When You See Me (Detective D.D. Warren #11)(13)

“There’s more than one serial killer running around the mountains of Georgia?” Sheriff Smithers drawled sardonically.

“We need to take things one step at a time,” Kimberly agreed, “and keep an open mind.”

Kimberly gave the room a moment to process. When none of the taskforce argued with basic investigative protocol, Kimberly cleared her throat and moved on to the next pertinent part of the briefing. Basically, bringing everyone else in the room up to speed on a conversation she, D.D., Flora, and Keith had started nine months ago in Boston. And a scary discussion at that.

“We recently had some developments regarding Jacob Ness’s recovered laptop. The computer initially appeared devoid of data. Further analysis by our techs revealed Ness had taken steps to automatically clear his computer activity on a daily basis—a much higher degree of sophistication than we expected from a man with limited formal education. Recently, however, Miss Dane and Mr. Edgar helped us identify Ness’s username and password, unlocking a host of dark web and cloud-based activity on the laptop. It’s clear now that while Ness was a loner in real life, on the internet he actively sought out and participated in forums with members who shared his own predatory instincts. The question is, did any of these virtual partnerships result in a real-world relationship?”

Kimberly nodded toward one of her fellow FBI agents, a striking twenty-eight-year-old woman with glossy black hair. “Su Chen,” Kimberly addressed the agent directly, “is one of our best computer analysts. She’s been studying Ness’s laptop for the past few months.”

Keith sat up straighter, as if eyeing the competition. Kimberly admired the hostile glance Su sent his way before picking up her notes.

“The identification of Jacob Ness’s username and password have been pivotal.” A slight nod toward Flora and Keith. “The good news about online forums is that they’re searchable; once we have a username, we can trace much of the subject’s online activities. Unfortunately, the web is a steadily evolving environment. I haven’t had luck identifying any particular group from seven years ago.”

“What about posing as Ness online, waiting for one of his former associates to contact you?” Keith asked immediately. Kimberly understood the question; nine months ago Keith had used that strategy to assist with another homicide investigation. They had been fortunate that Ness had used a pseudonym for his online activities, meaning many of his dark web contacts didn’t realize he was a serial killer who’d been killed in an FBI raid years ago.

“I’m in ongoing virtual conversations with two different subjects at this time,” Su replied coolly. “So far, their interest is purely porn, which I’m guessing was their previous relationship with Ness. Given the seven-year gap, I’m sure other participants are wary of Ness’s sudden reappearance, so success might not be overnight, but I have faith in the strategy.”

“Can I study the laptop again?” Keith asked.

“What do you hope to find?” the computer expert asked.

“What could a second pair of eyes hurt?” Keith countered.

Agent Chen studied her civilian counterpart for a moment or two. “I will see what I can do,” she said abruptly.

Battle of the nerds, Kimberly thought. “Other questions?”

“What next?” the sheriff, Hank Smithers, asked.

“We go to Niche,” Kimberly replied. “Expand the search grid around the first set of remains.”

“You think there might be others,” the sheriff said.

“Jacob is a suspect in the disappearances of five other women. Lilah Abenito isn’t the only victim, just the one who was found first.”

“Shh . . . rimp,” the sheriff muttered, editing his curse nicely.

“There may indeed be more graves,” Kimberly continued. “Also, the forensic anthropologist is working on narrowing the time of death to give us a tighter investigative window. Meaning recovering additional pieces of the skeleton would help.”

Sheriff Smithers nodded. “I can get us a dog team, as well as local searchers. There are people in the area who know those woods like the backs of their hands.”

“Perfect. Then, computer aside, we’re looking at old-fashioned groundwork. Checking property records. Circulating Ness’s photo. Fifteen years is a long time—”

“Not in my county,” the sheriff interrupted. “What it lacks in size, it makes up in memories.” He glanced at D.D. “I’d work on that accent if I were you. And for the love of God, don’t mention you’re from the North.”

Kimberly honestly couldn’t tell if the man was joking or not. But she figured D.D. didn’t care one way or the other.

“If Jacob was in the mountains, how’d he get there?” Kimberly continued now. “Does he own a vehicle we’ve never discovered to go with this property we never found? Does he have an associate, maybe a personal connection in the area who helped him out? We need to be flashing Jacob’s photo to motel owners, bartenders, retail clerks. If he was staying in a local cabin, he’d have to come to town for food, booze, drugs. Before, we were searching northern Georgia. Now, we have a town. Let’s hope that leads to the break we’ve been waiting for. Any questions?”

No one raised a hand. With a final nod, Kimberly closed up her binder, signaling the meeting was over. She’d just risen to standing when Flora spoke up.