The Night Stalker

Seventy

‘Sonofabitch!’

Garcia exclaimed as he watched a copy of the footage Hunter had left with Cameron in ITD. The timestamp on the screen showed that Kelly Jensen had been taken on the 24th February. Their suspicion was that Laura Mitchell, the first victim, had been abducted between the 2nd and the 5th of March.

‘So he abducts Kelly first, but murders her second,’ Garcia said.

Hunter nodded.

‘Why?’

‘If we’re right about the killer projecting the image of the person he wanted them to be onto his victims, then it’s just a matter of time before they do or say something that’d break that spell. Something that’d make him see them for who they really are.’

‘Laura broke the spell first.’

‘It looks that way, yes.’

Garcia returned his attention to the footage Hunter had retrieved from Mr. Wang’s shop. ‘Do we have a facial shot?’

‘No yet, but ITD are working on it.’

Garcia’s eyes returned to his computer screen and the footage. ‘You were right when you said that we were dealing with someone who is patient.’

‘Not only patient,’ Hunter replied. ‘He’s calm, collected and confident. He staked out Kelly’s studio location for several nights no doubt, before making his move. And when he did, he was precise. No time wasted, no struggle, no chance for her to react. This guy is different, Carlos. He takes his victims from places where they are supposed to feel safe; their homes. . their work studios. . their cars. .’

Garcia nodded. ‘Judging from that footage, what would you say he is. .? Six two, six three. .? Weighs around two hundred pounds. .?’

‘That sounds about right. And that is consistent with the perpetrator’s height theory from the skullcap fibers retrieved from the brick wall in Laura’s studio. I’ve called Forensics and told them to pick Kelly’s Trans-Am up from Santa Monica and go through every inch of that cockpit and boot.’

Garcia watched the footage one more time in silence.

Hunter had also gotten in touch with the bureaus’ Traffic Divisions. The killer had driven Kelly’s car out of her studio parking lot and onto Los Angeles’ streets, and there were thousands of traffic and CCTV cameras spread across town. Kelly’s Trans-Am was an easy car to spot, so the killer would’ve wanted to swap vehicles as soon as possible. He probably had a van waiting and ready to go someplace close, but he was clever, he didn’t just dump her car and leave. A classic Trans-Am abandoned on a side street somewhere would’ve raised too many eyebrows. It would’ve alerted the police to start looking for Kelly almost immediately. The killer also knew not to return her car to the studio’s parking lot. From his surveillance, he would’ve known that Kelly never left it there overnight. He wouldn’t want to risk one of the shop owners noticing it and calling the cops. Instead, he’d driven it back to Santa Monica and parked it in the same spot she always did — right in front of her apartment block. Rule one of being a criminal: raise as little suspicion as possible. This guy seemed to have written that rule.

Hunter was hoping that a traffic camera somewhere had picked up some of that journey. It was a long shot, but right now, any shot was worth taking.

‘Anything from Operations on any stitched victims? Anything anywhere in the country?’ Garcia asked.

Hunter had asked the Office of Operations to start a nationwide search — any deaths where a brunette female victim had been found with stitches to her mouth, sexual organ, or both. If the killer was really transferring his feelings and projecting the image of the person he once loved onto his victims, there was a good chance that that person had died in a similar way.

‘Nothing so far.’

‘How far back are we searching?’

‘Twenty-five years.’

‘Really? That long ago?’

Hunter leaned against his desk. ‘We might as well cover all angles.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘What if we’re right about the love theory, but the person the victims remind our killer of isn’t an ex-wife, or girlfriend, or even someone he’s been infatuated with all his life. What if it’s someone else? Someone he also loved. Someone he’d never hurt no matter what?’

Garcia thought about it for a brief moment. ‘His mother?’

Hunter nodded. ‘It’s a possibility. Either his mother or a guardian — like an aunt, an older sister or cousin or something.’ Hunter paused and reached for a folder on his desk. ‘Have you ever heard of Katia Kudrov?’

Garcia frowned and shook his head at the same time. ‘Who’s she?’

Hunter pulled a portrait out of an envelope.

Garcia’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Holy shit. She’s almost the spitting image of Laura and Kelly. Who the hell is she?’

Hunter took his time telling Garcia everything that had happened since he met Whitney Myers.

‘This is a copy of Whitney’s investigation file. She’s covered every angle. She even has her own forensic specialist.’

‘And. .?’ Garcia started flipping through the pages.

‘Nothing substantial. The fingerprints found belonged to Katia herself, her father or the person she was seeing at the time.’

Garcia’s eyebrows arched.

‘He’s not a suspect. He wasn’t even in the country at the time of the abduction. It’s all there, have a look through later.’

‘So her father never filed a Missing Persons report?’

Hunter shook his head. ‘Not officially. That’s why she wasn’t in any of the lists MP sent us. Last night was the first I ever heard of her.’

‘Do you think our killer has her?’

‘I’m not sure. Sometimes I think my mind is chasing ghosts.’

‘What kinda ghosts?’

Hunter shrugged and started picking at the scab that had formed on the cut above his eyebrow.

‘I think there are several similarities in the way Katia, Laura and Kelly were abducted. But then again, there are only so many ways a person can be abducted. That’s why I’m worried about wasting time and chasing a connection that might not even be there. As Whitney said, officially Katia Kudrov isn’t even a Missing Persons case, she was never reported.’ He picked at the scab too hard and a tiny blob of blood started to form. Hunter wiped it away with the heel of his hand. ‘Our research team is already looking into the background of Laura and Kelly, searching for any more connections other than looks and profession. I’ve asked them to include Katia in that search.’

Hunter’s cell phone rang and he fumbled for it in his jacket pocket. ‘Detective Hunter.’

‘Detective, it’s Garry Cameron from ITD.’

‘Garry. . tell me you got something.’ His eyes darted towards Garcia expectantly.

‘Sorry, Detective, no facial image whatsoever,’ Garry sounded defeated. ‘I went through every single frame of the footage you gave me, enhancing them every way I could. The guy never gets himself into a revealing angle.’ A quick pause. ‘In a couple of frames there’s a flash of skin but that’s all. All I can tell you other that what you’ve already seen is that he’s Caucasian. I’m really sorry, Detective.’

Hunter disconnected and closed his eyes. He needed some sort of break in this investigation. Four people were dead. James Smith was still missing after that bizarre phone call, and if Katia Kudrov had been taken by the same person who took Laura and Kelly, she was running out of time fast.