Free Lilith: a novel by Edward Trimnell

kind of target Lilith goes for—she likes slightly overweight men in their thirties, men who, for lack of a better word, would be conventionally described as ‘nerdy’.”
    Alan almost involuntarily glanced at Dave. Then he noticed that Maribel’s eyes had been drawn to Dave as well.
    “Hey!” Dave objected. “Don’t look at me!”
    Maribel chuckled.
    “I would gladly do it myself,” Alan said. “But I’m about ten years older than Lilith’s victims thus far. And I don’t really fit the—profile.”
    “And you’re saying that I do?”
    Maribel laughed again. Dave’s cheeks visibly reddened.
    “Face it, Dave: you’re a natural for this one. I know that you’ve never gone undercover before—”
    This was true, even though Dave had been in law enforcement for the better part of a decade. The ODCI was roughly divided into analysts and field agents. Dave was clearly an analyst.
    Although these classifications were not rigid, analysts seldom went on undercover operations. But there was no explicit rule that prohibited them from doing so.
    “So my first time undercover is going to involve time alone with a serial killer, is that it?”
    “You’ll have to spend some time alone with Lilith—and probably many suspects who will turn out not to be Lilith. But only in public places, Dave. And only with lots of backup. No one is going to throw you to the wolves.”
    Dave sighed, resigned.
    “You’ll still be in charge of the computer end of this operation,” Alan added. “That aspect of the case will remain essential. But I don’t think we’re going to catch Lilith without actually meeting her.”
    “Without me actually meeting her, you mean.”
    “You’ll be perfectly safe. She only kills in the victims’ private residences. You’ll only be meeting with her in public.”
    “Aw man, I’m going to be bait.” But Dave’s turn was upbeat now, and laced with a bit of bravado. He had apparently remembered that Maribel was present, and he was trying to recover.
    “And you know so much about online dating.” Alan could not resist the barb.
    “I do not.”
    Maribel chuckled again.
    “Do what you need to do as far as the budget is concerned. You can use the group’s credit card to set up profiles on any dating sites that charge fees for male members.”
    “I’m on it,” Dave said.
    “And give this a chance, Dave. You might just find that you’re a natural.”
     

12.
     
    It took only a few hours to set up Dave’s online profile and to duplicate it across multiple Internet dating sites.
    Maribel used her cell phone to take several casual snapshots of Dave, in each case taking pains to avoid any background that could be associated with the ODCI.
    Dave’s online alter ego would need the rudiments of a backstory and a biography. It was decided that Dave would pose as “Don”. He accurately reported his age, build, and other basic physical data.
    “Don” worked as the “computer guy” for a small business consultancy. And here was the tricky part: If Dave claimed to work for a well-known local employer, it would be easy for anyone—including the killer—to catch him in the lie.
    “Don” would therefore be as evasive as possible if asked about his job, with claims that the consultancy was small, consisted of only a handful of personnel, and worked exclusively with a small number of automotive industry client firms. “Don”, as the IT guy, could plausibly claim to know little about the heart of the business if queried. On the other hand, Dave could rhapsodize forever about computers, so he was covered if anyone threw him any questions about networking or software.
    Don would be a recent transplant from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This would obviate the need to create a complex local history including local school attendance, etc. Ft. Lauderdale was a deliberate addition to Don’s contrived life history: Dave had spent many of his childhood summers in Ft. Lauderdale, and could field basic