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As it did, it brought them closer to the man offloading the bales.

Tanned, fit and serene looking, the twenty-something year old, wearing a cowboy hat and a plaid shirt, straightened up from his work to stare at them.

"Hi," he said. "Can I help?"

"Grant, we're wanting to speak to you in connection with some murders that took place recently on the military base," Cora said.

Now, he frowned, looking serious.

"That base is a load of trouble," he said. "I must say I'm glad to have left. What a toxic place. I feel relieved I realized my calling wasn't in the Army."

Cora nodded, hoping to keep him talking. "We understand that you were discharged from the base. Dishonorably. Can you tell us why?"

Grant hesitated for a moment, looking out at the fields. "I deserved it, I guess. I didn’t like some of the things that were happening there. I felt there were toxic people in charge of that Army base. I was bullied, as were others. So when I left, I gave them a piece of my mind and I punched my officer.”

“You did?” Cora asked, surprised.

“Yeah. I knew there’d be consequences. I was dragged straight into a disciplinary hearing, and they then dishonorably discharged me, which I was mad about, because to me, it implied I hadn’t cut it. But it wasn’t because of being weak, and it wasn't due to being afraid of hard work. Farming's harder than anything. I've been working on the tractor and the bales since yesterday evening. So I guess it was just because I saw their bad side and I dared to stand up to it."

Cora glanced at Gabe, surprised. This man had unwittingly provided them with an alibi they hadn't even asked for yet.

But it seemed he had more to say.

"Your discharge?" Cora prodded. “Tell me more about why you acted the way you did.”

"There was some seriously harsh hazing going on when I was there. The guy who left at the same time as me, I think his name was Boris, he was really bothered by it. He was traumatized. I got the feeling that whatever happened to him after hours, he couldn’t deal with it, and the effects were going to follow him in his life." He shrugged. “Just my feeling. I’m happy now. That was a bad experience, and I’m no psychologist, but it scarred me and I think it could easily have scarred other people worse.”

Cora felt cold shivers run down her spine.

Thanks to this insight, she was now sure there was only one person this killer could be. And it was clear that he had been traumatized by the entire hazing process.

They thanked Grant for his information and turned away. Speed was now of the essence.

"Let's get on the road to Boris Upton," she said, as they ran for the car.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

"He must be sneaking onto base," Cora theorized as she sped out of the farmland where they'd ruled out Grant, and learned the valuable information that could take them to the killer. "Boris Upton must have found a way in, maybe using someone's old ID, or even his own if they didn’t cancel it. It sounds like the management has been shoddy here recently. And he knows who's who, and who the struggling recruits are."

"How does he do all that?" Gabe asked.

Cora shrugged. "Getting on base might be easy enough, especially if the people in charge of this base are letting things slide. Come in during busy times and the guard might just give a pass a token glance. It’s very easy to hide out if you know the layout of base, and you still have a uniform. Very easy to become invisible. And as for the struggling recruits, it wouldn't be difficult to find out who they were, if you had friends and connections who were still with the Army."

"I guess you could pick it up in innocent conversation," Gabe agreed.

"Seemingly innocent," Cora added. "This killer has gone beyond anything that could be called that. He suffered; he was traumatized by hazing to the extent that he quit the Army. And what does he do? He comes back and kills. Whatever he went through, he must know he's doing it a hundred times worse to others."

Gabe shrugged. "He's deranged, that's for sure. But maybe there's a weird logic behind his actions. Maybe he feels he's saving them from the abuse by killing them."

Cora shrugged. "Yes. I guess it's important to tune into his mind and try to understand his reasons. Another reason could be that he's punishing himself, over and over, for having failed. He was driven out of the Army because the hazing was too much for him, so now he's seeing himself in all the weaker recruits and he's letting out his anger and disappointment."

Gabe nodded. "That could be it, but it's hard to say for sure. We'll have to wait until we catch him and get some answers."

Either way, as she drove, Cora knew that they were looking for someone with a remorseless agenda, and the one thing she was sure of was that he wouldn't give up on it easily. It’s who he was.

By now he would know that the base was aware of his activities and he would be on the alert. She had seen mindsets like his before. The border between determined and delusional was a very fine line. But from her experience in catching psychopathic killers, Cora knew that he would defend what he was doing by any means possible.

Going after this man would be dangerous, but not as dangerous as letting him continue. The conditions on the base were creating a perfect storm of opportunity for him. And with the combination of his stealth, and the suppression of the crimes due to the recruitment drive, he might be able to continue for weeks without being caught.

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