Page 58 of So Savage

He shook his head and took another sip of his coffee.“My brother’s a criminal justice professor.I talked to him about this a few months ago, and he said that it’s likely things like this have been going on forever, it’s just that we know about it more now because the internet has made all of this information accessible and police departments tend to share information and seek help rather than conceal information.”

“He might be right,” Faith said.I like it a lot more than my hypothesis.

Her hypothesis was that the sensationalism surrounding Jethro Trammell had led to a rise in “emulators.”Most of those emulators were disturbed people like Kane who had their own petty vendettas to air out, but a few, like Franklin West and Kenneth Langeveldt—known as the Family Man for his penchant for paralyzing groups of three people at a time to stand in for his parents and his sister—saw Trammell as an artist and aspired to reach that level as murderers themselves.

Then again, did she really want killing sprees to be a longtime historical trait of humanity?At least with the emulator hypothesis, you could argue that it was an anomaly that could be corrected.If it was instead—as Marcus suggested—something people had always been doing, then it meant humanity was fated to repeat this cycle for the rest of its existence.

She finished the rest of her coffee and stood.“Marcus, it was a pleasure to work with you.Feel free to call me anytime you need help.”

He stood and took her outstretched hand.“I’d like to call you from time to time, but if you don’t mind me saying, I’d prefer to do so as a friend rather than a colleague.I’d just as soon not have to deal with any more serial killers in Duluth.It’s bad enough that it’s colder than Jack Frost’s ass out here.”

Faith laughed and pulled Marcus into an embrace.“I’d like that too.”

***

Back at the hotel, Faith found herself dwelling on the emulator hypothesis.It wasn’t a perfect theory by any means, but it made too much sense for her to dismiss it out of hand.

Jethro Trammell wasn't the first "celebrity" serial killer by any means, but he was the first in a long time to be treated almost as a hero.He was a seven-foot-tall farmer who had dropped out of high school, but despite this, he'd successfully evaded the FBI for months.He'd killed at least seven and possibly as many as eleven people in horrifying fashion, and the theatricality of his method rivaled the most appalling of murders.Faith should know.He'd been in the middle of that method when Michael rescued her.

And that was perhaps the most damning thing Trammell had done.His seven murders included a senior FBI field agent who was at the time the best agent in the Bureau and the severe injury of another FBI field agent who became the most celebrated agent in the Bureau.

He’d made them look like fools.That’s what made him famous.

And then came Franklin West.In many ways, he was the opposite of Jethro Trammell.He was of average height and slight build.He had a gentle voice and thinning hair, and by the time he became known to the world, he was in his mid-forties.He looked utterly non-threatening, but the truth was that, in any objective sense, he was far more dangerous than Trammell.Trammell had considerable low cunning, but West was actually intelligent.Brutally so.It was a wonderful coincidence that he was also insane, or he might never have made the mistakes that eventually led to his capture.

But now, he had become more famous than Trammell.He was known to have killed thirty-two people, although he claimed to Faith to have killed almost twice that many.He had also murdered a senior FBI agent and tormented another.His M.O., at least during the period which the authorities knew about, was very similar to Trammell's because he worshipped Trammell like a Messiah.

And now there was the Messenger.She had already killed a senior FBI agent and was actively taunting another.The same agent that Trammell had tortured, and West had psychologically tormented.

Faith flinched as it hit her for the first time that she was the link between all three.Three t dangerous serial killers had all been obsessed with her.How long would it be before the wider public fixated on that narrative?

Her phone buzzed, causing her to flinch again and cry out loudly enough that Turk jumped to his feet and scanned the room for threats.Unfortunately, this was a threat that Turk couldn’t help her with.

“Easy, boy.It’s just my boss.”

NottheBoss.That was a title that would always be reserved for Grant Monroe.

She answered.“Hello, ma’am.”

“Special Agent Bold,” ASAC Tabitha Gardner replied.“Congratulations on solving this case.”

“Thank you.”

Tabitha took a deep breath and released it slowly.Faith wondered if she had to exaggerate that so Faith could hear it over the phone.

“I’ve spoken with your partner, Special Agent Prince.”

Faith’s brow furrowed.“Michael talked to you?”

“He did.He and Special Agent Desrouleaux elected to interrupt a meeting between me and Deputy Director Smythe.”Her tone told Faith that she wasn’t at all happy about that interruption.“They told me they had worked with you on a new hypothesis about the Messenger Killer.”

“Oh?”Faith replied neutrally.She wasn’t sure exactly where Tabitha was going with this yet.

“Yes.They are of the opinion that the Messenger Killer is not obsessed with you so much as she’s obsessed with Franklin West.It seems that some evidence”—she said it like a curse word—“has come to light that suggests the Messenger Killer has been in correspondence with Mr.West.The content of some of those letters is… shall we say, intriguing.”

“I see,” Faith said, still noncommittal.

There was a brief pause.Then Tabitha dropped the professional act.“Okay, let’s cut the bullshit.Your partner snooped around on a case that wasn’t his and got extremely lucky.He found evidence that has turned a case we were trying to keep quiet into yet another media clusterfuck, only this time, we’re going to do it to ourselves because his royal highness Smythe has decided that we shouldpublishthe communications between one serial killer and another to root out the currently active killer.”

---