Page 79 of The Last Close Call

“The homicidal triad,” Heidi murmured.

Liz heard Heidi’s comment and rolled her eyes. “Dr.Skinner—with all due respect—I appreciate the psychological analysis. It’s definitely interesting. But what I really want to know—what all of us really want to know—is what can you tell us that’s going to help us catch him? Is there anything in his profile that gets to that?”

“I was just coming around to it.” He didn’t seem miffed, and Bryan figured he was used to dealing with impatient cops who tended to be action oriented. “I would say the most useful tool you have at your disposal is geography.”

“Geography,” Liz stated. “You mean, like, predicting where he’ll strike next?”

“Most geographical profiling is based on probability. You start with the assumption that he avoids killing in his own backyard in order to avoid drawing attention to himself—that’s what’s known as a buffer zone. He doesn’t want to risk doing it too close to home. If you look at the locations of his crimes outside the buffer zone, you may find some overlap. This method was used extensively in an effort to apprehend the Golden State Killer.”

Bryan again looked at Jack. That method hadn’t worked. What had ultimately brought down GSK was someone like Rowan, who analyzed a sample of the killer’s DNA and used it to create the guy’s family tree.

“In this case, I think Anderson is showing similarities with that case in that he’s using geography to select his targets. You may have noticed that the victims don’t share much in common in terms of physical appearance.”

“You’re saying he picks where they live?” Heidi asked.

“I believe he selects a neighborhood that meets his needs,” Skinner said. “Something backing up to a greenbelt or a park or maybe a creek bed where most of the houses are one level, and then he trolls for targets from there. The location is more important than the individual target.”

“What do you mean by ‘his needs’?” Heidi asked.

“He watches.”

All eyes turned to Jack.

“That’s what gets him off.” Jack glanced at Skinner. “Right? He stakes them out, hides, watches their windows.”

“Correct.”

“He gets to know their routines, watches them coming and going, then when he feels comfortable, he slips into their houses and does his recon,” Jack said.

“Recon?” Hood asked.

“He checks the layout, pockets spare keys, opens doors for himself. Sometimes he grabs personal items he likes—snapshots or jewelry. Hell, one woman even swears he swiped an energy drink from her refrigerator.”

Everyone focused on Jack, probably digesting just how sick this guy was. And also, how obvious it was that Jack had far more knowledge about Anderson than anyone else in this room, and Austin PD should have been leading up this task force instead of San Antonio.

But politics were politics, and SAPD had landed the job.

“Speaking of snapshots, that brings up my next point,” Skinner said.

Anderson’s driver’s license photo disappeared from the screen. The image that took its place put a sour ball in Bryan’s gut. It was the Polaroid of Olivia Salter and her boyfriend dressed for a luau with leis around their necks.

“After his second attack, he left his victim in the bedroom, and she reported hearing him moving around in her kitchen, opening drawers,” Skinner said. “He took this snapshot off her refrigerator and left it on her kitchen table on his way out.”

Heidi made a disgusted sound. “Why?”

“It’s a type of power trip,” Skinner said. “He’s saying, ‘I was here. Your boyfriend wasn’t. He didn’t protect you.’ ”

“He’s taunting them,” Heidi said. “What an asshole.”

“Exactly. Just his presence in the house before the crimes is also a taunt. In addition to the surveillance, as Jack said.”

“So, he picks his neighborhood and does his surveillance,” Green said. “The question is, Where is he going to strike next? The same neighborhood as last night?”

“I haven’t had a chance to be briefed on last night,” the profiler said, “so I don’t know the specifics of that location.”

“It fits the pattern,” Heidi said. “Backs up to a creek bed and a park.”

“We discovered his hide there behind the house,” Jack said. “He was using a tree for surveillance. From ground level, he couldn’t see over the fence, but from the tree limb, he would have been able to watch her bedroom window as she got out of the shower or changed clothes or whatever.”

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