Threads of Suspicion(62)
“I think it’s worth noting that the two cases without bodies are the earliest two,” Evie said.
“He got tired of the whole process. Just dump the bodies somewhere they won’t immediately be found, move on,” David guessed. “We talked with Indiana PD at length about Virginia Fawn. They worked that case hard as an active homicide after finding the body. I assume the other two already discovered will have been worked in a similar fashion.”
“Yes,” Taylor replied, “I talked with Ohio on Emily Close, and Theo’s looked at Laura Ship. Forensics haven’t given further answers, so I don’t think we’re going to get a break there. The best hope right now is that when the lists from all five cases get crunched, there’s an overlap that will focus like a laser on someone, open a new line of inquiry.”
David nodded. “Jenna and Tammy are the cases among the five that haven’t been worked as hard. The theory that this guy lives in the Milwaukee area needs pushed hard.”
“We’re in agreement on that,” Sharon said.
“What are the odds we’re wrong on this grouping?” Evie wondered, studying the grid of case detail overlaps and differences. “Tammy’s the only one not attending college. We may have her on the board, and it’s not one of his—though he simply might not have known she wasn’t in college. But maybe Jenna and Tammy are his, and the other three with remains located are someone else’s crime. What do you think? Fifty-fifty we’ve just created a group that is a distraction, unrelated to what happened to Jenna?”
“I lean toward Jenna and someone before Jenna being linked,” Ann finally said into the silence. “I agree she doesn’t feel like a first crime. The three recovered bodies could easily be someone else’s doing. Tammy is an outlier. She disappeared two days after the concert, wasn’t in college, had a history of leaving without word. While your centering this guy in Milwaukee is a high probability, it’s also possible Tammy simply got into trouble after leaving home. You’re as likely to be looking at three separate groupings as you are at one person behind all five.”
Paul leaned forward in his chair. “There’s a Triple M concert connection that wasn’t seen before, and that needs investigation, whether it solves Jenna or not,” he put in. “I’m adding FBI manpower and resources for the three who were smothered, mostly to keep Indiana and Ohio cooperating with each other. Anything you need from my team, just ask. They’ll be your eyes and ears in other states.”
“Good. Thanks, Paul,” Sharon said.
“I’m inclined toward your not telling Maggie about this,” Paul said to David. “Keep it out of the press for as long as possible. If every famous person felt responsible for the crazies that come around, we’d have little good music or art.”
David smiled his agreement. “I do think music is the link, and it’s the link to him. The victims’ paths cross with him because of their mutual interest.”
“Let’s dig there on all five of our possible cases,” Evie proposed. “But we keep coming back to Jenna. She’s going to be the pivot point. She attended a Triple M concert and is missing her driver’s license, so if there is a grouping, she’s in it. Solve hers, we just might sort out which of these other cases are his.”
Sharon nodded. “Good. Evie, you keep your attention on Jenna. If we’re wrong about this connection in some way, we need you to find the right answer for her. David, push on the Triple M connection, as you’ve got the access to the info from Maggie’s world. Paul’s guys can take another look at the forensics from Indiana and Ohio, see if the recovered remains can offer any further clues. I’m guessing I’m within a week to ten days of wrapping up my case,” she added. “Theo and Taylor are even closer with theirs. We’ll join you to provide extra help as we get freed up, on this or on Saul’s disappearance.”
“Thanks. It’s a workable plan,” David said, the group’s nods mirroring his around the room.
Theo and Taylor headed out while Sharon, David, Ann, and Paul set themselves up around Evie’s desk, still kicking around ideas on how to proceed. Evie was getting ready to call it a day, but she found the discussion too fascinating to leave just yet.
“Can we get credit- and gas-card data going back nine years?” Sharon wondered. “If so, I think we can spot this guy by the fact we have five data points. He had to fill up with gas, the distance tells us that. And I doubt he’d make these trips entirely on cash. I also doubt he’s gone to the trouble of getting new cards. We know which highways he likely traveled to get to each concert, the gas stations where he might have stopped, and have basically a seven-day window on either side of these concert dates. It’s a gigantic data set that’s not likely to yield many false-positives—not if we can show a card name was used in Wisconsin eight years ago during a particular week and that name was used in Indiana six years ago during another specific week.”