The Darkness of Evil (Karen Vail #7)(63)
“Marcks has been in prison for what, seven years?” Tarkoff said. “Things change. Preferences change.”
Vail cocked her head. “There are always exceptions, but generally speaking, that’s not how it goes. These preferences are hardwired. They’re innate, it’s part of who we are—just like homosexuality, or heterosexuality, is not a choice we make. But how you decide to commit your crimes, and what you do with the victims, what you do to—and with—their bodies, how you treat them, that’s personal; that type of development occurs in adolescence, in that abnormal fusion of sex, violence, and arousal. It’s different for everybody.”
“I always thought what these *s do to their victims is a conscious decision,” Curtis said.
“Offenders don’t understand why they’re doing it; they just know that it’s what they like. So yes, they’re aware of what they’re doing. They’re doing it because they like it; they fantasize about these things and start by acting out their fantasies with inanimate objects, pets, compliant partners like prostitutes. The ones that go on to become killers, they take it to the next level because playacting is not enough. It doesn’t satisfy the need. They cross that line because they need a victim that resists, one that forces them to exert control.
“So while what they do with the bodies varies, victim preference is fairly consistent. Some offenders prefer elderly women; some want children; some want young men, like Gacy. Some want young men in their late teens or early twenties, like Dahmer.
“Now, what these offenders do with that victim is up to them in terms of what excites them; Dahmer wasn’t interested in a living victim but a dead one. All of his interaction with the victim, everything that he did to the body—which was very important to him—he did after the victim was dead. For other offenders, it’s all about what he can do while the victim is alive. The torture is the key. Gacy was aroused by the torture aspect. But once the victim was dead, he had zero interest. At that point, he got rid of the body. So while Dahmer and Gacy both had a preference for young males, they were completely different in how they went about their business. Their psychopathology was different.”
“So why does Marcks cut off the genitalia?” Tarkoff asked. “Part of his fantasy?”
Vail rubbed her gloved hands together. “I can give you a number of potential reasons why he does that. Same with the lines he carves in their abdomens. An important thing to remember is that killers who mutilate make up a very small subset of offenders. First off, they’re just about always men. Second, most of the men who mutilate do it for utilitarian purposes: they dismember so they can get rid of the body parts and prevent identification.
“Then you’ve also got offenders who are offensive mutilators. He’s pissed and gets his revenge by attacking the genitalia, the sexual areas of the body. The smallest group of this already small subset are the guys who do it because they get some sexual satisfaction out of it. Some wear the vulvas they cut away. Others play with them.”
“Thanks for that,” Hurdle said. “I haven’t eaten dinner yet.”
“Honestly,” Vail said, “for the purposes of catching Marcks, why he’s doing these things to his victims is not as important as our observations. And that brings us back to his sexual orientation being a key to finding him.”
“Because that’s where he’ll be finding his new victims?” Morrison asked.
“Or it could just be a place of safety and comfort for him, where he doesn’t think we’d look for him. Before he was arrested, he did not get his victims from gay hangouts. And not all of them were gay.”
Hurdle took a moment to bring Tarkoff and Morrison up to date on their new undercover op involving gay bars.
“We were never able to determine how he found his vics,” Curtis said. “And he wasn’t exactly forthcoming about it—or anything else—when we had him in the box.”
“Let’s get back to victim preference,” Hurdle said. “Because that holds a lot of promise for catching him. If we know the victim population, and we can narrow the geography where these people congregate, we can use that to our advantage. Morrison, get with Walters. That’ll be your focus.” He turned to Vail. “When do you think you’ll have an answer on whether or not this victim is one of ours?”
“Let’s see if we can get an ID. That might help.”
“If the vic’s gay, would you think it’s more likely a Marcks kill?”
“Not necessarily. It could’ve been opportunistic. Guy stumbles on Marcks—who might’ve been planning to stay in the park overnight—and he has to kill him to keep him quiet.”
“Or,” Morrison said, “maybe the vic and Marcks knew each other years ago and this was a retribution kill. Way he’s dressed, could be a lawyer. Let’s see if the vic matches one of Marcks’s defense attorneys.”
“Whoa,” Vail said, holding up two gloved hands. “Before we go running in a million directions with a ton of assumptions, let’s pull back a second. I think there’s a real good chance this was Marcks. We’ve got a general witness description that matches well and we’ve got a fugitive killer on the loose in the area. For now, I’d call it ours. But by morning we should know more definitively.” Her phone vibrated. She struggled to get it out with her gloves on, so she pulled one off and answered. “Art. Kind of late to—”