CHAPTER 3
Todd was startled by the phone ringing. He slowly lifted himself up wondering who could be calling at that time. He glanced at the clock and realized it was past 9.00am. He bolted off the bed and he answered the call. At the same time, Lorraine lifted her head and glanced at the clock with shock.
"Hey partner? Too much to drink last night?" asked his partner Tom Allen
“umm yeah kind of, what’s up, not what I’m thinking….is it?” He asked back trying to avoid the obvious about him being late.
“We got another one. This time the Alveron’s daughter. It’s pretty bad Todd. You had better come to the campus right away.
“Yeah sure I’ll be there in a bit” He heard a click at the end of the line as he got up hurriedly to and headed to the shower.
“What up darling?” His wife asked knowing too well what that kind of expression meant.
She sat by the bed side waiting for him to get out of the shower.
“It’s Lisa Alveron. Tom says it’s really bad this time. Remember what we talked about last night?”
“Oh my God….umm yeah, I remember” she said softly fear and pain already gripping her. Lisa was her god daughter and Kendra her mother was a very close friend. They had been friends and neighbors for a very long time.
“I think I could use your help. You could come along and look at the evidence and maybe the bodies If you have the nerve for it. I’m sure we can read the killers mind from that.”
Yeah sure let me get ready I’ll be down in a bit.” Lorraine hurriedly got into the shower and was down within minutes.
Their nanny was already there and tending to the kids with breakfast. She served them coffee in travel mugs and they started for the door after kissing their girls good bye.
They didn’t talk much in the car as Todd drove fast towards the crime scene. A lot of things were going through his mind. He felt defeated by the serial Killer. He didn’t know what to do but the talk he had with his wife made him realize that they still had a chance. Other than go after a guy they had no clue about, they could study his way of killing and evidence and deduce exactly what he was thinking or feeling.
Soon they were pulling up at the campus and headed to the main office block where there were many police cars parked. They got out of the car and Tom headed towards them. “Hey” he greeted Todd with a nod as he kissed Lorraine on the cheek. “Still beautiful as ever. Could you right me down a few tips on how you keep so young and beautiful and manage to mesmerize this guy for 10 years so that I can give to my next wife? I could sure use it”
She blushed at his comments, “Oh Tom, Thank you Tom” She had been to Tom’s 3 weddings and was friends with all his wives. He never lasted more than 2 years in a relationship and after his last divorce resolved to remain single.
He lead them to the where the body lay. The crime scene had been sealed off and students had piled around the area. Lorraine could sense the fear and worry by the look on their faces. And she understood they had a right to be, with a serial killer running around free butchering innocent students, who wouldn’t be.
Todd looked at the body and noticed this was different. It was too clumsy and she had been tortured plenty. He turned to his wife who had a look of shock. “Honey are you OK? Can you handle this? If you can I’ll understand.”
“It’s OK, I can do it. From the way she’s been placed naked, the killer is agitated and wanted to humiliate his victims. He tortures them, sexually harasses them and later all this is to punish them.”
She continued, “He is also seeking attention. He wants to be noticed that’s why he makes the butcher mark on them. So that all his murders can be attributed to him. He has cutoff her fingers and gorged out her eyes, he has a lot of anger and specifically to her. She probably touched something she couldn’t or saw something she was not to see. I would say you are looking for a male between the ages of 20-30, could be a student here that’s why he is so familiar and can easily drop a body without being noticed.”
Todd listened intently at his wife with admiration as she continued to speak. “He is not social and tries to lay off radar and has trouble getting a girlfriend or even a date. Though he may sell off as the model citizen and would be least suspected. He must be very strong because of the way he subdues them. He definitely had a troubled childhood.”
Detective Tom looked at Lorraine with amazement, “we should probably make you chief, Wow! All that from simply reading a body? That’s impressive Mrs. Brims”
She smiled at him, “I’m a psychologist Tom and I read people’s minds and their behavior. Mostly I help people though, not read a serial killers mind. But I’m glad I could be of help. I want this guy put away as soon as possible.”
“It does darling. That helps a lot. That narrows down our search. We should relook the whole case and try to figure out what all the victims have in common. We should also check their backgrounds and study their childhood. This all could be childhood related. Let’s hold off the search for the killer and focus on the victims, that’s where our answer lies. Once we get the facts it will be easier to narrow down to our main suspects. In the meantime Tom, we should have a few officers question Lisa’s friends, classmates and also her room mates. See what we can get from them.”
“You’re right let me delegate a few officers, see you back in the office?’ He asked Todd.
“Yeah in the office, let me drop off Lorraine”. Soon after Todd left with his wife and dropped her off at her office before heading to the station. Lucky for Lorraine, her first client was scheduled for 1.30pm. She still had time to settle down and prepare.