Free Vail 02 - Crush by Alan Jacobson Page B

from side to side, but didn’t dare rub it in front of his peers.
    “Do you see where I’m headed with this?”
    Dixon leaned back in her chair. “You’re trying to embarrass Scott?”
    Vail looked around. They all looked a tad miffed at her demonstration. “No. No, nothing like that. Think about the killer. Think about the victim. What’s our UNSUB doing?” She waited, but there were no answers. “He’s up close and personal. Confident. Controlling her. He’s killing her, taking her life, while she stares into his eyes. While she watches. For killers like this, it’s the ultimate in superiority. Complete arrogance. He’s drinking it in, watching the life drain out of her eyes.” Vail stopped, looked around. They were all looking intently at her, processing what she was saying. “Here’s something else. He could’ve chosen a lower risk victim and confronted her somewhere else, where he’d have multiple escape routes. But he didn’t. There are killers who
get off on the thrill of the kill, because engaging in these kinds of high-risk stakes is part of the thrill. All that tells me we may—and I emphasize may —be dealing with a narcissistic killer.”
    They all took a moment to digest that.
    “So he’s in love with himself,” Brix said. “How does that help us?”
    Vail, then Fuller, returned to their seats.
    “Everything we learn about this guy helps. When we catch him, if he is a narcissist, it’ll require a special kind of interview technique to get him to confess. But if we do it right, he will confess. Because he wants to take credit for what he’s done. That’s what I think the toenail is about. If I had to guess—and that’s all I’m doing now—the toenail could be his calling card, his way of telling us, ‘This is my kill. Give me credit.’”
    “You gotta be shittin’ me,” Dixon said.
    “BTK Strangler, remember him? A few years ago the trail went cold, but he contacted police when someone was ready to publish a book. He was basically saying, Hey, I’m still here. All those kills were mine. I’m the guy you want. Again, all this goes to understanding who we’re dealing with. The more we know, the more likely we’ll be able to narrow our suspect pool and get closer to identifying who this asshole is.”
    “Any ideas on how to catch him?” Brix asked.
    “She can’t help us catch him,” Fuller said. “She can only help us to eliminate suspects once we have some.”
    “That’s true—sort of.” Vail leaned forward in her chair. She was sure what she was about to suggest would go over as well as suggesting they pair a fine Cabernet with a fast food burger. “If I’m right, if this guy is a narcissist, then we can draw him out.”
    “You got my attention,” Lugo said. “How?”
    “Narcissists think they’re superior to everyone else, and they want to be acknowledged for their work. They seek attention, and because of that, they’re more risky in their behaviors and actions. By keeping a lid on this murder, you may even be facilitating his need to kill more. He may keep killing till you publicly acknowledge his work, stroke his ego.”
    They all laughed. One chuckled. Brix was shaking his head.

    “I understand that going public with this has other implications for your community—”
    Brix stepped forward. “Ain’t gonna happen, Agent Vail. I told you what’s at stake, both locally, at the state and federal levels—”
    Vail held up a hand. “It’s my job to give you information. What you do with the information is your decision.”
    “We could be destroying, or at least crippling, an entire industry,” Dixon said. “We have to weigh our actions extremely carefully. There’s gotta be another way to get to this guy.”
    “Then you have to look at victimology. Who your victims are, then try to figure out why these two women fell into this man’s crosshairs.”
    “Any idea when we’ll get an ID on the vics?” Lugo asked.
    Brix walked over to the wall