Chapter 163: The Inevitable Connection (2/2)

”Exactly.” I picked out the next files.

”Look here… he came back after a long hiatus. But there was something very different this time,” I whispered. The thoughts were slowly forming in my head. I was slowly putting the dots together.

”The second killing when he came back?” Nash asked. He looked through the case and shook his head. ”I don't understand.”

”Remember when he killed the whole family? The children included?” I asked. ”In his first spree, he had no mercy if someone else walked in and saw him with the victim. He ruthlessly killed all of them.” I pointed to the pictures of the little kids he had murdered alongside the mother. ”But when he encountered the same thing in his second spree, he locked the child in the bathroom and still killed the mother.” I pointed to the file Nash was holding in his hand.

Nash dropped down beside me and took a blank sheet of paper and started to build a timeline. ”From the time he stopped his first spree to the second spree… he could have had a child and he didn't want to kill a child because it reminded him of his… son…” And then he scribbled some more and gasped. ”The same child would be in the age-range that we suspect the accomplice is in!”

”Bravo, you have figured this out.” I couldn't help but smile. ”But we can't stop at that. It could have been that a close family member gave birth. The accomplice could be a nephew or someone in the family, too.”

”And that would explain why the child would have access to the victim's things…” Nash trailed off. ”Is there anything else?” he asked, excited.

I nodded. ”There are these notes,” I flipped to the photocopies I had received. ”The letters to the media and police force that were handwritten… they look like they were not written by an adult. The trepid way they wrote… this person was not confident and was scared that the killer would get caught because of him.”

Nash looked at the writings, dragging his hand over the prints.

”It would also explain why the accomplice went to so much trouble to erase all traces of him in those packages. Going the extra mile to put disinfectant and remove everything from the box?” His eyes gleamed with excitement.

”Then, we have a profile of who it could be, right? We are looking for someone who was in the force or was working to be in there… had many failures but eventually had enough power over people that he didn't need to kill to exert power over others.”

”The way he tied up the victims and sexually assaulted them… it was always about power… power over a woman. Maybe the BTS killer had a mother who was dominating or a wife who was the breadwinner of the household. The pressure to be more manly could have turned his fantasies of tying up and sexually engaging with women violent. He wanted complete control over the female body.”

”So, the first spree… he was financially inferior to his significant other and he couldn't handle it. He wanted to take back some form of control.”

”And then he finally got a job that satiated his financial and power-related needs. He also had a child who depended on him. He felt powerful, so he didn't need to assault and murder women anymore. But something happened again in his life and he felt stripped of his masculinity.”

”I'll personally make a list of people who were patrolling officers at the time, specifically in the areas of the victims and or those going to the police academy. I'll narrow it down by people who faced problems or were suspended at the time.”

”No one should know about this.” I closed my eyes as the suspicion overflowed in my veins. ”We cannot have anyone find out. Do you understand?” I whispered.

”You can trust me. My priority is to find Evie and if we can use this information to get her back, I will gladly become unlawful and fish for information where I shouldn't.” I could see the determination in his eyes.

”Actually, on top of that list, give me another list with those in high government positions with close family members within the age range of the accomplice.”

”I will do that. Also, I will follow up with the prosecutor about the list of clients Collins has seen in the past decade. There should be a good number of important people there who we could consider.”

I breathed in relief. ”Tell me as soon as you find out.”

”The result for the grain of sand will come out by morning and we are looking through all the properties from the kidnapping suspect's family and friends. We will get a hit soon, don't worry.”

He waved goodbye and left the room, leaving me to my misery. The list seemed to have been solved. And I had nothing else to do at that moment but to wait for the results.

It gripped my heart and wouldn't let go.

Questions of what-if floated in my mind, clouding my judgment. For a second, I wondered if I should give in to the fog and forget that I was anything other than a man who needed to grieve the absence of his fiancé. To be a simple man who may never see the woman he loved with all his heart ever again.

I dared not think too deeply. But I couldn't help.