“Yes.” Although Kendra had the entire night to tussle with it, hearing Reade review the cases still seemed so unreal. “The link between all these cases … is me.”
Everyone in the room was silent, waiting for her to continue.
Kendra stood up and gazed at the last gory crime-scene photo for a long moment before speaking. “The piano wire victim was killed using the M.O. of Martin Stout, who murdered four women exactly the same way in Reno, Nevada. It was one of my first cases.” Kendra looked at Reade. “Your packet didn’t say what kind of piano wire. Do you have any idea—?”
Reade interrupted her. “Size 19 Roslau piano treble wire.”
Kendra nodded. “Imported from Germany. Exactly what Stout always used. And the second victim was killed in the manner of the so-called Latin Killer, Lukas Hendricks, who carved Latin phrases on his victim’s bodies. Another one of my cases. I assume those were holdback facts pending the investigation?”
Reade nodded.
Griffin placed his palms flat on the table. “It appears someone is re-creating your greatest hits, Dr. Michaels.”
“Delicately put as always, Griffin.”
“We both know there’s nothing delicate about me. Someone is taunting you, Dr. Michaels. It’s no accident that they’re doing it in your own backyard.”
“And they’re doing a damned good job of it.”
“I’m sure this comes as quite a shock. But now you can understand why we needed to reach out to you.”
“Of course. And you can understand why this case truly sickens me.”
“It sickens all of us. Our profilers believe the killer is someone who might best be described as a fan of your investigative work.”
Kendra shook her head. “That’s bullshit. I don’t have any fans.”
“Well, that’s a surprise,” Griffin said, deadpan. “Dr. Michaels, we’re talking about someone who may at some point have reached out to you, either directly or perhaps on a public forum. Does anyone come to mind?”
“No, I do get e-mails through my business Web site. Some are interested in my cases, but most want to know about the medical procedure that gave me my sight. They’re either blind themselves or have a blind friend or relative.”
“Hmm. We should zero in on those who have expressed some interest or knowledge of your investigative work. Do you still have those e-mails?”
“I do. I’ll sort through and pass them along to you. As for what’s being said about me on online forums, I have no idea.”
“We do,” Metcalf said. “I’ve built a file going back several years. Activity surges whenever there’s mention of you in media accounts of your cases. We’re using IP addresses to build a database of the people who post on discussion boards, news-story-comments pages, and the like. We’ve already seen that a lot of the same people pop up again and again.”
“See, you do have adoring fans,” Lynch said.
Griffin nodded. “One of whom might have killed six people in the last few weeks. Metcalf, do you have a copy of that database for Dr. Michaels?”
Metcalf slid a USB memory stick across the table to Kendra. “Here’s what we’ve come up with so far. Please review it and see if anything sets off any alarm bells.”
“Will do.” Kendra took the stick. “Although I generally try to avoid reading things being said about me online.”
“It’s almost all quite complimentary,” Metcalf said. “Though I was surprised there were no direct quotes from you concerning any of your investigations. None at all.”
“I never talk to the media about the investigative work I do. Whenever someone asks, I shut them down immediately.”
“But you obviously have no problem discussing your music-therapy work. You’ve been quoted in dozens of articles about that.”
“Yes, and I’ve written dozens more myself. Plus two books so far. It’s an emerging field that needs all the attention it can get.” She shook her head. “Trust me, I wish it’s all I had to think about right now.”
Reade raised the PowerPoint remote. “Shall I continue?”
Griffin leaned forward. “Actually, how far did you and Metcalf get downstairs?”
“It’s pretty much done. We were there most of the night.”
“Good. We can continue down there.” Griffin turned to Kendra and Lynch. “We moved some of our sections off-site, and this building’s entire second floor is vacant right now. Everything’s been ripped out, and it’s a mess while we wait for the crews to come in and remodel. But it does give us plenty of room, which is in short supply up here.”