Page 14 of The Perfect Obsession
“Any sign of that around?”Ryan asked Booker.
“Not so far,” the officer said.
“As I overheard you surmise, “ Cronin continued, “it doesn’t appear that our victim was killed here.That conclusion is supported by the indentation marks we found under her arms.It seems like someone put their hands under her armpits and dragged her in here.We tested that section of skin in the hope of getting DNA, but the nature of the indentations suggests the killer was wearing gloves.”
Jessie didn’t love what they were hearing.If this scene was anything like the other, she was skeptical that they’d find anything identifying about who did this.She was able to hazard one educated guess.
“I’m thinking that Diana Hartwell probably knew her killer,” she mused.
“Why do you say that?”Officer Booker asked.
“Well, based on what we know so far, whoever committed these crimes was meticulous.Came with gloves to hide fingerprints.The victims were placed just so.We’ll know soon, but I’m not optimistic that whoever did that would have walked to the front door and let themselves be recorded.So let’s say they went to the side door.Diana Hartwell was here, alone, in the evening, with her husband out of town.You said there was no sign of forced entry.And she was not likely to let someone into her house, she didn’t know them at least somewhat well.Maybe a neighbor, maybe a friend, maybe someone who did work for her.But almost certainly not a stranger.”
Ryan sighed heavily.“Assuming you’re right, we’re going to have to get research to look into all her current acquaintances.The only good thing here is that maybe we’ll find some connection between her and Caroline Sheffield.”
“Perhaps her husband can shed light on that,” Jessie suggested, “assuming he’s not involved.”
“Right,” Ryan said, his expression souring.“I guess we have to call him now and let him know his wife is dead.”
Jessie didn’t say anything.It was moments like this that made her glad she was a profiler, not a detective.At least she didn’t have to destroy someone’s life with one phone call.
All she could hope to do was help mitigate the man’s pain by finding out who killed his wife.She resolved to at least do that.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jessie was nervous, but she had Ryan make a pit stop anyway.
He had wanted to return to Central Station right away.His multiple calls to Drew Hartwell had gone unanswered, and they couldn’t just sit around.While they waited for him to get back to them, Ryan wanted to dive into the possible connections between the victims and review the Ring camera footage.But Jessie insisted that they go somewhere else first.
“What is this about?”Ryan asked as he pulled the car over across the street from the mansion Jessie had pointed out to him.“We really have to get back.”
“And we will,Jessie assured him, “But I want to tell you something first.Can we just press pause on the investigation for a minute?”
“Okay,” he said, inhaling deeply, apparently to calm himself down.“I’m listening.”
“Thank you,” she said, nodding at the house.“Do you know who used to live there?”
“No idea.”
“Do you recall that case I handled a few months ago with a series of murders seemingly involving former beauty pageant contestants?”
“Sure,” he said.
“Well, that’s where one of the victims was murdered.Her name was Rebecca Martinez.Her husband was Kai Cody, the guy who plays for the Angels.”
“I remember you mentioning that,” Ryan said.
“Right, well, when we were interviewing Cody, he said something that stuck with me.Once we cleared him of involvement, I asked how he was managing to function after the death of his wife.He said that he’d developed this technique over the course of his career that helped him in a big moment in a game, or when he was being heckled by fans at an opposing team’s stadium.He said that he was using it to deal with Rebecca’s death.”
“What technique?”
“He said that he kind of shut out everything except the microscopic details of the task in front of him.For example, how much was the pitcher that he was facing sweating?Was the wind making the flags at the back of the stadium blow at all?Was the bat he was holding positioned at the perfect angle?He claimed that focusing on the minutiae allowed him to block out distractions.He called it ‘focused detachment’ and said he was employing it to get through the emotional pain of the moment he was in.”
“Okay, that makes a lot of sense,” Ryan conceded, “but I still don’t get why we’re here.”
“Because I’m trying to make a point,” she told him.“What he said really resonated with me.I wondered if I could possibly use this ‘focused detachment’ technique when I felt like the urge to inflict violence was starting to overwhelm me.So I tried it, and amazingly, it’s been working, at least more than any of the methods they taught me at that treatment facility in Sicily.”
Ryan was quiet for a moment.
