The Darkness of Evil (Karen Vail #7)(98)

“True.”

“Except,” Curtis said, “that now we’re looking at the possibility that Marcks may’ve had an accomplice.”

“Yeah.” Vail rested her arms on her hips.

“Let’s explore that,” Rooney said. “There’s strong evidence that Marcks is gay. And we know there are a number of gay serial killers who worked in pairs. Was there anything in the behaviors that might indicate there were two different offenders at work?”

Vail mulled the files in her mind, thinking through each of the killings. “Nothing that Underwood specifically called out. He did think, at one point, that there were two offenders. I saw notes in the margin of one of his reports. But he obviously abandoned that concept in his final assessment.”

“And what about you? Forget Tom’s work on the case. What do you think?”

“It might answer a few questions I had in terms of things I couldn’t account for. It was early in my career. I wasn’t about to second-guess a legend.”

“But now you’ve got the chops to do just that.” Rooney folded his arms across his chest. “So tell me. What questions did you have?”

“On the ninth victim there were cut marks on the body that were different from the slices we’d seen on the previous victims. They were shallower, and on the back, between the shoulder blades. I couldn’t explain that. It might indicate a second killer.”

“Anything else?”

Vail’s gaze drifted off, up to the ceiling. “Victim ten. There was something in the way he was penetrated that was different. Linkage to Marcks by the specific way the vics were killed is correct—except that the subsequent sexual interaction is different. More anal tearing. Underwood interpreted it as more anger on the part of Marcks, but it could indicate a second offender.”

Curtis shook his head. “Without forensics, how do we know for sure?”

Vail and Rooney shared a cynical look.

“It’s very difficult,” Rooney said, “because with a pair of killers there’s usually one alpha and one beta—the follower. And most, if not all, of the behavior that’s expressed at the scene is from the alpha.”

“The subordinate watches or has a minimal role,” Vail said. “It could be because he’s learning, or he doesn’t have the confidence he needs. Or he’s just naturally a beta and doesn’t have it in him to lead. Or he doesn’t have what it takes to kill but he enjoys interacting with the body afterward.”

“It’s much easier to evaluate if there are two victims,” Rooney said. “The behaviors exhibited with each victim would likely be very different—and more recognizable to us. For example, let’s say both victims are sexually assaulted. Offender A kills his victim first and then has sex with the body, but Offender B first has sex with the victim and then kills her.”

“I’m not sure which is more sick,” Hurdle said.

Vail tucked some hair behind her right ear. “The different cutting pattern on victim nine could indicate that Marcks, the alpha, was letting the beta, Gaines—if we’re buying into his involvement—have his turn after doing the kill.” But then there are the fires. “That said, if we consider the arsons, most of them occurred while Marcks was in custody. But the others were set after he escaped.” She nodded. “If the arsons were done by the same guy, that’d mean we’re definitely dealing with two offenders.”

Hurdle walked over to a window and parted the slats of the miniblind. “What kind of thing would we look for in Gaines’s background to know if he’s a ‘candidate’ for this kind of violence? Assuming Marcks has a partner, how do we know if Gaines is the guy? How do we know it’s not someone else?”

“Without standard forensics,” Vail said, “it’s tough. We have to make reasonable inferences based on the behavioral and physical and forensic evidence, as well as some assumptions. But if the second set of cuts are indeed what I think they are, then they’re both mutilators.”

“You mentioned mutilators earlier,” Curtis said. “What exactly does that mean, other than the obvious—that he mutilates?”

“Robert Ressler was the lead author on an article about murderers and mutilation. They defined mutilation as the deliberate cutting of the sexual areas of the body—breasts, genitals, and abdomen. Almost 70 percent of murderers who were sexually abused as children mutilate their victims after death—and the number rises to almost 80 percent for those who were sexually victimized as adolescents.”

“So if we’re playing the percentages,” Rooney said, “we’d expect to see sexual abuse in Gaines’s childhood and/or adolescence. Obviously, just because someone was sexually abused as a child or youth doesn’t mean they grow up to become sexual sadists who murder on a vast scale and mutilate their victims.”

“We know Marcks was sexually abused as an adolescent,” Hurdle said.

“Don’t know much about Gaines yet,” Vail said, “other than what’s on his sheet.”

“I’ll ask Johnson to look into it.” Curtis took a few steps toward the bedroom. “Yo, Johnson!”

She entered with a contorted face. “You rang, sir?”

Vail stifled a smile as Curtis explained what they needed.