by Robin Mahle
“No. We’re talking with his employer now. Apparently, he came in shortly before we arrived and one of his coworkers saw him. I guess he took off. Just means that we’re after the right guy. I’m sure of it.”
“So he’s gone?” Kate’s stomach dropped.
“Afraid so. We’ll have to coordinate with state police and the FBI field offices and have a BOLO issued.”
When Nick paused, Kate felt that a shoe was about to drop.
“The problem is, we don’t have a name. He was going by an alias, but we do have a personnel file with his picture in it. So, we’ll get that out over the wire as quickly as possible. How are things going down there? Coroner arrive yet?”
“He’s here. They’re taking the body now.”
“Well, there’s no doubt you’ve just found Lizbeth Hansby. I’ll have to arrange for the family to come and identify her. Jacksonville, right?”
“Yes. They’re taking her to Jacksonville. What can I do now?”
“Just hang tight. Get copies of everything they’re collecting down there and get that warrant. We have a face. We need a name.”
“Got it. Oh, I reached out to Agent Myers. That’s not a problem, is it? I needed to ask her a few questions now that the unsub has altered his patterns.”
“Of course not. Do what you need to do, Kate. You’re in charge down there and, right now, this rests on you getting that name.”
“Understood. I’ll be in touch as soon as I have anything.” She rejoined the other officers, most of whom had been standing around while CSI collected evidence. There wasn’t much more for them to do at this point.
“Any news?” Burgess asked.
“Looks like Lizbeth was a victim of the Blackwater Killer. We’ll need to get information from the coroner’s office as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, getting that warrant is our priority.”
“But you know who the guy is.”
“He used a false identity. We know what he looks like and a BOLO will be issued as soon as my team coordinates with state police. Right now, we need a name so we can dig up whatever history we can find on him that might point us to where he’s going.” Kate shook her head. “He may be feeling as though he’s losing control of the situation. If that’s the case, he’ll become more unpredictable and anything we thought we knew about him is going to fly right out the window.”
“What are you going to do about the press?” Burgess asked.
“Once the BOLO goes out, there’ll be no keeping it quiet. Let’s try to get on top of the media before they trample all over us.” Kate began to walk toward the patrol car. “We’ll need to issue a statement. I’m sure your sheriff will want to address the press first and that’s fine. I’d prefer if the FBI not be mentioned, although I’m not sure that’s possible at this point. But my goal would be to keep the coverage localized. Once it goes national, I have a feeling the killer will feed off the attention, amplifying his control issues.”
They reached the car and Burgess opened his door. “You think he’ll go on some sort of killing spree? I mean, worse than what he’s done already.”
“Honestly, I have no idea.”
They made it back to the sheriff’s office, where Kate proceeded to fill Sheriff Conroy in on the latest details.
“Where are we at on the warrant?” the sheriff asked Burgess.
“Deputy Grimes is getting it signed by the judge now.”
Sheriff Conroy placed his hands at his waist. “Good. I’ll have PR work on a statement for the press.” He turned to Kate. “When are your people going to issue that BOLO?”
“Within the hour.”
“Okay. That doesn’t give me much time, but obviously, we can’t afford to waste any more of it. Agent Reid, I’m sure you and Deputy Burgess will be able to deliver the warrant to Principal Whitmore and I hope to hell he’s already got the names ready for you.”
“Thank you, Sheriff,” Kate replied. “We’ll keep you abreast of any new developments.” She reached into her bag and retrieved a business card. “This is my information.” She began to scribble on the back of it. “This is the contact information for the resident agent. He’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that, but you seem to be doing a fine job and I’ll let you to it. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me.” Sheriff Conroy left the room, leaving Kate and Burgess to process the warrant.
Within an hour, the two had arrived back at the school and waited for Dr. Whitmore inside his office. He’d gone to collect the much-needed information and soon returned.
“Okay, this is what we’ve got.” Whitmore walked around his desk and sat down. “I’ve got the names of students from the years of 2000 to 2008. Our logo hadn’t changed in that amount of time and so I think this is what you’ll be most interested in.” He pushed the documents toward Kate.
There were several pages and Kate began to flip through them. Many names that would require a lot of time to research. She began to deflate at the sheer magnitude of the task. “Thank you, Dr. Whitmore. Now that we have a face, we hope to match it up with a name. Even though these are old photos of young kids, this will help us out.” Kate stood on weary legs. “We’d better get started on this. Oh, and the sheriff is going to be making a statement regarding our investigation. However, please rest assured that our meetings and concerns will not be made public. We don’t know anything for sure yet and so there’s no need to raise any red flags.”
Dr. Whitmore rose to meet Kate. “I appreciate that and, while I hate for you to waste your time, I certainly hope you don’t find a connection between this madman and our fine school.”
“So do I, doctor.”
SIXTEEN
It was only a matter of time once the BOLO was issued for the man they thought to be Arlen Tucker that the press would pick it up and it seemed that time had come. Nick’s phone rang incessantly with calls from WFO about questions from reporters. All he could do was tell them that a statement would be issued at the appropriate time, as their primary concern was finding the suspect.
“We have to get a handle on this, Nick.” Dwight walked alongside him as they left the Atlanta office. “You know the media will put a spin on this and scare the shit out of the public.”
“Maybe they should be scared,” Nick replied.
“Come on; you don’t mean that. You’re just frustrated, same as me.” Dwight stepped inside the car while Nick slipped into the passenger seat.
It had been a visit earlier today by one of Lyons’ agents to the post office where Arlen Tucker’s P.O. Box was registered that led them to a street address. “Let’s just see what we can find at his place,” Nick started. “We know he took off in a hurry, so there may be something he left behind that would give us an idea as to where he might be going.”
Dwight backed out of the parking garage. “You know, you handled yourself well today with Lyons. Frankly, I don’t know that I could have. I’m just sorry the son of a bitch is tagging along with us.”
“It still involves his office. Not much I can do about that.” Nick squeezed the door handle. “Besides, if he wants her, he can have her. We’ve got a job to do.”
The drive to Tucker’s home was long and quiet, save for Nick’s phone buzzing endlessly with calls inquiring about the case. He eventually shut it off.
It was Dwight’s phone that rang this time, surprising the both of them.
Nick looked at it resting in the console. “You sure you want to get that? Probably another call from the media.”
Dwight looked briefly at the caller ID. “I’d better get it. The number’s local.” He picked up the call. “Agent Jameson here.”
The speakerphone muffled the voice for a moment due to a weak signal, but it soon regained some strength. “It’s Lyons. I tried Scarborough, but it keeps going straight to voicemail.”
The two exchanged a knowing look.
“I got a call from Fayetteville Police. A robbery occurred earlier this morning
at a gas station just a few miles from Tucker’s residence. When they heard the BOLO and saw the picture, it matched their suspect in the robbery. They’d already spoken to the victim.”
“So it was our guy. What do we know? Did he say anything to the victim?” Dwight asked.
“Just that he said the kid was lucky. But more importantly, the kid said Tucker headed south along the frontage and onto the highway. I’ve confirmed that the state police have placed a roadblock, but no one matching our unsub’s description or vehicle has tried to pass.”
“You think they already missed him?” Dwight’s shoulders dropped in defeat. If Tucker made it out of the state already, things just got a hell of a lot more complicated.
“I think he’s long gone,” Lyons replied.
Dwight slammed his palm on the steering wheel and began shaking his head. “Are you heading to the house now?”
“Yes. I’ll be there in ten minutes. You?”
“We’re just in front of you.”
“Okay. Fayetteville Police will be there too.”
“Ten-four. See you there.” Dwight ended the call. “Where do you think this guy’s going?”
“I haven’t got a damn clue.” Nick appeared as disgusted as Dwight had. “I hope to hell Kate’s having better luck than we are.”
» » »
“We’ve got to be able to narrow this down.” Burgess rubbed his eyes as he sat at the conference table that was covered in sheets of paper filled with names. “There’s a killer out there and all we have is a face and a fake name.”
“I’m just as frustrated as you, but…” It suddenly occurred to Kate a more expedient way to address the problem. “You’re right. We have a face.” Kate thought about the personnel file. “Dr. Whitmore had to have pulled this information from some sort of database the school or district maintains.”
“Right,” Burgess replied.
“I’d need to check with one of my colleagues in D.C., but she would know, if it was at all possible, how to get that information uploaded to our facial recognition database.”
“Okay, but these photos are from up to ten years ago. They’re just kids. We’re looking for a man.”
“That’s right, we are. So we can eliminate the females in this group. Deputy Burgess, this could save us valuable time.”
“It’s worth a shot.”
Kate immediately called Agent Vasquez and asked if this was even a possibility. “I’m sure the principal will give us access. We have a warrant and I know he’s just as anxious as we are to find resolution. Whether his school is involved or not, he wants to put this to bed.” Kate waited for a reply as she paced Burgess’ office. “Okay, thank you, Agent Vasquez. Goodbye.”
Her smile revealed that she’d received the answer she was hoping for. “I’m going to get in touch with Dr. Whitmore and get access to the district’s database. I’m sure he’ll need permission from the school board, but I can’t foresee that as an issue, all things considered.”
“No. I don’t think the board would want to come across as uncooperative in this situation,” Burgess said. “So, what do we do in the meantime? Just wait?”
Kate wasn’t really sure how to answer him. It seemed they would be at a standstill until the data could be analyzed. “Vasquez will work as quickly as possible, but it will take some time. Not only will she have to cross-reference the names and faces with any records we have, but we’re also dealing with the age aspect. There will likely be some markers she’ll look for and probably from there, implement the aging program to come up with the possible matches.”
“I wish we had access to that kind of technology.”
“You do. The biggest problem I’ve seen with local authorities is that they just don’t have the manpower to utilize what’s available to them.”
“Sounds like you speak from experience.”
“I spent a few years working for the San Diego Police Department in evidence collection. I spent time on a few cases as well.”
“So you decided to move on up to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, huh?”
Kate glanced away for a moment, not feeling up to elaborating on her short law enforcement career. “You could say that. I’d better get on the horn to Dr. Whitmore and get the ball rolling. Excuse me for a moment.”
» » »
They arrived at the derelict shack that Tucker had called home for at least the past six months, according to the post office. The first on scene, Dwight and Nick pulled into the driveway from the cracked asphalt street inside the neglected community.
“So this is it.” Nick surveyed the area. “Can’t wait to see what’s inside.” He followed Dwight as the two approached the front door. “Don’t suppose anyone’s home?”
Dwight turned back, pressing his lips together.
“Just a thought.” Nick held his hands up as if in surrender. “Just open the door.”
Dwight turned the handle, but it was locked. “Guess we’ll have to go in the old-fashioned way.” He walked into the front yard and retrieved a stone. On his return, he threw the stone into the small glass insert in the door. “There you go.” Pulling the sleeve of his button-down shirt over his hand, he inserted it into the broken section and disengaged the deadbolt.
The smell nearly knocked them to the ground, but with guns raised, they entered the small mudroom.
“Jesus. What the hell?” Nick crinkled his nose and closed his eyes as if that would stop the assault on his senses.
They both recognized the odor and knew death would make its presence known.
“Nick, over here.” Dwight had been a few steps ahead and was standing in the living room.
He was looking at something and Nick had already figured out what it was, but approached anyway. “Aww, hell. Goddammit.”
“I’ll finish with the sweep, see if you can find any identification for this girl—what’s left of her.” Dwight continued to check the other rooms in the house, which didn’t take long, but stopped short when he arrived inside the first of the two bedrooms. No matter how many times he’d been in this very situation, Dwight never got used to it. As much as he’d wanted to close his eyes, he just couldn’t.
The room was covered in pornography and not just any pornography—bondage and sadomasochism. Although that alone was not the reason for his revolted stare. The images showed women with a particular body part having been removed, that same part having been removed from all of the killer’s victims.
In the distance, he heard Nick’s voice. “Are we clear?” The words reached his ears and Dwight tried to blink and remember what he was doing there in the first place. “All clear. You’d better come in here and take a look.”
Nick stepped away from the body, not having found any identification, and as he began to walk toward the bedroom, footsteps sounded behind him. He turned to see Agent Lyons and one of the local cops.
It seemed the smell had still been extremely pungent, although they’d left the door open.
“For God’s sake, is there a body in here?” Lyons asked.
“Over here,” Nick replied, tossing his head in the direction of the latest victim of the Blackwater Killer. “She hasn’t been dead long, from what I can tell. Maybe not even twenty-four hours.”
“Nick, you need to see this,” Dwight shouted from the bedroom.
“Excuse me.” Nick walked into the darkened hall and toward the only room with a light turned on. Upon entry, he could only shake his head as he looked around the room—the walls papered in debauchery. “We gotta find out who and where this guy is.”
“Was that Lyons and one of the locals I heard?” Dwight asked.
“Yeah. Let the circus begin.” He paused to consider the meaning of what they were both seeing. “What do you think he’s done with the cutouts?”
It seemed Dwight understood that Nick meant both what was on the walls and what had come from the victims. “I have a feeling we’ll find everything right here. Somewhere.” He looked at Nick. “He
’s not done. Not now that he knows we’re after him. I think he’s planning on leaving a whole lot of bodies in his wake.”
“I hope to God you’re wrong.”
“Come on, let’s start working with those guys and see if we can get any useful information from all this shit.” Dwight started back into the hall, Nick following behind, until they met the others.
“Where are we at on the BOLO?” Nick began. “Anything come up yet?”
“Not yet,” Lyons replied. “I just got off the phone with state police; they’ve extended the BOLO to include South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida. Someone’s bound to spot his old beat-up truck somewhere. He couldn’t have gotten that far yet.”
“What can I do?” the officer asked.
“Get a coroner down here to collect the body,” Nick began. “In the meantime, help us search this place for any clues as to where he might be going.” He turned to the others. “There’s a pretty good chance we’ll find tissue from the other victims here somewhere. We’re pretty confident he was keeping them as trophies.”
» » »
Several hours had passed with no news from Agent Vasquez. Kate glanced at the time on the wall. It was approaching six in the evening. The two had been at a virtual standstill since the information was forwarded to Vasquez, although Kate had spoken to Nick during that time and he filled her in on where they were, which hadn’t been much further than they were. Still, no one had spotted the vehicle or the man himself and that seemed unbelievable, considering four states were looking for him.
The news had already broken and it wouldn’t be long before it reached the national level. In fact, she expected to see a special report break through at any moment. But there was nothing more they could do right now, except sit in the breakroom of the Baker County Sheriff’s office and wait.
“Dammit,” Burgess said. “How much longer is this going to take? With the millions of dollars in resources you people have, you’d think things would move along a little faster, considering there’s a goddam killer running around.” His anger was directed toward Kate, but she didn’t flinch. It seemed that was enough to settle him down. “I’m sorry, Agent Reid. I just feel completely impotent right now.”
