Page 55 of Cold Vengeance

Tony’s eyes widened. “Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono. They posed as off-duty police officers. That would fit this guy’s MO.”

“It would also explain how he could get close to people,” River said. “And why Shelly pulled off to the side of the road.”

She and Tony stared at each other for a few seconds before River said, “I’m sure Arnie knows this is just guesswork, but I think it could be pretty accurate. But what about the flowers? We don’t see them as a sign of remorse?”

“No, not in this situation. Do you?”

River shook her head. “I don’t think so. The only person holding the flowers was Shelly. Ted was lying on top of them, and they were on the floor of the other woman’s apartment. Lying in an alley next to another body. I think they mean something different.”

“Then could Shelly be the murder that means the most?”

River sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I’m not certain, but I think the police should look at Shelly and the woman in the apartment first.” She turned her head to look at Tony. “Why was the apartment such a mess? Did he tear it up out of anger, or did she fight back?”

“Hard to say, but my guess would be that she fought back. I think he enjoys the killing. If he goes to all the trouble to get close to them, I’m thinking he doesn’t want to fight them. He just wants them to die. I doubt that he’ll try killing inside anymore. It doesn’t fit with his personality.”

“Except that there might be other victims we don’t know about.” River straightened up. “This is what makes profiling so complicated. We can only work with what we have. So now, back to the flowers. What do they mean?”

“Okay, so we don’t believe they’re given out of remorse since we don’t see any of the other usual signs. They must have something to do with what incited his urge to kill. Maybe a mother figure?”

“Maybe his mother was religious?”

Tony crossed his hands behind his head. “I don’t know. That doesn’t feel right. Why not leave a Bible verse or a crucifix? Maybe the mother loved dogwood flowers?”

“Yeah, maybe,” River said. “It means something, but we don’thave enough information to be certain why it’s important to him. All we know is that he always leaves a sprig of silk dogwood flowers behind when he kills.” She frowned and tapped her fingers on her desk, trying to pull information from her years of training. “Okay, let’s brainstorm for a moment. Dogwood trees bloom in the spring and summer. They take five to seven years to bloom. There are several colors, including red, pink, and what our guy chose—white. Like I said earlier, the flower symbolizes quite a few things. Life, rebirth, joy, beauty, purity, innocence, resilience, strength, beauty, faithfulness, and hope.” She frowned. “They seem to be his signature. Or part of it anyway. But what’s his trigger?”

“I don’t know. So far, almost everyone we know about was killed in the winter.” Tony shook his head. “Kind of reminds me of our snowman killer.”

“I can’t believe we could encounter two killers in a row who only kill in winter,” River said.

“I don’t think we can assume anything about that since we don’t know how many victims there actually are. It’s entirely possible he doesn’t stick to winter. In fact, maybe he only uses the silk flowers in winter. He might use the real thing in the spring and early summer.”

“That’s true,” River said slowly. “So, let’s take out the winter theme since we can’t be certain. Of all the symbolism associated with the dogwood, I think rebirth and purity are the most powerful. So, is he trying to make certain people are reborn? Or does this relate to his childhood in some way? We know that most serial killers had messed up childhoods.”

“I agree that he’s trying to say something with the dogwood.” Tony sighed. “Didn’t we write a profile a few years ago where the killer left flowers behind? What was that?”

River thought for a moment. “You’re right,” she said as soon as she remembered what Tony referred to. “It was the guy wholeft lilies.” Her gaze drifted to the arrangement of lilies on her desk. She got up, got a napkin from the credenza, and moved the flowers over to a spot on the floor next to the printer. She was pretty sure the only fingerprints that would be found on the vase belonged to the people who worked for the flower shop. “Sorry,” she told Tony, “but I don’t want to look at them.”

“I understand,” he said. “And I agree.”

“Okay, back to the guy who left lilies. We thought they symbolized death, but we found out later that his abusive mother’s name was Lily.”

Tony burst out laughing. “I’m sorry. I know this isn’t funny, but are you saying that this killer’s mother’s name is Dogwood?”

“No. ... You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

“Well, at least I’m not saying some woman’s name is Dogwood.”

“Anyway...” River tried to ignore him and concentrate on the flowers. “I think all we can say at this point is that the dogwood tree has something to do with his past and leave it at that.”

“There are so many possibilities. Maybe his parents made whips out of the tree branches. Maybe his mother grew dogwood trees and spent more time with them than she did with him.” He shrugged. “We’ll just tell Arnie to look for a connection. If there was just one other sign that this killer feels remorse, I’d go with that. But he leaves the body on display, which means he’s proud of what he’s done. The eyes are open. The hands not crossed. I just can’t make that jump.”

“I agree,” River said. “So, you’ll write that up and send it to Arnie while I send our information on Ted and Shelly to the detective?”

Tony nodded. “I’m working on it now.”

River started compiling photos of April’s podcast episodes with her notes about Ted and Shelly. Then she sent everything to the detective in charge while Tony concentrated on the profilefor Arnie. River didn’t like putting together a profile so quickly. It made her feel as if they were missing something, but Arnie needed it now, so there wasn’t much they could do about it. She kept running the flower connection through her mind. She knew she should let go of it, but it wasn’t easy. Was the killer getting ready to strike again? It would take some effort, but she had to put that case on the back burner and concentrate on finding out what happened to April. Was it the same person who killed Kevin and threatened Nathan? Or were they dealing with someone else? They had to discover the truth quickly. Before someone else paid with their lives.

CHAPTER

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