Page 8 of Cold Threat

After he left the room, Tony said, “How can this be just one case?” He walked over to the corkboard and began to look through the pictures.

“If it is, he’s more than just dedicated to solving it,” River said quietly. “He’s obsessed.”

Tony stepped back from the board and came over to where she stood. “My dad was a decorated detective by the time he left Des Moines. I was surprised by his decision to come here. But being offered the position of head detective was an honor—and he and Mom were looking for a slower life. Dad wasn’t home much in Des Moines. I think moving here was like ... semiretirement. You know what I mean?”

“I do,” River said. “Kinda like what we’re doing?”

Tony’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s not what I intended. I still believe we’ll get busy. It just takes time.”

“And paying clients.”

“We got paid for the last case.”

River laughed softly. “Not by our client, but yes, we did receive some money. That helped.”

Tony started to say something else but just then his dad came back, two folding chairs in hand. Tony went over and took them from him. Then Ray went back out into the hall and brought in a card table, which he put up in the middle of the room. Tony set up the chairs not far from the boards on the wall.

As he and River sat down, Tony said, “Dad, all of this...” He waved his hand around, indicating the entire office. “Surely it’s not all for the one case you told me about.”

Ray frowned at his son. “Yes, it is. I’ve been working on it for a long time. But the reason I called you is that I’m certain there is a serial killer in Burlington. Unfortunately, I may be the only one who believes that.”

“I don’t understand, Dad. What about the people you work with? Surely someone else sees the same thing you do.”

Ray’s face flushed. “They agree with the Des Moines PD. That they caught the killer. They refuse to admit that the murders here are connected to the ones in Des Moines.”

“But you disagree?” River asked.

Ray sat down at his desk and sighed. “The man they arrestedin Des Moines was caught near the scene where the last murders occurred. He was clearly responsible. The Des Moines chief of police decided he was responsible for the other killings as well, but they could never prove it. They only indicted the guy for the last one, but he had a heart attack and died before it went to trial.”

“And that closed the case for them,” River said. “But you don’t believe he was behind all three?”

“Right. I couldn’t convince them otherwise—especially since I’m in Burlington now.”

“So, Dad, you think someone else is responsible for the first two killings in Des Moines and now he’s here? But why? Why would he come to Burlington?”

Ray was silent but River knew what he was thinking. “You believe he came here ... because of you?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but you have to admit that it’s a really strange coincidence. I mean, it’s been a long time. Years. Still ... I’ve tried to get my chief to listen to me, but I have no hard evidence. I thought maybe you and my son would at least give me a chance to prove I’m not insane.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Of course we’ll try. I wouldn’t have come all the way from St. Louis if I didn’t trust your instincts.”

Ray let out a long sigh. “Thanks, son. My chief has always had a lot of confidence in me—but not in this. I’m basically on my own. There’s a cop here who used to work with me in Des Moines, but his hands are pretty much tied. He agrees with me that the murders here are suspicious, but he’s not convinced that the killer is still active, not without more proof. The deaths are so similar, though. My friend Bobby sees what I do, but he wonders if we have a copycat.”

“Is that possible?” River asked.

Ray shook his head. “I don’t accept that for several reasons. The man arrested in Des Moines was so clearly not the same killer.I really don’t want to get into my other reasons now. I’d rather you look at the information I’ve compiled first. I’ve put together a murder book. If you’d go over what I have and write a profile that I can give to Chief Munson, maybe I could finally get him to pay attention. If you see it the same way I do, he’d have to take the observations of two trained FBI profilers seriously.”

“So, you really believe this same unknown subject has struck twice here?” River asked. “That would be really unusual.”

“Yes, I know,” Ray said. “Four years ago, and then again two years ago. I have a bad feeling he’s getting ready to do it again.”

River wasn’t certain what to say. Why would a serial killer leave his comfort zone in Des Moines for Burlington? And why the big gap between the killings? Arson was all about rage. There were other ways to make certain no evidence was left behind. This UNSUB chose fire for a reason. That sort of rage wasn’t easy to suppress, especially for years. Arsonists tended to set fires more often as time passed, not less often. On top of that, the idea that a serial killer would follow Ray all the way to Burlington just didn’t add up. If the UNSUB was angry with Ray, why hadn’t he targeted him personally? Something was off.

“What makes you think he might be planning another attack, Dad, other than a feeling?”

River could hear the doubt in Tony’s voice. He was seeing the same things she was.

Ray cleared his throat, got up, and walked over to his dry-erase board. “You know about the first case.”

---