Page 55 of So Bleak

She looked out the window and frowned. It wasn’t even dark out yet. They had an hour of daylight to work with, and she had no idea what to do with it. God, she hated feeling so powerless.

“—powerless.”

“And do you believe that’s why he chose to commit his crimes indoors?”

“I do, Tyler, and I believe that’s why he often kidnapped his victims during home invasions.”

The guest this time was a woman of around fifty with dyed blonde hair and a comfortable amount of plastic surgery to minimize the effects of age. She smiled at Tyler with a slight hint of aggression, as though she was daring him to challenge her point.

He obliged. “But he also took victims from their workplaces and occasionally from public places as well.”

“Very rarely, Tyler. One victim from a public place and six from their workplaces. In all seven cases, the businesses were empty of other people. All twenty-five other victims, twenty-six if you include Special Agent Faith Bold, were attacked in their own homes. The one place they were supposed to feel safe. Contrast this with the current Poison Ivy Killer—”

"Christ, what a stupid name," Faith muttered.

“—in very public places. He’s playing a very different game than West. West wanted his victims to feel powerless, but he was very careful to avoid putting himself in danger of getting caught. On the other hand, this killer wants the law to feel powerless. He or she—and in this case, it really could be a woman—is killing people in public in brutal fashion but leaving behind nothing for the FBI and the police to use to solve this case.”

Something tickled the back of Faith’s mind when the guest said that. She sat up a little straighter and rested her chin on her hands, steeping her fingers in front of her nose.

“Do you think that makes this killer more dangerous than West?”

“It’s hard to say, Tyler. There’s no doubt West was phenomenally successful with his MO. However, I think it’s safe to say that the unique threat the Poison Ivy Killer represents makes this case a challenge unlike any the FBI has ever seen.”

“And what of the fact that Faith Bold has been assigned to this case as well? Do you think it’s a smart move by the Bureau to put the same agent who struggled for years to find West and was nearly killed by him on four separate occasions on a case that once more involves a uniquely challenging serial killer?”

“Actually, I do, Tyler, and I’ll tell you why. Yes, Special Agent Bold struggled with West, but the entire law enforcement apparatus of the nation struggled with West. At one point, over forty different organizations were hunting him to no avail. It was Bold who determined his patterns and Bold who gave the FBI the information it needed to flush him out of hiding and send him on the run. In his first year of activity, Franklin West killed thirty-one people. In his second year, he killed only one. That is due directly to Bold’s intervention.

“I understand it’s popular to point the finger at Bold these days, but I think that the impossible expectations people have for her only proves that she is the FBI’s best asset. And why wouldn’t they want their best asset looking for the latest violent killer to stalk the streets of Philadelphia?”

“Damn. I was going to make some crack about bad plastic surgery, but she’s actually pretty smart.”

Faith appreciated the woman’s support, but she was far more concerned with the thought her analysis had put in Faith’s head. When it hit her, she leapt to her feet. “Their homes.”

“What?”

“We’ve been focused on the restaurants,” she said, “We’ve been trying to find the connection from where they died, but they weren’t killed in the restaurants.”

“What are you talking about? Of course they were.”

“No, no, no. They died in the restaurant, but they were killed in their homes. They were poisoned before they even arrived at the restaurant.”

Michael frowned. “But we’ve checked the homes for the poison. We checked the wine that Ferris sent.”

“Yes, but we’ve been looking for suspects by looking for people who were at the restaurant’s the days the victims died.”

Michael’s eyes widened. “You want to look for people who were at their homes the days they died.”

“Yes.”

He grinned. “Faith Bold, you are the FBI’s best asset.”

Faith returned his smile. “Thank you for that, but let’s reserve judgment until after we find this guy. Come on. It’s still light outside. Let’s get to work.”

The two agents pulled up the victims’ addresses and began looking through records for anyone who might have visited all four homes before the victims’ deaths. Faith felt a renewed burst of hope. They had been spinning their wheels so far, but she had a hunch that if they kept the gas down a little while longer, they’d find traction.

She wasn’t beaten yet.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

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