Dombrowski's hands as he had tied the knots in the thongs. The Denver police had assumed that the number of knots, three in each case, was just as random considering the length of the material and his hand size.
“So our boy may have the same hand size or thereabouts?”
“Could be,” Carly responded noncommittally. There did not appear to be anything consequential about the knots, so it seems unlikely to be an imitative thing. Also material for the whips was related to the murderer's job. Dombrowski wasn't a creative type, aside from his techniques in killing and avoiding detection. He was pragmatic though. He made do with whatever was at hand. Like the leather thongs, the special cord, and the 'city-head' nails, Dombrowski used what he knew. Everything came out of his blacksmithing shop.
“I'd warrant your boy does the same thing. He uses what's at hand. Only a fool would go out of his way to acquire specialized materials, it's far too risky. Consider the duplex nails used and the cheap but sturdy leather strips, your killer probably has some carpentry background. Probably uses a tool belt or something like it to make his whips. Every now and then he scoops up a few nails around the job site for use at home or elsewhere.”
Carly continued, “This wasn't something that got a lot of press play or was written about by me or others, as it was taken as a given. Your killer is a practical man, just like Dombrowski had been. Your killer, like Dombrowski, is probably an everyday working stiff. He's logical and practical. He lifts a few things from work, as he needs them. The nails are not necessarily common, but not so special that tracking them would be an easy job. Hell, in Colorado, every little burg had a mercantile store with 'city head' nails in stock, it was horse country after all. Looking for the specific owner of a few horse-shoeing nails would have been like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack in Colorado.”
The flow of thought and discussion suddenly jogged Carly's memory. Excitedly he asked, “Speaking of lifting things, have you checked to see if any church in the area is missing a set of the 'Stations of the Cross? They would have been stolen within the last year or two, maybe within three years on the outside. Remember this was critical to Dombrowski and his rituals at home. Almost everything he did was centered on the 'Stations of the Cross so he had to have a set for his shrine.”
“I found a great deal of his motivation in the killings was to act out his murderous rage using the very religious depictions he had been forced to watch during his own desecration. I always thought that it wa
s a way to get back at the priest as well as the church by turning one of the holiest of their icons into the ultimate sacrilege.”
“Keep in mind, Dombrowski must have hated the Church just as much as he did his mother. After all, the Church let him down too. First it decreed that priests were their agents and the agents of God, which gave them a vast amount of control at the local level. When the whole affair had been discovered, the priest was quietly absorbed into the Church itself and transferred off to some other parish. There was no punishment for his sins. Poor little Petr Dombrowski was left alone to face his demons, however. His church protected his transgressor, while his mother turned away from the victim.”
A perturbed look crossed Inspector Edwards' face, as she acknowledged they had missed a very simple point in not checking out the prospect of a possible church theft.
She checked her notes from Carly's earlier recounting of the Denver murders, and stated excitedly, “Hernandez get on it that pronto. Have Gwen stay over and help, if you need to. Tell 'Robbery' to give you anything you need…on my authority,” she barked with an air of irritation that set the muscular detective scurrying out of the office.
Impressed by the assured air of authority she displayed, Carly found himself unconsciously currying her favor with compliments. “Good idea, Diane. If you've got a church that's been missing the 'Stations’, then you've got one hell of a line on an exact copycat killer. Dombrowski swiped his set right from the local church he went to every Sunday. It might be the same with your boy. If nothing it might lead you to a general geographical area, maybe even a target population from the rolls of that church's congregation. It might be your first tangible clue.”
He shrugged at Sully, as he had not meant to disrupt the man, but he couldn’t help himself, the adrenaline rush was propelling him forward at an ever-faster pace. He felt the flood of old emotions that had been dormant for such a long time, not since he and Merriwhether had taken down the VR parlors had he felt this way. While the academic life had its tranquility, it left a void for him he was beginning to recognize to his chagrin.
“Sorry, Sully I didn't mean to take over,” Carly apologized, as Diane nodded her appreciation.
With a shake of his head the smaller man relayed reassurance that Carly's intervention was exactly what was wanted and needed.
Sully continued using his notes liberally as he did. “At the first murder scene and at some of the others, we found unrelated human hair. It didn't match up with the pubic hair from the killer. It didn't belong to any of the victims. It wasn't random hair that any of the hookers might have picked up from some 'John', as it was exactly the same hair each time we found it. It also had been chemically treated like the hair used in wigs and toupees. It wasn't found at every murder scene, so if it is a hairpiece, the killer doesn't wear it every time. We did collect enough samples to match the hair to a singular source, a toupee or wig. Oddly enough, our killer might be bald or balding like Dombrowski had been. This hair piece clue hasn't proven to be anything special yet, but we're still working on it. The L.A. area has a million wig and toupee shops, not counting all the movie and TV make-up departments or internet sales. It doesn't appear to be a specialized hairpiece we're looking for at this point. A pretty generic rug of mediocre quality.”
He cleared his throat, as a huskiness in his voice had crept into his voice. Carly wondered if it was all the talking or the stress of the times.
He figured it was probably both and listened intently as Sully continued. “The means of death for the first victim was a breaking of the woman's neck, again just like Dombrowski. It was instantaneous and remarkably brutal. Our killer is one strong son of a bitch.”
Almost embarrassed by the casual cursing, Sully regrouped as his ears turned a bit red with embarrassment. “Sorry about that, the guy is getting to me.” No one in the room had noticed the rare slip in Sully’s ubiquitous professional manner and no one cared. These killings were getting to all of the them.
“There wasn't any motivational factor in him doing this, other than he was a powerful man and this was probably the fastest and easiest way to kill. No weapons to worry about, no gunshot noises, not even any excessive blood. Fast and simple.”
A common sense approach.” Carly remarked. “Your killer is pragmatic but not wanting to give him more credit than he deserves…he’s unimaginative.”
“We know our killer is shorter than average, same as Dombrowski. Both of the killers used gags. Was there a reason for Dombrowski doing this?” Diane asked.
Carly had thought about that early on as he had learned Dombrowski had injected some form of symbolism in virtually every act and every nuance of each murder.
“Aside from a practical aspect it kept the victims quiet. Symbolically, I always thought it had to do with the threats of the priest and eventually the threats of the mother that forced Dombrowski to stay silent about his molestation. It may have been related to his failure to speak. He may have wanted his victims to feel the same sense of frustration at being unable to communicate that he had as a boy. That of course is a bit of armchair psychology, a real stretch, mind you. I wrote about it in more general terms for the populace as a whole in my book and how we all are symbolically gagged by others and by ourselves every day, if for no other reason than to keep the peace. Keep in mind that Dombrowski gagged himself all his life...as he rarely spoke. For all intents and purposes, he was a mute.”
To everyone's surprise the arrival of several pizzas and sodas signaled the passing of another two hours. Along with the pizzas, supper consisted of a fresh pot of coffee and a bull session on the L.A. murders, referred to in the press as the 'Torture Killings'. Between Inspector Edwards' and Detective Sully's assessments, the overall scenario looked bleak. The squad had no real leads after six weeks and to a man they were beginning to become disheartened. Some were displaying some classic signs of burnout: night sweats, lack of energy, impatience, and anger. Two of the detectives openly admitted they had considered leaving the force, rather than stay on a case to nowhere. It didn't help the police department as a whole and this squad specifically, were getting vilified in the press on a daily basis. Add to that, the mayor was facing an election later in the year and he was exerting extreme pressure on the chief of police who passed it rapidly down the line. Finally, they all knew women kept dying and they couldn't stop it.
Carly wasn't sure he could help them with their feelings other than by letting them talk. It was a catharsis for some, for others it seemed to amplify the frustration. He tried to search Diane for her real feelings as she talked and listened to the others. His professional opinion was she was acutely angry at meeting an obstacle she couldn't conquer, just as he might have expected of anyone at her level. His personal opinion was he wanted to get to know her better, and as soon as possible.
Dinner ended abruptly as Hernandez burst into the room.
“We got something, Inspector,” he gasped as the words exploded from his mouth. “Gwen and I have been searching records since I left here and we finally found a church in Rosemead that had been broken into this past spring. March 23rd, I believe. Among the things reported missing were eleven of the twelve 'Stations'. The lone 'Station they managed to keep they found out behind the church in an alley, like the thieves dropped it or something. Also missing were a chalice, several vestments, and altar clothes. Pretty much like your boy, eh Doctor?”
Carly didn’t like the accuracy of the comparison, and his words relayed his emotions. “Too much like Dombrowski. While everyone knew about his fixation with the 'Stations' and the role they played in his vignettes on the second floor of his house, few people knew about the other religious items. They weren't as critical to the case and only fulfilled his inner needs. We found traces of his semen in the chalice he had stolen. We had determined he wore the priest's robes while he was in that room. All in all, we were not able to find out how and why he used these things, we just knew he had them and used them. Those artifacts didn't add that
much to solving the case or determining a motive for the killings, thus those things did not get the notoriety, which the 'Stations' received. They were minor pieces in a pretty big puzzle.”
“I am curious though detective, did you find out which of the twelve 'Stations' had been recovered in the Rosemead robbery?'
“I knew you'd ask that, Professor. I knew it. That's why I made a quick call out to St. Michael's parish in Rosemead, before I ran up here with the news. Father Stover, the pastor at St. Mike's told me that the sixth 'Station' had been saved. The one where Jesus falls for the third time.”
“Does that matter, Carly?” Diane interjected.
“After all it's clear that our killer isn't quite following the order of the 'Stations', at least not as religiously, no pun intended, as Dombrowski did.”
“I don't know. I'm a bit unnerved by the minute similarities and coincidences that seem to be cropping up in the two cases, but I've got to admit I'm confused by the facts that show the actual killings are out of sync with the Stations. It's as if your murderer is confused, almost like he wasn't a Catholic, or couldn't remember what he was doing. The first couple of murders here appear to be a combination of the very first one that happened in Denver. If you welded those two together you'd have the first of the 'Crucifixion Killings' to a tee. Even down to the marking of the body.”
“Tell us about the mark. Why did Dombrowski mark his first victim?”
“General speculation and theory on that time, was he was condemning her to death. Very ritualistic in terms of Christ being condemned to death. Dombrowski passed judgement on the first woman and symbolically on all the others thereafter, just as the Jews and Herod had passed judgement on Christ. As Christ was a marked man, so to speak, so were Dombrowski's women. The major difference between Dombrowski and your killer is the degree of tilt in the mark. Dombrowski made a small cross, your killer turned it a bit and made an 'x'. Just enough similarity to spook me, but just enough difference to confuse me.”
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