Free Branded for Murder by Dick C. Waters Page A

own places for years. Young women most likely couldn’t afford maid service. The older women would have a hairdresser they liked for years as well.
    What about a police detective? He would be in plain clothes, only needing to display a badge. How about a female police detective, or someone dressed like one? A discussion in the hall with the door partly open might have made the victim uncomfortable, especially if it was related to an investigation or something she didn’t want the neighbors to hear or to witness. Regardless, this person would have had to make the victim comfortable in order to be invited into the apartment.
    What about either a female census taker or a Nun, taking a collection for the church, charity or research – like Polio? Would she actually let someone of the cloth into her home? It depended on what they looked like. An elderly woman, or man made out to look like one, would not be a threat, especially a Nun.
    How would a man hide his identity? Would his hands give him away? Do Nuns wear gloves? If they did, their hands would be hidden. This has some possibilities along with a female census taker. However, a Nun would have been remembered in the area or apartment building– right?
    Let me think like Jackie. There were no struggles at any of these scenes. No one saw or heard anything out of the ordinary. I’m in my apartment alone, and there’s a knock on the door. I look through the peephole. Wait, I’ll have to check that to see if she had one. Then I open the door to the limit of the chain, making me comfortable opening the door to let the person in? Wait a minute. Jackie must have been pre-targeted, because the killer would not have wanted to go into an apartment with a man living there. How did he know where she lived? He must have known her address or she was expecting the visit. What kind of visit would she have been expecting?
    A mailman would know which apartments had single women in them, and he would definitely carry a bag with him. However, how would he cover his route time? The victims were kept for hours. If the killings were at night it might fit, but not during the day. He would have been seen as well.
    What am I missing?

Chapter 17
     
    Mike was in the task force office early. He was there before Paddy, who was usually the first to arrive and unlock the office. He started the coffee, trying to ignore the three dozen doughnuts. When the coffee is ready, maybe there will be a large one with his name on it.
    Mike studied the material Colleen typed and they had organized. The session the other day was the first chance to put all of these cases on the table and organize what they had. It was obvious the killer’s MO was the same in all the cases, even the ones from another state. The killer had to be on the road. Maybe he’s a salesman. However, he must have selected and studied the victims enough to know they lived alone.
    He read what Chris had said about the potential personality of the person involved in these crimes. What could have set him on this killing spree? Maybe his wife had another child, being colder in the sex department than usual. That would correlate with the eighteen month span of killings. The other noticeable thing was that he wasn’t interested in intercourse, but focused on control of the victims and carrying out fantasies. Semen on the body and other signs of molestation confirmed that.
    He heard the front door open, turning to see Paddy enter. “Good morning, Paddy. A little late, aren’t you?” he said, pulling his leg.
    Paddy smiled, hanging his coat on the rack. “It’s very rare that anyone beats me into the office, especially you. What brings you in so early? I can smell the coffee, so you’ve been here more than a few minutes.” He came over, and sat down at Mike’s desk.
    “I’ve been consumed by these cases. I spent some time over the weekend going through them again to see if we are missing something, but my head is just spinning. We’re