The Crucifix Killer

Fourteen

The office Captain Bolter supplied for Hunter and Garcia was located on the top floor of the RHD building. It was a medium-sized room, thirty-five feet wide by twenty-five with two desks facing each other in the center of it. A computer, a telephone and a fax machine had been set up on each desk. The room was well lit, courtesy of two windows on the east wall and several fifty-watt halogen dichroic light bulbs on the office ceiling. They were surprised to see that all the original files from the Crucifix Killer’s case had already been gathered and placed over their desks making two enormous piles. A corkboard had been mounted onto the south wall. The photographs of all seven of the original Crucifix Killer’s victims, together with the new faceless one, had been pinned onto it.

‘What, no air con, Captain?’

Captain Bolter took no notice of Hunter’s sarcasm. ‘Have you been brought up to speed with the situation yet?’ his question was directed at Garcia.

‘Yes, Captain.’

‘So you understand what we might be dealing with here?’

‘Yes,’ Garcia answered with a hint of trepidation in his voice.

‘OK, over the desks you’ll find everything we had on the old case,’ the captain continued. ‘Hunter, you should be familiar with those. The computers on your desks have a T1 internet connection and each of you have a separate telephone and fax line.’ He walked towards the photographs on the corkboard. ‘This case is to be discussed with no one inside or outside the RHD. We need to try and keep this as quiet as possible for as long as possible.’ He paused and looked at both detectives with a hawk-sharp glare. ‘When this case goes public I don’t want anyone to know that we might be dealing with the same psychopath that did this,’ he said pointing to the victims’ photographs. ‘So, I don’t want anybody referring to this case as the Crucifix Killer. For all purposes, the Crucifix Killer is dead, executed about a year ago. This is a brand-new case, is that understood?’

Both detectives looked like school kids being reprimanded by their principal. They nodded and looked at the floor.

‘You guys are exclusively on this, nothing else. You better live, breathe and shit this case. I wanna report of the previous day’s events on my desk every day by 10:00 a.m. until this killer is caught, starting from tomorrow,’ Captain Bolter said, walking towards the door. ‘I wanna know everything that’s going on in this case, good or bad. And do me a favor, keep this fucking door locked, I don’t want any leaks.’ He slammed the door behind him, the loud sound reverberating inside the room.

Garcia walked over to the photographs and stared at them in a macabre silence. This was the first time he’d been presented with the Crucifix Killer’s police evidence. This was the first time he’d ever seen any of the killer’s original evil. He studied them feeling faintly ill. His eyes taking everything in, his mind trying to reject it. How could anyone be capable of this?

One of the victims, male, twenty-five years old, had his eyes compressed into his skull until they’d burst from the pressure. Both of his hands had also been crushed to the point of pulverization of the bones. Another victim, this time female, forty years old, had her abdomen sliced open and disemboweled. A third victim, another male, African American, fifty-five years old, had a laceration that ran the length of his neck; his hands had been nailed together as in a prayer position. The other pictures were even more gruesome. All that pain had been inflicted on the victims while they were still alive.

Garcia remembered the first time he’d heard about the Crucifix killings. It had been over three years ago and he hadn’t made detective. Research has shown that there are around five hundred serial killers active at any one time in the United States, claiming something in the region of five thousand lives every year. Only a very small number of them get media recognition, and the Crucifix Killer had gotten more than his share of it. At the time, Garcia had wondered what it would be like to be a detective in such a high-profile investigation. To follow the evidence, analyze the clues, interrogate the suspects and then put everything together to solve the case. If only it was that simple.

Garcia became a detective shortly after the first victim was found and he followed the case as closely as he could. When Mike Farloe was arrested and presented to the media as the Crucifix Killer, Garcia had wondered how could someone that didn’t seem to be intelligent had managed to evade the law for such a long time. He remembered thinking that the detectives assigned to the case couldn’t have been very good.

Looking at the pictures on the corkboard, Garcia’s feelings were a mixture of excitement and fear. Not only was he now a lead detective in a serial-killer investigation, he was one of the lead detectives in the Crucifix Killer’s case. Ironic he thought.

Hunter fired up his computer and watched the screen come alive. ‘Are you gonna be OK with all this, rookie?’ he asked, sensing Garcia’s uneasiness at the pictures.

‘What? Yeah, I’m good,’ Garcia turned and faced Hunter. ‘This is some different kind of evil.’

‘Yes, I guess you can say that.’

‘What would motivate a person to commit crimes like these?’

‘Well, if you go by the textbook definition of why someone would commit murder, then we have: jealousy, revenge, to profit, hatred, fear, compassion, desperation, to conceal another crime, to avoid shame and disgrace or to obtain power…’ Hunter paused. ‘The basic motivators for serial crimes are manipulation, domination, control, sexual gratification, or plain simple homicidal-mania.’

‘This killer seems to enjoy it.’

‘I agree. Gratification, but not of the sexual kind. I’d say he loves watching people suffer.’

‘He?’ Garcia questioned.

‘Judging by the nature of the crimes, the logical conclusion is that the killer is male.’

‘How so?’

‘To start with, the overwhelming majority of serial killers are male,’ Hunter explained. ‘Female serial killers have a tendency to kill for monetary profit. While that can also be true their male counterparts, it’s very unlikely. Sexual reasons top the list for male serial killers. Case studies have also shown that female killers generally kill people close to them, such as husbands, family members, or people dependent on them. Males kill strangers more often. Female serial killers also tend to kill more quietly, with poison or other less violent methods, like suffocation. Male serial killers, on the other hand, show a greater tendency to include torture or mutilation as part of the process of killing. When women are implicated in sadistic homicides, they’ve usually acted in partnership with a man.’

‘Our killer works alone,’ Garcia concluded.

‘Nothing indicates otherwise.’

Both detectives fell silent for a while. Garcia turned around and faced the photographs once again. ‘So what do we have on all the old victims, what sort of connection?’ he asked, eager to get started.

‘None that we’ve found.’

‘What? I don’t believe that,’ Garcia said, shaking his head. ‘You’re not trying to tell me that you guys spent two years investigating this case and you haven’t come up with a connection between the victims?’

‘Well, believe it.’ Hunter got up and joined Garcia in front of the corkboard. ‘Look at them and tell me this – what would you say the age bracket of the victims was?’

Garcia’s eyes moved from picture to picture, pausing on each one for only a couple of seconds. ‘I’m not sure, early twenties to mid-sixties I guess.’

‘Kind of broad, don’t you think?’

‘Perhaps.’

‘And what would you say is the main type of victim, old, young, male, female, black, white, blond, brunette or what?’

Garcia’s eyes were still studying the pictures. ‘All of those judging by these.’

‘Again, kind of broad, isn’t it?’

Garcia shrugged.

‘Now, there’s something else you can’t get from these pictures, and that’s their social class. These people came from all different walks of life – poor, rich, middle class, religious and non-religious, employed and unemployed…’

‘Yes, what’s your point, Robert?’

‘My point is that the killer doesn’t go for a specific type of victim. With every new victim, we spent days, weeks, months trying to establish some sort of link between any of them. Work place, social clubs, nightclubs, bars, universities, lower and high school, place of birth, acquaintances, hobbies, family trees, you name it, we’ve tried it and we came up with a big fat zero. We’d find something that would link two of the victims together but not the others, nothing would stick. If we managed to start a chain with two victims, the link would be broken on the third and fourth one sending us back to square one. From what we know these people could’ve been chosen completely at random. The killer might as well have flipped through a phone book. In fact, if the killer hadn’t carved his symbol on the back of their necks these could’ve been seven different victims from seven different killers – eight with our new one. Nothing is the same, except the level of pain and torture he puts them through. This killer is a new breed of serial killer. He’s unique.’

‘What sort of links are you talking about when you say you managed to establish a link between two victims but not the rest?’

‘Two of the victims lived in South Central LA just a few blocks from each other, but the others were scattered all over town. Two other victims, number four and number six,’ Hunter pointed to the photographs on the board, ‘went to the same high school, but not at the same time. The links seemed more coincidental than a breakthrough. Nothing concrete.’

‘Did he follow a certain time interval between kills?’

‘Random again,’ Hunter said. ‘They go from a few days between the third and fourth victims to months, and on this last case, over a year.’

‘How about body locations?’ Garcia asked.

‘There’s a map over there; I’ll show you.’ Hunter unfolded a large map of Los Angeles with seven red dots the size of a dime scattered around it, a number next to each one.

‘These are the locations and sequence in which each body was found.’

Garcia took his time going over the marks. The first body had been found in Santa Clarita, the second one in downtown Los Angeles with the other five spread all over the map. Garcia admitted that at first glance they looked pretty random.

‘Again, we’ve tried everything, different sequences and patterns. We even brought in a mathematician and a cartographer. The problem is that when you look at random points on a piece of paper for long enough, it’s like looking at clouds in the sky, sooner or later you start seeing shapes and images, nothing real, nothing that could lead us anywhere, just your mind playing tricks on you. The only solid conclusion is that the bodies were found in and around Los Angeles. This is his burial ground.’ Hunter sat behind his desk while Garcia continued studying the map.

‘He’s gotta have a pattern, they all do.’

Hunter leaned back on his chair. ‘You’re right, they usually do, but as I’ve said, this guy is different. He’s never killed two victims in the same manner, he tries new things, different things – it’s like he’s experimenting.’ Hunter paused for a few seconds to rub his eyes. ‘Killing another human being isn’t an easy task, no matter how experienced someone is, ninety-five percent of the time the killer is more nervous than the victim. Some killers like to stick with the same MO simply because it’s worked before and they feel comfortable with it. Some move in a progression and the MO may change from crime to crime. Sometimes the offender may find that his particular course of action wasn’t very effective, wasn’t what he was looking for. Maybe too noisy, too messy, too hard to control or whatever. The killer then learns to adapt and tries new methods to see if they work better for him. Eventually he’ll find an MO that he’s comfortable with.’

‘And he’ll stick with it?’ Garcia commented.

‘Most of the time yes, but not necessarily,’ Hunter said, shaking his head.

Garcia looked puzzled.

‘Serial killers are usually after satisfaction… a sick kind of satisfaction, but satisfaction nonetheless. It could be sexual fulfillment, a sense of power, a God feeling, but that’s only half of the satisfaction.’

‘The kill itself?’ Garcia’s voice took on a grave tone.

‘Correct. It’s like taking drugs. When you first start, you only need a little hit to achieve the high you want, but soon, if you carry on, that little hit won’t be enough and you’ll go for more, you start chasing the high. In the case of a killer, the murders become more violent, the victims have to suffer more so the killer can get the satisfaction he needs, but again, just like drugs, there’s usually a steady progression.’

Garcia shifted his stare back to the photographs. ‘What’s the progression here? They all look just as violent, just as monstrous.’

Hunter’s agreement came with a nod.

‘It’s like he jumped straight into the deep end. Which leads us to believe that his progression of violence came earlier on in his life,’ Garcia concluded.

‘Correct again. You catch on quick, but you can read all that on the case files.’ Hunter tilted his head towards the two large piles of paper on his desk.

‘None of these were fast kills either.’ Garcia’s attention was back on the corkboard.

‘That’s right. This guy likes to take his time with his victims. He likes to watch them suffer, he wants to savor their pain. He’s getting his satisfaction. This killer doesn’t rush, he doesn’t panic and that’s his greatest advantage over us.’

‘When people panic, they make mistakes, they leave things behind,’ Garcia commented.

‘Exactly.’

‘But not our guy?’

‘Not so far.’

‘How about this symbol, what do we know about it?’ Garcia asked pointing to a picture of the carving on the neck of one of the victims.

‘Here comes confusion.’ Hunter’s lips tightened. ‘We brought in a symbologist when the first victim was found.’

‘And what did he have to say?’

‘The symbol seemed to be a return to the original design of the double-crucifix, also known as the double-cross or the cross of Lorraine.’

‘Original?’ Garcia shook his head.

‘The double-crucifix in its original version consisted of a vertical line crossed by two smaller horizontal bars evenly spaced and of the same length. The lower bar used to be as close to the bottom of the vertical line as the upper was to the top.’

‘Why do you say used to?’

‘Through the years, its design morphed. The lower bar became longer than the upper one, and both crossbars are now nearer the top of the vertical line.’

Garcia turned to analyze the photographs for a few seconds. ‘So this is the old version?’

Hunter nodded. ‘Its origin is thought to date back to pagan times. At least that’s where history believes it was first used. Back then it was also known as the double-edged sword.’

‘Yeah, history aside, what does it mean?’ Garcia made a hand gesture urging Hunter to move on.

‘Psychologically speaking, it’s believed to represent someone with a double life. The double-edged sword cuts both ways, right? That’s exactly it, duality, good and evil, white and black all in one. Someone who has two totally opposite sides.’

‘You mean someone that could be a normal law-abiding citizen during the day and a psychotic killer at night?’

‘Exactly. This person could be a community leader, a politician, even a priest doing good deeds today; tomorrow he could be slashing someone’s throat.’

‘But that’s the textbook definition of schizophrenia.’

‘No, it isn’t,’ Hunter corrected Garcia. ‘That’s a mistake most people make. Contrary to popular belief, people with schizophrenia do not have split personalities. Schizophrenics suffer from problems with their thought processes. These lead to hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking, and unusual speech or behavior. They usually aren’t dangerous people either. What you’re thinking of is dissociative identity disorder, also known as DID. People with DID display multiple distinct identities or personalities.’

‘Thank you, professor Hunter,’ Garcia said, putting on a silly child’s voice.

‘But I don’t believe our killer suffers from DID.’

‘And why not?’ Garcia asked intrigued.

‘DID sufferers have no control of when one personality takes over the previous one. Our killer is fully aware of what he’s doing. It pleases him. He ain’t struggling with himself.’

That thought silenced Garcia for a few seconds. ‘How about a religious meaning? It looks like a religious symbol to me.’

‘Well, that’s where it gets even more complicated,’ Hunter replied massaging his closed eyes for an instant. ‘There are two main theories according to scholars. One is that the double-crucifix was the first-ever symbol of the anti-Christ.’

‘What? I thought that was supposed to be an inverted cross.’

‘That’s the symbol as we know it today. It’s believed the double-crucifix was first used by some of the early prophets when they prophesied about the end of time, when an evil being would come to end the world.’

Garcia shot Hunter an incredulous look. ‘Hold on, you ain’t gonna start talking about someone with 666 marked on his head and little horns, are you?’

‘It wouldn’t surprise me,’ Hunter said, shifting his eyes back to the photographs. ‘Anyway,’ he continued, ‘when they prophesied about such an evil being, they said he would bring with him the symbol of pure evil. A symbol that would mean God in reverse.’

Garcia’s eyes went back to the photographs before widening in surprise. ‘I’ll be damned. Two crosses touching each other,’ he said finally understanding it. ‘One right side up and the other upside down?’

‘Bingo. The symbol of Jesus opposed by the same symbol of Jesus. The anti-Christ.’

‘So we really could be dealing with a religious fanatic here?’

‘An anti-religious fanatic,’ Hunter corrected him.

A few silent seconds followed. ‘And what’s the second?’ Garcia asked.

‘Excuse me?’

‘You said there were two theories concerning religious meanings; what’s the second one?’

‘Get ready for this. The killer could believe he’s the Second Coming.’

‘What? Are you joking?’

‘I wish. Some scholars believe the early double-crucifix is not one cross right side up and another upside down, but one cross over another, meaning the second son of God. The Second Coming.’

‘But these are two totally opposite theories. One says he’s the anti-Christ and the other says he’s the second Christ.’

‘That’s true, but remember these are only theories based on what the double-crucifix symbol could mean according to history and academics. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they apply to our guy. For all we know, he could’ve just picked that symbol because he liked the look of it.’

‘Is the double-crucifix used by any religious groups or cults?’

‘The morphed design, with both crossbars closer to the top of the vertical line, has been used by several groups over the years, religious and not. It’s even part of the American Lung Association’s logo.’

‘And the old design. The one our killer uses?’

‘You’d have to go back over one hundred years to find anything. And nothing that could be relevant to the case.’

‘What’s your gut feeling on this?’

‘Gut feelings don’t matter in this case, as I’ve found out.’

‘C’mon, humor me. From what I’ve heard, you have a kick ass intuition,’ Garcia said.

‘The truth is that I’m not sure. This killer’s displayed some classic disturbed behavior like most serial killers. Some of the things he does are textbook perfect, too perfect, as if he wants us to believe he’s a typical serial killer.’ Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a few seconds. ‘Sometimes I think we are dealing with a religious freak, sometimes I think he’s some sort of a crime genius fucking with us, pulling the right strings to send us in the wrong direction. Playing a game where only he knows the rules, and he can change them any time he feels like it.’ Hunter took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. ‘Whoever he is, he’s very intelligent, very clever, very methodical and as cold as ice. He never panics. But what we need to do now is concentrate on the new victim, maybe she’ll be the one that’ll lead us to him.’

Garcia nodded. ‘First we need to fax her photograph to as many model and acting agencies as we can. Having the victim’s identity would be a great start…’

‘Sure, we’ll do that, but there’s something I’d like for us to check first.’

‘And what’s that?’

‘Remember what Doctor Winston said about the victim?’

‘Which part?’

‘The gym rat part.’

Garcia raised his eyebrows. ‘Good thinking.’

‘The problem is, there’re over a thousand gyms scattered around this city.’

‘For real?’ Garcia asked surprised.

‘Yes, this is LA, the city where to get even a waiter’s job you need to look your best. Fitness is big business here.’

‘In a country where the obesity rate is off the charts?’

‘As I’ve said, this is LA, the city of the fit and beautiful.’ Hunter smiled as he flexed his bicep mockingly.

‘Yeah, in your dreams.’

‘We should check out some of the bigger, more famous gyms,’ Hunter paused for a moment. ‘The doctor said she liked to use expensive stuff right? So she obviously spent money on herself.’

‘And I bet that with a body like that she liked to be noticed,’ Garcia cut in.

‘I agree.’

‘So if you wanted to show off your body, which gym would you go to? Since you are the expert.’

‘Well, Gold’s Gym is our best bet, there are two branches in Hollywood where we’ll find a lot of famous and “in” people, and then there’s the Arnold Schwarzenegger famous Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach.’

‘I think we should check them out.’

‘Grab that computer image, we’re gonna go visit the big boys.’

As Hunter reached their office door his cell phone rang. ‘Yes, Detective Hunter speaking.’

‘Hello, Robert, did you miss me?’ the robotic voice asked.