Free I'm Watching You by Karen Rose Page B

himself. „She made a list of everyone connected with the original crimes and added the cops. I was just… surprised.“
    Pivoting in her chair, Mia faced Westphalen. „He knows details that he shouldn’t.“
    „Details? Such as?“
    „Ramey had evidence of strangulation with a chain,“ Mia said. „That was his M.O. It also wasn’t public knowledge.“
    Westphalen leaned back in his chair and looked at Abe. „And this troubles you.“
    Abe’s brows bunched. „Of course it does. It’s a security breach.“
    „Or he could be one of us.“ Mia used the same words she’d used this morning standing over Ramey’s makeshift grave. One of us . It irritated Abe now as much as it had then. The thought that a cop could take the law into his own hands, could stalk a woman in her own home. It was repugnant. What was more unsettling, though, was that he wasn’t sure which crime bothered him more, stalking Kristen or the murder of five people.
    „Why did he give us their clothing?“ Abe asked, changing the subject.
    Westphalen steepled his fingertips. „What else should he have done with it?“
    „Thrown it away,“ Mia said. „Why didn’t he destroy it?“
    Abe paced. „If he’d thrown it away, somebody might have seen it. A dog might have pulled it from the trash. If he burned it, we might look for ashes if we ever caught up to him.“ He looked at Mia with a wry smile. „Where safer to leave it than with the cops?“
    Mia returned the smile, grimly. „He is smart. Why the grave marker?“
    „Now that I consider truly fascinating,“ Westphalen commented. „Such symbolism, and he went to so much trouble. He used real marble?“
    Abe stopped pacing and took the chair next to Mia’s. „The lab will know for sure. We made some calls, looking for anybody that makes headstones. There weren’t that many.“
    „We’re trying to find someone to see if they recognize the work,“ Mia explained. „So what about the symbolism?“
    „The day of their assault is the second date,“ Westphalen said, „as if it’s the day they died. To him, the lives of the victims ended the day they were raped, even though they lived. He says he’s watched the guilty go free for too long. He could mean from afar, like on television, or he might even live where people die every day.“ His shrugged. „Or he could mean from up close, like a cop. Regardless, he’s had a trauma of his own, and recently. This is all so very personal. I’d look for someone who’s recently suffered a terrible loss.“
    „A recent victim,“ Mia mused.
    „Maybe, maybe not“ Westphalen frowned. „The passion is sporadic, like beating King’s face and blasting the pelvis of the two sex offenders. It’s almost like he gets them in his grasp and just can’t help it. But hunting them and disposing of them after they’re dead and the letters… very calculated. I doubt you’ll find anything of use at the crime scene. Not at first anyway. Maybe later, after he’s gotten careless, but that could take a long time.“
    „Wonderful,“ Abe muttered.
    „Sorry, Detective. I save my ESP for the track. No, I think that even though the loss or trauma that triggered this killing spree is recent, I don’t think the crime he’s suffered is recent at all. It takes a long time to build up such anger.“
    „Any guess on our guy’s age?“ Mia asked and Westphalen shrugged.
    „Don’t know. He writes like an aged scholar, but he had to have physical strength to move the bodies. I’d have to say he’s younger versus older.“
    „Why did he target Kristen?“ Mia asked and Westphalen’s face became grim.
    „I don’t know that either. It could be no more than the fact she’s a pretty face that the reporters like to put on television. But this man is obsessive. Does Kristen have protection?“
    Mia slid Abe a slow look. „Do you think she needs it?“ she asked.
    „Perhaps. If the other state’s attorneys start getting little gifts, I’d say