Page 35 of The Girl He Wanted

Paige could understand that. She'd been obsessed with the idea of finding whoever had killed her father ever since she was fourteen. Her whole doctorate had focused on trying to understand serial killers. She'd put herself in danger specifically to try to catch the Exsanguination Killer. She’d joined the FBI to have a better chance of doing it.

And now, the Exsanguination Killer seemed to be in custody, just like that. It was almost anticlimactic. Paige had expected this moment to feel like so much more.

Paige wished that she could take the time to get it all straight in her head, but she couldn't; she and Christopher still had a job to do.

"I found something," she said, remembering what she’d come in here to say. “In our case here, I found something.”

Christopher looked up at her, his eyes focusing on her intently. "What did you find?"

"It's about the Greek letters," Paige said. "I remember reading a book once about the Tower of the Winds in Athens, Greece. It's an ancient tower constructed with effigies of the different winds at each of its corners."

"What does that have to do with our case?" Christopher asked, his brow furrowing as he tried to make sense of it.

"Because of the names of the Ancient Greek gods of the winds. Boreas was the north wind, Apeliotes was the east wind, Notus was the south."

"Beta,alpha, andnu," Christopher said, clearly understanding now. Paige could hear the hint of excitement in his voice now.

"Exactly. The full list is Boreas, Kaikias, Apeliotes, Eurus, Notus, Lips, Zephyrus, and Skiron," Paige said, "but my guess is that the killer is starting with the cardinal points."

Christopher's eyes widened as he realized the significance. "So, he's been treating the victims as the effigies, trying to recreate some version of the tower?"

Paige nodded, feeling a sense of satisfaction at finally having found a way into the case. More than that, she’d found a way into the head of the killer.

"That's an interesting theory," Christopher said, nodding thoughtfully. "But how does it help us catch the killer?"

"I'm not sure yet," Paige said. "But it means that we need to change our approach."

Christopher leaned forward in his chair, his attention fully focused on Paige. "What do you mean by changing our approach?"

"We need to stop focusing on the possible connections between the victims," Paige said. "We've already established that there isn't anything there that's going to lead us back to the killer. This isn’t about Ellie Kane’s climbing friends or Bea Milling’s fear."

"And what do we do instead?" Christopher asked.

Paige had been thinking about the answer to that almost since she worked out what was going on here.

“We need to start looking for connections to the Tower of the Winds, the Ancient Greek gods of the winds, and how it might relate to the killer's motive," Paige explained. "We need to dig deeper into the history and mythology of Ancient Greece to understand the symbolism and meanings behind the different winds and how they might be related to the killer's psychology."

Christopher nodded. "That's a good idea. We could consult with a historian or a mythologist to help us understand the significance of these symbols and how they might be related to the killer's behavior."

Paige smiled at that idea. She wondered if Christopher would have done that before the two of them met, or if he would have focused on the more straightforward, procedural aspects of the case. "We can also start looking at the locations of the murders. The killer has been using the victims as a way to recreate the Tower of the Winds, so we need to start looking at the geography of the city, see if there are any patterns that match up with the cardinal points."

Paige felt a sense of satisfaction as they started to make a plan. They might not have caught the killer yet, but they were getting closer. They had a sense of purpose now, an understanding of what they needed to do. She knew that there was still a lot of work to be done, but for the first time in a while, she felt like they were making real progress.

"There's one more thing," Paige said. "If we accept that this is about the Tower of the Winds, then it starts to tell us a few things about the killer, so we can start to profile him."

"What does it say about them?" Christopher asked.

"It tells us that they have an interest in Ancient Greek mythology," Paige said. "No, not an interest, an obsession. This is someone who is prepared to kill to recreate an aspect of Ancient Greece. Someone like that will have shown their interest in Greek myth and culture in other ways."

"That’s a start. What else?" Christopher asked.

"It also shows that they're methodical and detail oriented. They're not just killing at random, they're following a plan, a pattern. And they're probably very intelligent to have come up with this plan in the first place."

"So, we're looking for someone who's highly intelligent, methodical, and has an interest in Ancient Greek mythology."

Paige nodded. "And someone who's probably deeply damaged psychologically. Someone who's seeking power and control because they feel powerless in their own life."

“Those last points are kind of general,” Christopher pointed out.

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